Aloo Gobi
Tags: 
Aloo Gobi
Cauliflower
Potatoes
Indian Cuisine
Place of Learning: 
Kitchen Classroom
Grade Level: 
PreK – 2
Tags
Summary: 
Students will learn to make a simple roasted potato and cauliflower dish. They will play a game in which they compare and contrast many different kitchen and food objects based upon size, plant part, volume, and more.
Materials & Prep: 
Ingredients
  • 2 heads of cauliflower
  • 3 large potatoes, par boiled and cut into strips with skin on
  • whole coriander seeds, in three ramekins
  • whole cumin seeds, in three ramekins
  • curry powder, in a ramekin
  • salt, in three ramekins
  • olive oil, in a squirt bottle
Equipment and Tools
  • 2 - 1⁄2 teaspoon measuring spoons
  • 3 mortar and pestles
  • 15 cutting boards
  • 15 plastic lettuce knives
  • 3 medium bowls
  • 3 wooden serving spoons
  • 2 large saute pans
  • 2 large lids
  • 2 - 1 cup liquid measuring cups
  • 2 bean bags or small balls (for hot potato game)
  • Music-playing device with internet capabilities, to play music
  • Measuring cups, spoons, winter vegetables and cards for hot potato game
  • visuals
  • Book, ​Tops and Bottoms​ by Janet Stevens
  • enough bowls for every student (for eating)
  • forks for every student
  • drinking cups for every student
  • compost bucket
  • Take Home Recipes for each student – PDF
 
Before Class
  • Par-boil whole potatoes for 11 minutes, then slice them into strips.
  • Cut 3 heads of cauliflower into 10 large chunks each
  • Peel ginger knobs (1 1⁄2 inches in size, leaving the peel on top for students to hold while they grate)
Procedure Steps: 
1
Food Prep and Tray Set-Up
  1. Food Prep
    • Parboil potatoes with their skin on, cut them into strips
    • cut the cauliflower into quarters
  2. Potatoes and Cauliflower Tray – 3 trays per class of ~30 students, each tray contains:
    • Approximately 1 potato’s worth of potatoes, cut into strips
    • 1 head of cauliflower, cut into 10 large chunks
    • Olive oil (in squirt bottle)
    • Medium bowl
    • 5 cutting boards (on table)
    • 5 lettuce knives
  3. Seasoning Smash Tray – 3 trays per class of ~30 students, each tray contains:
    • Coriander seeds (in ramekin)
    • Cumin seeds (in ramekin
    • Curry powder (in ramekin)
    • salt (in ramekin)
    • mortar and pestle
    • 1⁄2 teaspoon measuring spoon
  4. Sauté – 2 trays per class of ~30 students, each tray contains:
    • Olive oil in squirt bottle
    • Large saute pan with lid
    • Wooden spoon
    • 1 cup liquid measuring cup
3 MINUTES
2
Opening
  1. Start with Bollywood music playing and stop it as a cue for them to turn their voices off and be ready to listen.
    • ​Welcome back to your kitchen, everyone! Today we will cook a recipe with vegetables that stay fresh all winter;; potatoes and cauliflower! This recipe comes from countries called Pakistan and India, and it is called aloo gobi.
    •  One of these grows underground and the other is a flower...Which do you think is the one that grows underground? Which one is a flower? Before we get started, we’re going to read a book about plant parts, a tricky rabbit, and a bear called ​Tops and Bottoms.

  2. Sing the song “Flowers, Stems, Leaves and Roots” to the tune of “Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes”
    • Flowers, stems, leaves and roots, seeds and roots Flowers, stems, leaves and roots, seeds and roots These are all plant parts that we eat. Flowers, stems, leaves and roots, leaves and roots!

  3. Today we will be eating two plant parts: the flower and the root!
25 MINUTES
3
Cook
  1. Potatoes and cauliflower
    • Half of the students receive cutting boards and plastic knives. They cut up the potatoes into bite-sized pieces (about 1⁄2 inch cubes) and put them into the bowl.
    • The other students receive large chunks of cauliflower that they break into small florets and put them into the bowl.
    • Halfway through, the two sides switch so every child has an opportunity to do both tasks
    • Add 2 TBSP olive oil to the bowl.
    • Add the seasonings to the bowl.

  2. Seasoning Smash
    • Half of the students add a pinch of cumin seeds.
    • Half of the students add a pinch of coriander seeds.
    • Each student measures 1⁄2 tsp curry powder.
    • Each student puts a pinch of salt into the mortar
    • Smash it smash it smash it, smash it all you can, smash it smash it smash it, and pass it to a friend! ​Around the circle until everyone has had a chance to smash the herb mixture

  3. Saute:
    • Add 1 TBSP olive oil to the pan
    • Add the spices to the pan
    • Add 1 cup water to the pan and bring it to a boil
    • Add the vegetables to the pan
    • Give each kid a chance to stir the pot three times
    • Set the pot to the side to simmer with the lid on while you do the hot potato activity
10 MINUTES
4
Hot Potato Game
  1. Come together as a whole class standing in a circle on the carpet. Play “Hot Potato”
    • Have the students toss around a bean bag
    • Sing the song that goes along with it: “Wiggles” song about potatoes, pausing at random interludes
    • When paused, have them do some comparison and contrasting.
25 MINUTES
5
Aloo Gobi
  1. When the Aloo Gobi is ready, serve, eat, and clean up.
Download Lesson Materials

Aloo Gobi Lesson Plan

Extension Activities
Vocabulary: 
  • Tradition:​ ​something a group of people do that has been passed down from generation to generation
  • Aloo Gobi​: an indian dish containing potato (aloo), cauliflower (gobi), and a spice mixture

Academic Standards

Common Core State Standards

English Language Arts Pre-K–2nd

SL1

Prepare for and participate effectively in a range of conversations and collaborations with diverse partners, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.

Contributors: 

This lesson is part of the Edible Schoolyard NYC curriculum.