One fantastic thing about San Francisco is its love of Indian Pale Ale, every local brewery seems to make a good one, especially the one we found with the elephant on the label. It comes in a cute bottle, and did I mention the elephant? Anyway, the beer and then the beautiful cauliflower we bought at the farmer’s market on Sunday inspired me to make a curry to eat while we drink the beer. Here’s what I did.

Cauliflower and Chickpea Curry

2 Tbsp ground cumin
1 Tbsp tumeric
1Tbsp ground coriander
1 Tbsp chili flakes
1Tbsp fresh grated ginger
Oil (I used olive oil because that is all my kitchen has, but you could use any)
1/2 red onion
1/2 white onion
4 cloves garlic
1 head of cauliflower
1 can chickpeas
1 cup frozen spinach
1 handful fresh coriander
Juice of half an orange
Splash of coconut water (you could also use stock or coconut milk, this is all I had at home)

To serve

Rice- obviously
Natural yoghurt
Fresh mint
Roughly chopped raw almonds (hazelnuts are even better with cauliflower if you have them)

Heat your oil and add all the spices, garlic and the grated ginger. Fry these until it has made a kind of paste like base for your curry. Now add the onion and slowly fry. Next comes the cauliflower, spinach, coriander, chickpeas, orange juice and coconut water or milk. Put the lid on the pot and simmer for at least half an hour or until the vegetables have softened and flavoured. Mine simmered for a good couple of hours as Ollie’s meeting lasted a little longer than expected, which was fine as it meant the flavours really had time to do their thing. I served it with some natural yoghurt, fresh mint and some roughly chopped raw almonds. And of course, a cold beer.