From The Lunchbox · 2013 · Reconstructed
Cauliflower Sabzi
Serve when
The dish that starts everything — watch for Ila packing the dabba downstairs while Auntie calls spice advice down through the basket.
In the movie
Theatrical
- 00:13:47 Rajeev, eating the misdelivered lunch without knowing it: 'Your cauliflower was really good' — Ila's first clue the dabba went astray.
- 00:15:26 Saajan's office peon reports back on the lunch that actually reached him: 'The cauliflower did it for us!'
- 00:32:26 Rajeev, months later, tired of it: 'Please don't make cauliflower every day, it gives me gas' — the dish has become a running fixture at home.
This is the dish that sets everything in motion: Ila's dabba, meant for her husband Rajeev, goes instead to Saajan Fernandes through a dabbawala mix-up neither of them notices at first. Rajeev, eating someone else's cauliflower without knowing it, actually compliments it — the first hint to Ila that something has gone wrong, since her own marriage has gone flavorless enough that a mistaken lunch reads as an improvement.
Ingredients
Method
- Heat the oil and temper the cumin seeds until they sputter, then add the onion and cook until golden.
- Stir in the ginger-garlic paste and cook a minute, then add the turmeric, coriander, and chili powder, stirring quickly so the spices toast without burning.
- Add the chopped tomato and cook down until it breaks apart into the masala, then fold in the cauliflower florets and salt.
- Cover and cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until the cauliflower is tender but still holds its shape, 15–20 minutes. Finish with cilantro.