Vegetarian butter chicken style cauliflower and chickpeas
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Butter chicken is traditionally made with a cashew based sauce that simmers for hours. I used Zaynab Issa’s technique to speed up the sauce with heavy cream and also made it vegetarian. With warm spices and rich, creamy, caramelized tomato sauce I promise you won’t miss the meat.
You'll be eating in: 50 minutes
Active time: 25 minutes
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients
For the roasted cauliflower:
- 1
head cauliflower, cut into bite size florets
- 1/4
teaspoon turmeric
- 1/2
teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4
teaspoon kashmiri chili powder
- 2
tablespoons olive oil
For the butter sauce:
- 1
onion, diced
- 3
tablespoons butter
- 1
tablespoon grated ginger (about 1" knob)
- 4
cloves minced garlic
- 1.5
teaspoons coriander
- 1.5
teaspoons cumin
- 3/4
teaspoon garam masala
- 3/4
teaspoon kashmiri chili
- 1/2
teaspoon fenugreek
- 1
teaspoon salt
- 1
(6 ounce) can tomato paste
- 1
cup water
- 2/3
cup heavy cream
- 1
can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
To serve:
rice
cilantro
Instructions
Preheat
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
Roast the cauliflower
Combine cauliflower, turmeric, kosher salt, kashmiri chili and olive oil and spread on a baking sheet. Roast until tender, about 25 minutes, shaking the pan every 8-10 minutes.
Make the sauce
Sautee the onion in butter for about 5 minutes. Then add the ginger, garlic, and spices and toast for a minute more until fragrant. Add in the can of tomato paste and let cook down for 15 minutes, stirring occassionally, until the tomato butter sauce is thick and caramelized.
Combine
Add in the water, cream, roasted cauliflower, and chickpeas. Stir together and add more water if needed to cover. Let cook together for 10 minutes.
Serve
Serve with rice and top with chopped cilantro.
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Substitutions
Vegetables: any hearty vegetables would be great in this dish. I've used potato in place of cauliflower and can't wait to try it with winter squash.
Cream: I haven't tested this but I'm pretty confident you could substitute vegan butter and coconut milk to make the recipe vegan.