Go nuts for Suya Roasted Cauliflower & Roasted Groundnut Stew
From Lagos to London to feeding a Spice girl on live TV
Can I tell you a secret?
Welcome to another ravishing letter from me. Since you are here, yes, I believe I can tell you this secret! When I cooked the Suya Roasted Cauliflower of today’s recipe and served it to a Spice Girl on live television, I hadn’t tasted it. Not one bite! I knew it was bloody brilliant, but how could I not have tasted it before serving it?
I’ll be the first to tell you that a chef must taste everything she cooks. Yes, I trusted my recipe, one I had been perfecting for over 6 or 7 years, in our cookery classes. A recipe some of you had tried and many more were yet to try, as my cookbook would be published a week after this appearance on Channel 4’s, Sunday Brunch. A popular show here in the UK. However, there are too many changing variables that can cause a dish to change from what you expect it to be, to what it is in reality, from the quality of the produce, variation in spice, to the temperature, and cooking equipment, and many more factors within and beyond one’s control. You are probably thinking…
“How could she do such a thing?”
Cooking on television
In my experience, when invited to cook on television, be it live or pre-recorded, a chef is asked for a selection of recipes they’d like to cook, and advised on time slots, any themes, allergies or diets of the hosts and guests. For this show I chose Suya Roasted Cauliflower for its show-stopping style of with such striking flavours and because it was a dish I believed would eventually become popular, I just knew it in my gut. The second dish I chose was the Ugandan Golden Rolex & - a fun recipe with a great story and outstanding flavours from the Tomato & Date Jam layered on the chapati, the wilted greens and flash fried tomatoes in turmeric spiced eggs, and a third dish I cannot remember at this time. Perhaps it was a curry. Brits love a good curry!
While I did not taste the peanut based Suya Roasted Cauliflower, I made sure quite a few people tasted it before it was presented on live television. Tim Lovejoy & Simon Rimmer, presenters of the show, also tasted it and couldn’t possibly feign their excitement, before famous actors like Ben Miller (from Death in Paradise and Bridgerton) and a whole Spice Girl - Melanie C to be precise, devoured and loved it! Watch here.
But why did I not taste it, and why can I never taste it for the foreseeable future? Sadly, at the height of the pandemic, after I had written my debut cookbook, Africana, I developed a nut allergy. It was while testing a recipe for almond loaves that I first realised that I might be allergic. And then on a trip to Ghana, my first holiday after years of covid-restricted travel, I had a severe allergic reaction to peanuts. Imagine how sad I felt, knowing that something I have enjoyed my whole life has now become fatal.
How lucky am I, to have created several Suya recipes using peanuts before this shock. This Suya roast has also been awarded an Observer Food Monthly Best Recipe nod. Those who know me well and if not, as you will soon find out, I am not one to roll over and accept defeat. I have since found a solution, as I will share in another letter coming your way. When I open the doors to my very own restaurant, this is going on the menu! But who will cook it?! Haha!
For now, I hope you try it. It’s full of style and substance, flavour and textures in abundance, and one of over 40 vegan recipes in Africana. Let's get cooking!
love when you share your photos and videos. Here’s a fabulous photo of this recipe from a member of our community on instagram, Ed (@Londoncooking)
Suya Roasted Cauliflower
The humble cauliflower is transformed into the star with this luxuriously spiced peanut purée and fragrant suya spices. I created this dish for my plant-based cookery class to, and it delivers every time! This recipe really is 4 recipes in 1. You will find, Suya spice rub, Suya peanut butter, roasted groundnut stew, and roasted Suya cauliflower. All perfectly deconstructable to enjoy with other vegetables if you wish. (Adapted from Africana Cookbook)
SERVES 4
1 large head of cauliflower (about800g), leaves and stalk removed & saved
300g cherry tomatoes, halved
1 red Romano or bell pepper,
stemmed, deseeded and roughly chopped
½ small red onion peeled and halved
1 tbsp rapeseed, groundnut or neutral vegetable oil, plus more for drizzling
FOR THE SPICED PEANUT PURÉE
180g blanched peanuts, or 100g natural and unsweetened peanut butter
½ small red onion peeled and roughly chopped
4 garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped
5cm piece of ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
2 tbsp Suya Spice Blend (see page 272)
1 tsp smoked paprika
TO SERVE
A small handful of fresh coriander, chopped
1 tsp Suya Spice Blend
To make the spiced peanut purée, place a flameproof casserole over medium heat and pour in the peanuts. Swirl the nuts around a few times, using a wooden spoon, to avoid burning. Roast until golden, then remove from the pan to cool. Reserve 2 tablespoons (about 30g) of roasted peanuts and place the rest in a food processor with the other purée ingredients. Add 60ml water and blend, scraping down the sides now and again. Add more water, a tablespoon at a time, to loosen the paste, if needed, until spreadable but with some texture. Season with ½ teaspoon fine sea salt and reserve 2 heaped tablespoons of the purée for later.
