Ingredients
2 tbsps oil
½ tsp of sugar
4 onions, halved and thinly sliced
1 whole cauliflower
400g Greek-style yoghurt
2½ cm fresh ginger, roughly chopped
2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
2 tbsps almond butter
2 tbsps cashew butter
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1 cinnamon stick
6 cardamom pods, bashed
350ml stock - chicken or vegetable
1 tsp garam masala
Salt

Method
Preheat the oven to 180c.

Wash the cauliflower and leaves but keep it whole.  Cut off a little at the very bottom so it can sit flat.  With your knife, stab 2 or 3 times into the main stalk from the bottom (this will help it cook through).

Into a casserole dish that is large enough to take the cauliflower, works on your hob and in the oven put the oil over a medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, add the sugar, onions and ½ tsp of salt.  Cook for around 15 minutes until deep golden and caramelised.

Put ¾ of the onions, the yoghurt, ginger, garlic, nut butters, turmeric, chilli powder, coriander, cumin and the stock into a blender and blitz until smooth.

Put the sauce back in the onion pot along and put the whole cauliflower in upside down so that the florets are at the bottom and the stalk the top.  Put the cinnamon sticks and cardamom pods in and either put the lid on or some foil.  Put into the oven and cook for 50 minutes.

After 50 minutes, take the dish out of the oven, and carefully remove the cauliflower, you don't want to break it and it will be very hot.  With your knife, pierce into the stalk to see how soft your cauliflower is, this will entirely depend on the size.  If your cauliflower is smallish it may feel ok at this point but more likely it will still be hard.

Stir your sauce.  It should be thick but not too thick, it is after all a sauce and not a paste.  If it looks too thick just slacken it with a few tbsps of water.

Put the cauliflower back into the dish only this time the right way up.  Spoon some of the sauce over the top of the cauliflower. Cover and return to the oven. 

How long is going to depend on the size of your cauliflower, you ideally it want it to be soft enough there is no crunch but not so soft it falls apart.  For a small cauliflower, check after 20 minutes, medium, 30 minutes, large 40 minutes and extra large 50 minutes.

When you are happy, uncover and cook for a further 20 minutes with the garam masala sprinkled over the top.

Put your reserved onions over the top and around the edges and serve in the cooking pot, being very careful as it will be extremely hot.  You can put this on a serving dish if you prefer.

Serve with plenty of naan bread for mopping up the sauce.

Original recipe taken from Masala by Mallika Basu