One-pot Cauli Satay \ VIDEO

The easiest satay dish you’ll ever make.

Our idea of the dish ‘satay’ has been firmly shaped by what Mum made for us growing up. It was spicy, peanutty and sweet all at once. So far, so good, you might say, as this probably sounds similar to the satays you’ve tried.

However, Mum’s version didn’t feature any skewers of meat. There was chicken, but there was also cauliflower and carrots and cabbage, and it was all suspended in a light but generous sauce spiked with flavours that you’d expect from a peanut satay sauce.

This dish she simply called ‘Chicken Satay’. And even after decades, it has remained one of the most popular options at our family’s market food cart.

While customers ordered it for the promise of hunks of chicken and satay-ey goodness, my favourite part was always the cauliflower. So much so that when the lunch rush hour (which usually latest about 3 hours!) was over, I’d help myself to a portion of the chicken satay but naughtily focussed on selecting the cauliflower florets. Having been nursed in the sauce they fabulously absorbed the spiced peanutty flavours and were so satisfying on their own that I never missed the chicken.

And so this dish was born, where the satay-laden cauliflower is the star of the show. The sauce is a bit richer, the heat dialled up, and ever as comforting as the original.

One-pot Cauli Satay

By the Dumpling Sisters

Serves 2

1 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tbsp ginger, diced
8 spring onions, white and green parts separated, cut into 5cm lengths
1 clove garlic, diced
3 tbsp curry powder
½ tsp dried chilli flakes
1½  tbsp light soy sauce
½ large cauliflower (about 430g), cut into small florets
3 tbsp peanut butter, your preference of crunchy or smooth
1½ tsp granulated sugar
200 ml coconut milk, plus a tablespoon or so for serving

1. Over a medium heat, fry the ginger and white parts of the spring onions in the oil, until charred along the edges.

2. Stir in the the garlic, curry powder and chilli flakes. When the mixture is dry, dark and fragrant, turn the heat to high, add the light soy sauce and fry until evaporated.

3. Pour in 300ml of cold water and immediately cover with a lid. Let it boil vigorously for a few minutes.

4. Add the cauliflower, peanut butter, sugar and coconut milk. When the cauliflower has softened, stir through  green parts of the spring onions until wilted. Serve with a drizzle of coconut milk on top.