kelley cooks

Vegetarian butter chicken style cauliflower and chickpeas

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.

Adapted from: Zaynab Issa
photo of completed recipe: Vegetarian butter chicken style cauliflower and chickpeas

  • You'll be eating in: 50 minutes

  • Active time: 25 minutes

  • Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

For the roasted cauliflower:

  • 1head cauliflower, cut into bite size florets
  • 1/4teaspoon turmeric
  • 1/2teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/4teaspoon kashmiri chili powder
  • 2tablespoons olive oil

For the butter sauce:

  • 1onion, diced
  • 3tablespoons butter
  • 1tablespoon grated ginger (about 1" knob)
  • 4cloves minced garlic
  • 1.5teaspoons coriander
  • 1.5teaspoons cumin
  • 3/4teaspoon garam masala
  • 3/4teaspoon kashmiri chili
  • 1/2teaspoon fenugreek
  • 1teaspoon salt
  • 1(6 ounce) can tomato paste
  • 1cup water
  • 2/3cup heavy cream
  • 1can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

To serve:

  • rice
  • cilantro

Instructions

  1. Preheat

    Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

  2. 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.

  3. 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.

  4. 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.

  5. Serve

    Serve with rice and top with chopped cilantro.

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.

← All recipes