Separate small florets from the cauliflower, wash them and keep it aside.
Tie the fennel seeds/saunf in a small pouch using a muslin cloth. Cook the rice with required water and to this water, add the fennel sachet when cooking. Once the rice is done, remove the sachet and keep the rice aside.
Heat 2 teaspoon of oil and fry the onions, garlic and cashew nuts until golden brown. Now grind this along with ginger to a smooth paste and keep t aside.
In a wide pan, add 1 tablespoon of oil or butter or combination of both. Add all the seasoning ingredients and fry it for a minute.
Now add the chopped onions and fry it until golden brown.
Add the ground masala paste and sauté the paste in low flame until light brown.
Now add the chopped tomatoes, cauliflower florets, whisked curd, chili powder and salt.
Cook until the cauliflowers are cooked (but not mushy). Also make sure that the masala is not too watery. It should be a thick gravy in consistency.
At this stage, you could either layer the rice and this masala in a oven proof pan or add the cooked rice to the gravy and gently mix them to incorporate.
Cover the dish tightly with a foil and let it cook in low flame for about 15 minutes. You could do this over the gas or in an oven. I used the stove top.
Fry the cashews/almonds and raisin in ghee and garnish.
Serve hot with raita!