Seasonal eating: cauliflower pakoras

This is a wonderful way to eat cauliflower, and makes a great starter for a curry meal.

1/2 large or 1 small head cauliflower, broken into bite-sized florets
1/2 cup gram (chickpea) flour
1 cup plain white flower or cassava flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking power (or 1/2 tsp each bicarbonate of soda and cream of tartar)
high-temp oil for frying, such as peanut oil

Combine the dry ingredients with 1 cup of water, and dilute to a thickish batter. Heat the oil over a medium-high heat in a wok. Test the temperature of the oil by dropping in a small amount of batter: if it cooks and turns golden within a minute, it's the right temperature. Toss the cauliflower in the batter in batches of a half-dozen or so florets at a time and add to the oil, turning when the batter turns golden. Drain on kitchen paper and serve hot.

This is also a great way to cook okra, plaintains, and purple sprouting broccoli.