This Indian Spiced Cauliflower Rice is a quick, easy and wonderfully nutritious alternative to regular rice. Adapted from Get the Glow by Madeleine Shaw.
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Last week I reviewed Madeleine Shaw’s lovely first book Get the Glow* – it’s a wonderful book full of delicious healthy and relatively easy recipes – If you haven’t got one already I’d really recommend buying it! Her recipes are so great that I really wanted to share a couple with you this week.
On Tuesday I shared with you my version of Madeleine Shaw’s Gluten Free Cherry Crumble and today I am sharing this delicious, lightly spiced cauliflower rice, which makes a great alternative to regular rice, if you are looking to reduce your carbs and / or your calories, or just introduce more vegetables into your diet.
Being a food blogger, I am usually well aware of food trends and I have known about cauliflower rice for ages, but last week was the first time I had actually tried making it for myself. I didn’t use a food processor, so my cauliflower rice is a bit more chunky than most pictures of cauliflower rice I have seen…but do you know what – I actually really like it like that. But you can blitz it up in a food processor to a finer texture if that’s what you prefer!
Did you know the humble cauliflower is amazingly nutritious? Cauliflower is an excellent source of vitamin C, vitamin K, folate, pantothenic acid, and vitamin B6, as well as a good source of fibre, omega-3 fatty acids, manganese, vitamin B2, protein, vitamin B1, niacin, and magnesium. It has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory benefits and studies have even noticed a possible link cauliflower-containing diets and cancer prevention. Amazing, huh? I am definitely going to try and eat more cauliflower from now on!
Apart from being wonderfully nutritious and a great way of reducing your carbs and calories, cauliflower rice is also really quick and easy to make to make. All you need to do is chop the cauliflower finely (or blitz it in the food processor) and then fry it in a frying pan for about 5 minutes and it’s done.
Madeleine adds a few spices to the cauliflower to make it even tastier, but if you want to keep things simple, cauliflower rice tastes great plain too. Or why not mix things up and add in some peas, grated carrots, coconut, lime zest or anything else you might normally add to rice? In her original recipe, Madeleine also includes ¼ teaspoon each of ginger and cinnamon – I have left these out for simplicity, and also because I slightly preferred it without the ginger and cinnamon, but feel free to add them back in if you fancy!
I was utterly amazed that my kids, who aren’t huge fans of cauliflower, positively wolfed this cauliflower rice down – we will definitely be making this again!
This rice would go really well with any mild to medium curries, such as my Easy Lamb Jalfrezi, Turkey Tikka Masala Meatballs, Easy Chicken Korma, Butter Chicken or Lamb Rogan Josh.
If you like this recipe…
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Indian Spiced Cauliflower Rice
Ingredients
- 1 cauliflower leaves and stalk removed
- 1 tablespoon olive oil (or coconut oil, or rapeseed/canola oil)
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 2 tablespoons fresh coriander (cilantro) chopped
Instructions
- Start by finely chopping the cauliflower. Alternatively, you can grate the cauliflower, using the large holes on a cheese grater, or blitz the cauliflower in a food processor until it resembles rice.
- Next, heat the oil gently in a frying pan for 30 seconds, then add the spices and cook for another 30 seconds.
- Add the finely chopped cauliflower and stir fry over a medium heat for 3-5 minutes until cooked to your liking. Personally, I like mine still with a bit of crunch.
- Stir through some salt and pepper and the fresh coriander, and serve with your favourite curry.
Notes
- Not suitable for freezing.
- Nutrition information is approximate and meant as a guideline only.
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Disclosure
*This blog post contains affiliate links, this means if you click on a link and go on to buy the product I recommend, I will get a small commission, but you will not be charged a penny more – thanks in advance!
Corina says
I’m not a huge fan of cooked cauliflower but I do like it with a few spices. So far I haven’t tried cauliflower rice but I have had cauliflower tabouleh which I think is basically the same but chopped up even much more finely!
Eb Gargano says
I really like cauliflower, but it can be a bit boring just steamed or boiled – I prefer roasted or fried, as in the recipe…or , perhaps best of all, in a curry! I think spices work really well with it – especially cumin! Such a great pairing. I haven’t tried cauliflower tabbouleh, but sounds like a great idea. I think, to be honest, cauliflower rice is supposed to be finer – but I was chopping by hand and I didn’t have much time – but actually I really liked the chunky texture. I’ve had the finer version before and I liked it, but I prefer it with a bit of texture! Eb x
sarah says
This looks delicious – I love cauliflower it’s so versatile, it’s such a shame that most people just boil it to death! I haven’t seen your blog before, so I just wanted to apologise because a couple of my recipes (I’ve only just started doing them) are called “Easy Peasy” – I won’t use it again, I wasn’t copying you I promise! 🙂 #cookblogshare
Eb Gargano says
Yeah totally. Cauliflower boiled to death is vile and there is so many good things you can do with cauliflower. I really love it roasted and in curries! Oh please don’t worry about calling things ‘easy peasy’! That’s fine, you can totally carry on! It’s a pretty well known turn of phrase…I don’t think I can claim ownership of it or exclusive rights to use it. 🙂 I’ll have to pop over and find out what kind of easy peasy recipes you’ve been making. The more easy peasy food out there the better, in my opinion 🙂 Eb x
Kirsty Hijacked By Twins says
Like you, I have known about cauliflower rice for a long time but have never tried it. Yours sounds delicious with the addition of Indian spices. Thank you for sharing with #CookBlogShare x
Eb Gargano says
Thank you, Kirsty. Yes it’s been on my must try list for ages, so I’m pleased to have finally got round to trying it. It’s delicious and pretty easy to do, plus great as a low calorie/low carb option. The spices really work so well with the cauliflower. Eb x
Angela / Only Crumbs Remain says
I’ve not tried cauliflower rice to press either Eb, and I think I may have been put off a little by the fact that it was so tiny having been blitzed in a food processor – which we don’t have, (a slick blender is as gadgety as our kitchen gets 😉 ) so I’m encouraged to give it a whirl seen as it’s clearly pretty darn good even when chopped with a kitchen knife into slightly larger pieces. I had no idea either that the humble cauli was so packed with nutrients, will have to pick one up on our next visit to the supermarket 🙂
Angela x
Eb Gargano says
It’s fab a bit chunky, Angela. I think I actually prefer it like that. I’ve had the blitzed up version when out and, whilst I liked it, I do prefer the texture of my chunky version. It’s such a healthy food and a great way to get one of your five a day and cut down on calories all in one. I do like normal rice too, but cauliflower rice makes a nice change. 🙂 Eb x
Kate - gluten free alchemist says
Cauliflower is one of those vegetables that definitely benefits from a bit of pimping up. Love what you have done here. The additions of spice sound a great way to make it interesting. Fab recipe x
Eb Gargano says
Thanks Kate. I don’t mind plain cauliflower, but it just goes so well with spices – particularly cumin and turmeric! Eb x
Rosie @greenrosielife says
I adore cauliflower and this sounds great – did you find getting the right consistency in the food processor was difficult? #BrilliantBlogPosts
Eb Gargano says
Thanks, Rosie 🙂 I didn’t actually use a processor but instead I chopped it by hand. I really like the slightly chunkier texture that you get when you do it by hand. Eb x
Rosie @greenrosielife says
OK – I’ll bear that in mind. Thank you.
Sandy says
Made this last night and even hubby, who can’t get his head around me not using ‘real rice’ enjoyed it.
I did however add a few sultanas to it which went down well.
Eb Gargano says
Yay! I am so happy to hear this. And love the idea of adding sultanas! Eb 🙂