The night before, cut the cauliflower into medium florets and place in a large bowl.
Add the buttermilk, chilli powder, cumin, sugar and a pinch of salt and pepper. Mix together with your hands, cover and place in the fridge overnight to marinate.
Put the flour in a bowl with the paprika, garlic granules and a pinch of salt and pepper. Mix to evenly distribute the spices.
Remove the cauliflower from the buttermilk, then dip in the flour, coating on all sides. Leave in the flour for a couple of minutes to soak up any excess moisture. Repeat until all the cauliflower is fully coated.
Fill a deep fat fryer to the max line, or a large saucepan one third full of oil. It’s important not to fill further than one third as oil expands when heated and will climb further when frying.
Heat the oil to 160C (325F) and fry the cauliflower in batches, lowering in 3-4 pieces at a time so that they don’t overcrowd the pan and stick together. It should take 8 minutes for them to become crisp and golden brown.
Drain on kitchen paper and serve warm.
For the dip shown here, I combined equal parts dark soy sauce and sweet chilli sauce and added a little chopped fresh coriander.