Radha Thomas reveals the best kept dieting secret in her new book - “The Cauliflower Diet” (Random House India, Rs. 299)

Cauliflower is low carb and highly nutrient and clearly a godsend to people who want to try to lose weight but not sacrifice the goodies... a.k.a. all of us. It is great for Paleo dieters, Atkins dieters, vegans, diabetics, epicures and people who simple love the god damn veggie.  It is a “shape shifter”, as she puts it and is malleable to any form and fits into any dish.

“I’m not sure how I got the idea, but it happened about six years ago,” Thomas said, “mainly because I discovered it's low in carbohydrates. My SO (Significant Other) and I are constantly trying to lose weight and we like to control carb intake. The cauli was a miracle answer and once I began, there was no stopping.”

The book contains all manners of recipes from the humble but essential Thayir Saadam (curd rice) to adventurous Cauliflower Steaks and California Sushi Rolls. Once you’ve got the basic of cooking cauli as rice (Pretty easy btw. It's all in the book, we are not giving away secrets here) you will be ready to experiment with all the recipes. Our personal favourite was the cauliflower biryani, due to reasons which go beyond it being quicker.

Thomas’s recommendation is the pizza, for sheer innovativeness. “Taste-wise, my favourite recipe is Cauliflower Pizza, because it's seriously delicious. But in terms of making pizza, well that's a commitment. It takes a while. Fortunately, my left-hand woman Bagya is now an expert and as long as we have good cheese and pepperoni, we're in business.” But when it comes to usefulness she thinks the winner is the Cauliflower Pilaf because it can be had with anything from yogurt to Chicken Curry to Spinach in Cream Sauce.

The book offers a look into the author’s life in little asides before each recipe. We enjoyed the nuggets about her life in Bangalore and her crusade with staying in shape (a race she is clearly winning, might we add.) And tales of Bagya, her “wonderful and cheerful assistant”.

But the book is not just all flowery recipes, pardon the pun. It comes backed with a lot of scientific research and chapters about nutritious wonders of the veggie. “I thoroughly enjoyed researching all the medical benefits of the cauliflower. From the fibre content to the high vitamin C and K content, it's a marvellous veggie. As I began deconstructing the science, I found so many reasons why people should toss out the white rice and eat Cauliflower Rice. It's all in the book. Hint, hint.”

So here’s the diet you have been looking for your whole life with an easily available and magic ingredient: cauliflower.

A fun fact according the author: “The sound of a cauliflower stem snapping is very much like a bone breaking.”

The Cauliflower Diet, by Radha Thomas is available here: http://explo.in/1RSYPdr