Craven College’s Jamie Fletcher provides another of his favourite recipes. He has more than 10 years’ experience working in bars and restaurants, including a 15-month stint as a sous-chef in the south of France

THIS is a brilliant standby vegetarian curry recipe to have on hand. It's originally from one of Madhur Jaffrey's mid-80s books and has really stood the test of time. It can be served with plain white rice or scooped up with hot naan bread or roti.

INGREDIENTS

A piece of fresh ginger, about 6 cm long, peeled

1 large head fresh cauliflower or 2 small ones

4 tablespoons vegetable oil

1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric

1 fresh hot green chilli, finely sliced

1 big handful of coarsely chopped coriander

1 teaspoon garam masala

2 teaspoons ground coriander

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 teaspoon salt

METHOD

Finely grate the ginger and mix with about four tablespoons of water to make a sludgy paste. You can do this in a blender but it never seems to work that well for me.

Remove the outer leaves from the cauliflower and slice off the thick stem. Using your hands, break the cauliflower into large florets.

Now slice the small thin stem of each floret across into rounds, then either slice or break the remaining floret into smaller pieces, about two to three centimetres long. If the stems ever seem too long, chop these into rounds again - they're perfectly edible and we'll use them in the curry.

Now wash the all the cauliflower florets (and rounds of stem) and leave to drain in a colander.

Heat the oil in a high-sided frying pan over medium heat. Add the ginger paste and turmeric. Fry for about two minutes stirring constantly. Add the chopped green chilli and all of the coriander. Stir well and after another two minutes, add all the cauliflower and cook for five minutes. Keep stirring - if the vegetables look like they're sticking, feel free to add in a tablespoon or two of hot water.

Now add the garam masala, coriander, cumin, lemon juice, salt, and another three tablespoons of hot water. Keep cooking for five minutes, stirring gently every so often. Turn the heat right down and cover the pan and leave to cook for 40 minutes. Stir every ten minutes or so. The cauliflower needs to be cooked through but not at all mushy – there should still be some crispness.