Curry Cauliflower Tikka Masala Recipe – Indian Aloo Gobi (Keto & Vegetarian)
If you've ever have wanted to try an Indian dish, the curry cauliflower Tikka Masala would be the one you should start with. It's a subtle Indian dish with plenty of traditional curry and Tumeric. Traditional Tikka (meaning bits or pieces) Masala is usually made with marinated chicken in a spiced curry and white plain yogurt sauce.
In our recipe here, we've omitted the chicken and replaced it with cauliflower to make it vegetarian. We also serve it with Naan on the side to dip into the sauce.
Variations available for this recipe include:
For a meat (chicken) version, just add grilled or marinated boneless chunks of chicken. You can find the chicken tikka masala recipe here
Make it Aloo Gobi by adding potatoes and peas
My husband and I used to watch this amazing woman named Alamelu Vairavan on the PBS channel who made these wonderfully appetizing Indian dishes.
My husband had been over in Afghanistan for some time so he was familiar with Indian food and loved it - and I had also tried it many times and loved it myself. We would often go to a local Indian restaurant about every other week, but I never thought about making it myself... until we saw Alamelu.
It was because of her that we decided to try cooking Indian food ourselves. Our favorite that we made was a chicken masala. It is kind of like the Aloo Gobi, but it doesn't have the potatoes in it.
And since I've been on Keto and trying to convert dishes into a vegetarian, this was perfect to leave out the chicken.
This meal really is super easy to whip up because you just put everything together in a dish and cook it up!
I had the pleasure of speaking to Alamelu back in 2019 just before the pandemic came around and she was just so sweet on the phone... I really wished I was able to meet her in person. She was working on avegetarian cookbookat the time and she later published it in November 2020 - and it is fantastic! I loved all the recipes in it! If you are vegetarian or love to incorporate vegetarian dishes into your meal choices, grab this cookbook and add it to your stash.
I hope you try this and please go ahead and check out Alamelu's cookbooks below.
Curry Cauliflower Tikka Masala Recipe
Ingredients
1 head cauliflower
2tablespoonsbutter
2smallonions(or 1 large onion) finely diced
1 can coconut milk
8 oz plain greek yogurt
3 oz can tomato puree
2tbgarlicfinely grated
1tbgingerfinely grated
1 1/2teaspoonsgaram masala (optional)
2tspground cumin
2tspturmeric
1tspground coriander
1 tb brown sugar or brown sugar alternative for Keto (this is optional, use a low-carb replacement if needed)
Additions & Variations
2 cups rice to serve with
2 packages of naan to serve with
meat version - brown 1 package chicken breasts cut up into 1-inch cubes
aloo gobi version - add cooked potato chunks and 1/2 package of frozen peas
Directions
Place head of cauliflower into 1-inch pot of water to steam until not quite fully cooked, remove from heat and set aside
In a separate pan on medium heat melt the butter and fry the onions until soft (about 3 minutes) while scraping up any browned bits stuck on the bottom of the pan.
Pour the coconut milk in and whisk in the yogurt until smooth
Add in the tomato paste and whisk until smooth
Add in spices, mix until blended well
Let sit for 3 minutes while spices simmer and combine
Add in cauliflower and fully mix into the sauce to be fully covered. let simmer for 5 more minutes until cauliflower is cooked al dente.
Note:
cook rice separately while preparing sauce if you want to serve over rice
Prep Time: 5 minsCook Time: 15 minsTotal Time: 20 mins
Servings4
Ingredients
1 Cauliflower (head)
2tablespoons butter
2 small onions (or 1 large onion) finely diced
1can coconut milk
8ounces plain greek yogurt
3ounces can of tomato puree
2tablespoons garlic finely grated
1tablespoon ginger finely grated
1 1/2teaspoon garam masala (optional)
2teaspoons ground cumin
2teaspoons turmeric
1teaspoon ground coriander
1tablespoon brown sugar or brown sugar alternative for Keto (this is optional, use a low-carb replacement if needed)
Instructions
Place head of cauliflower into 1-inch pot of water to steam until not quite fully cooked, remove from heat and set aside
In a separate pan on medium heat melt the butter and fry the onions until soft (about 3 minutes) while scraping up any browned bits stuck on the bottom of the pan.
In the same pan, pour the coconut milk in and whisk in the yogurt until smooth
Add in the tomato paste and whisk until smooth
Add in spices, mix until blended well
Let sit for 3 minutes while spices simmer and combine
Add in cauliflower and fully mix into the sauce to be fully covered. let simmer for 5 more minutes until cauliflower is cooked al dente.
Keywords:
masala, curry, cumin, tumeric, cauliflower, indian