Preheat the oven to 220˚C/200˚C fan/gas mark 7. Carve a triangle into the stalk of the cauliflower and place the cauliflower in the casserole. Spread the purée onto the whole surface, covering it in a thick coating. Turn the cauliflower over, season the cavity and spoon some purée inside. Place the cauliflower flat-side down and tuck the cherry tomatoes, red pepper and onion around the cauliflower. Brush or drizzle all the vegetables, including the cauliflower, with the oil and pour 60ml water around the sides.
Cover with a lid and roast in the middle of the oven for 30 minutes, then remove the lid and roast for another 30 minutes, until beautifully dark and golden, and you can pierce a knife into the cauliflower with little resistance. Set aside while you prepare the sauce. Place the roasted pepper, cherry tomatoes and onion in a food processor with the reserved peanut purée and blend until smooth. Drizzle with a little oil and season with a pinch of fine sea salt and black pepper. Spoon the tomato and spiced peanut purée onto a warm serving plate and place the cauliflower on top.
Chop the reserved roasted peanuts, scatter them over the top with the chopped coriander and sprinkle over the Suya Spice Blend. Serve as a main dish or an accompaniment to your favourite salad, roast or grains.
Lerato’s Tip
Although I love roasting a whole cauliflower, you could also break the cauliflower into florets or cut it into steaks and spread them with the purée before roasting uncovered for 30–40 minutes.
Suya Spice Blend
This nutty spice blend will enchant you, just as it has done so many who adore suya, the much-loved grilled street food popular in Nigeria and across West Africa.
MAKES ABOUT 150G
100g unsalted roasted peanuts
10 pods of selim pepper (optional but wonderful)
5 tbsp ground ginger
2 tbsp garlic granules
2 tbsp onion granules
1 tbsp cayenne pepper (or ½ tbsp
for less heat)
1 tsp fine sea salt
1 tbsp paprika (optional)
Place the nuts in a coffee or spice grinder and blitz in 1-second short bursts, to a fine powder. Be careful not to grind for too long, as the nuts will quickly turn into peanut butter. Transfer the nuts to a piece of muslin or clean kitchen towel and squeeze out as much oil as possible, until you are left with a cookie-dough-like texture. Tip into a bowl and break into fine crumbs using a fork. Add all the spices and seasoning to the bowl with the peanuts and mix well.
Store in an airtight container or glass jar away from direct sunlight for up to 3 months. The spice blend can also be mixed into tomato sauces, vegetable and bean dips, or sprinkled onto salads and roasts. The possibilities are just endless and wonderful.
Lerato’s Tip
If you have peanut powder, you can use the equivalent quantity of peanuts. Simply toast the powder in a dry frying pan over medium heat for a few minutes, stirring continuously, until slightly darker golden in colour. While I love sharing recipes that are easily adaptable to suit varying diets, geographical locations and availability, I must tell you that for the true essence of suya, I consider ginger to be a very important spice. Replace peanuts with almonds or other nuts for those with tree nut allergies, or use toasted sesame seeds or tahini paste to achieve that rich, nutty flavour suya is known for.
Extracted from Africana: Treasured recipes and stories from across the continent by Lerato Umah-Shaylor (HQ, HarperCollins). Image credit to Tara Fisher.
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I've already told you of my deep love for spiced roasted cauliflower (and the wonderful version so enjoyed with friends at a Lebanese restaurant that we ordered a second large platter of it!), and of course I have Africana and have bookmarked your new post, but I really feel for the allergy story as I have two food allergies: I developed an allergy to chocolate at 17 and to all fish/seafood at 40 (the second discovery involved being rushed to the hospital as my throat was closing up). Fortunately friends have been most accommodating, and if ever I'm given chocolate by someone who doesn't know, I thank them kindly and pass it on to a deserving friend. That allergy also led to a lovely restaurant experience: I was out with a group of friends celebrating a friend's birthday (which is actually right around now!) and we went to one restaurant for dinner, then piled in a cab and went to another in a fancy hotel for dessert. And all the desserts on the menu had some chocolate in them. But our lovely server talked to the kitchen and they concocted something divine for me: ginger ice cream with mint-infused whipped cream and cannolli! Sadly this predated smart phones so I have no photo: it was delicious but also so beautiful. That server got a generous tip.
This must be hard to cook something you cannot eat. It surely looks delicious!