Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 800g/1¾lb cauliflower florets, roughly chopped
- 1 litre/1¾ pints chicken or vegetable stock
- 150ml/5fl oz double cream
- For the cauliflower soup, heat the oil in a deep, heavy-based pan over a medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and fry for 2-3 minutes, or until just softened.
- Add the ground cumin and ground coriander and fry for a further 1-2 minutes, or until fragrant.
- Add the chopped cauliflower and chicken stock. Bring the mixture to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 8-12 minutes, or until the cauliflower is tender. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.
- Carefully pour the soup mixture into a food processor and blend to a purée (or alternatively, use a stick blender in the saucepan). Return the puréed soup mixture to the pan and add the cream. Season, to taste, with salt and freshly ground black pepper and warm through for 1-2 minutes.
Method
If like me you have a hate/indifference relationship with cauliflower you will probably wonder what this post is here for. Well truth to tell I was going to make this cauliflower curry again, but did not quite get round to it. So the cauliflower was in the fridge, the weather turned cold and I thought of soup. Hmm cauliflower soup. Like you I was suspicious of what this might be like, it at least would not have the texture problem but the flavour? Let's see.
I must confess it was a pleasant surprise. The addition of (especially) cumin gives it a vaguely curry note the complements the sweet earthiness of the cauliflower itself. It needs the addition of the cream to make it more rounded and fuller, but all in all I would consider this a success. Not something I will repeast regularly, but will do again, when I have a troublesome cauliflower to attend to. I made a half quantity as I had a small cauliflower.