This dinner was made super-fast by the addition of two dead handy ingredients: Waitrose Cooks’ Ingredients Onion Curry Base and Patak’s Balti paste. This wiped so much time off the cooking, all I was waiting for was the cauliflower to get tender. The Waitrose onion curry base is particularly great; sweet, spicy and tender onions, garlic, ginger and chilli in a jar sweated down. Look out for them.

Quick cauliflower dhal:

Half a jar of Waitrose Cooks’ Ingredients Onion Curry Base

Half a jar of Patak’s Balti paste

1 head of cauliflower, broken into florets

1 litre vegetable stock

1 tin green lentils, drained

1 tablespoon double cream

1. Heat a little oil in a deep pan and add the onions. Cook for a minute and stir in the curry paste. Add the cauliflower and cook for another minute stirring to coat the cauli in the pastes.
2. Add the vegetable stock and bring to the boil. After five minutes add the lentils and continue cooking until tender. Just before serving stir through some cream.