Deep Fried Cauliflower

Truth to be told, I'm quite a meat lover, but I do cook plant based dishes from time to time. For example the one I would like to show you today. Deep fried cauliflower used to be one of my childhood favorites and I still enjoy it as an adult. My kids like it too, so it's a winner in our household.

I like to keep things simple, so let's make the most basic version of this dish... served with simple boiled buttery potatoes and some tartar sauce, simple mashed potatoes would work great too. Most people that I know serve this dish with French fries, but since the cauliflower is fried already, I prefer to use a healthier side.

TIP: Want to try some more deep fried dishes? Check out my Breaded chicken wings, Pork tenderloin schnitzel or Langos / Frybread recipe.

This recipe only calls for a few ingredients, let me list them below:

1-2 heads of cauliflower (1 for 3 people)

1kg (2lb) yellow potatoes

3-4 eggs

80-100g (3-3.5oz) butter

flour (all purpose is fine)

plain breadcrumbs

salt & pepper to taste

tartar sauce

I know that quite a few people prefer to watch a video instead of reading the recipe, so let me embed it from my Cooking YouTube Channel. I'm uploading new videos pretty much weekly, so feel free to subscribe!

The first thing we need to do is to break down the cauliflower into smaller pieces. Cut through the stems to release the florets and further cut them into smaller pieces. You can choose any size you want, just keep in mind that large pieces are a bit tricky to fry evenly from all side. On the other hand, the really small pieces tend to burn or dry out. As always, the golden middle wins :)

Once you are happy with the size of your cauliflower pieces, we need to boil them in properly salter water. Make sure you don't cook them fully as they would start to fall apart! 10-15 minutes of boiling is more than enough.

Now is the right time to start working on the potatoes. These need a bit of more time as we need to cook them until "almost" fall apart tender. Simply cube them and start cooking in properly salted water.

Once the cauliflower pieces are soft enough for a fork to slide in, drain them and let cool for a bit.

Prepare the breading ingredients. I'm using the most basic method that includes flour, beaten eggs and plain breadcrumbs. The only thing I'm seasoning is the eggs (salt & pepper). The cauliflower pieces are already salted from the water they have been cooking in.

Start by coating the cauliflower pieces in flour, next come the eggs and then breadcrumbs. And ask your kids to help you with this, my son loves to make some mess :)

When frying cauliflower, I use the biggest pan I have so I don't have to make too many batches as the breadcrumbs start to get burnt after a while.

Add enough oil so even the largest pieces are half way submerged in it. Once golden brown, remove the cauliflower pieces and place them in a bowl with a paper towel.

This is what it should look like when fried properly.

The potatoes are fully cooked by now and we need to do one last thing here. Add a GOOD amount of butter, let it melt, then cover the pot with a lid and give it a proper toss. This way, the butter will mix with the potatoes nicely and the potatoes will break down a bit... which is exactly what we want.

When serving deep fried cauliflower, I add some freshly chopped parsley over the potatoes and a bit of tartar sauce is a must for me. Enjoy!

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Thanks for reading or watching :)

Matej.