The Forging of Aloo Gobi in British Colonial India

History by Fred Garratt-Stanley

Have any restaurant recommendations along this route? Either way, enjoy the story by Fred Garratt-Stanley below! -Katherine

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The Forging of Aloo Gobi in British Colonial India

By Fred Garratt-Stanley

Cauliflower’s moment is in full swing. Once sidelined in much of North American and European cooking, this mighty vegetable is finally getting its flowers (pun intended). Food lovers have opened their eyes to its flavor-storing capabilities, whether through charred "steak"-style wedges, spiced, crispy roasted florets, or tangy pickles and relishes.

As such, cauliflower sales have skyrocketed in recent years, with the Wall Street Journal reporting a 40% rise between 2016 and 2019. Boosted by chefs like Yotam Ottolenghi and Meera Sodha, it's become a staple of recipe books across the globe. But there's one country with richer, more historic ties to the cauliflower than most.

In 1822, cauliflower seeds were first sown in Indian soil. The man responsible was Dr. Jemson, a botanist from Kew who managed the British East India Company's gardens in Uttar Pradesh state. According to food historian Utsa Ray, this was a distinctly tactical ploy. Cauliflower originated in Cyprus and the eastern Mediterranean, but was long popular across Europe, having reputedly reached Britain in the 16th century. In India, newly imported foods such as this were designed to represent a "symbol of progress" for the oppressed "subject population." However, British colonizers may not have predicted the extent to which the cauliflower would thrive in India.

The fertile soil in areas like the south Indian Deccan Plateau and the Ganges River Basin allowed cauliflower to grow without the same level of painstaking care required in Europe, and in the decades and centuries since, the vegetable has become a cooking staple in various regions across India. Perhaps the most popular and globally recognisable dish that has been developed as a result is aloo gobi, a hearty, aromatic cauliflower and potato combo described by Anglo-Indian chef Vivek Singh as probably "the most common and basic vegetable curry you will find anywhere in India.”

There's no universal way of making this dish — it's popular all over India and Pakistan, and different regions and chefs propose different methods. However, they pretty much all agree on the fundamentals: tomatoes, a base of garlic, ginger, and onion — the holy trinity of Indian cooking — and a range of spices that typically includes cumin and coriander seeds, plus turmeric to give the dish its vivid yellow colour. The result is vibrant, delicious, and at the same time, incredibly cheap and simple.

Due to the complex postcolonial relationship between Britain and India (and of course, the excellence of the dish), aloo gobi has also become one of the latter nation's most successful culinary exports to the UK. It's a staple of British Indian cuisine, and a vegetable dish that's loved far beyond the borders of these historically intertwined nations. As the humble beauty of the cauliflower continues to be celebrated, let's shower aloo gobi with the praise it deserves.

More Food Reading:

• This is not “Minnesota sushi,” this is a ham roll-up and my friend from Alaska is the only person I know who makes them.

• More history of apples as well as profiles of the folks who are finding forgotten varieties in the wild. Good companion to the shorter piece I wrote last year, linked below.

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