Vegan Butter cauliflower is a rich creamy curry made with roasted cauliflower, coconut cream, and lots of spices. This recipe is inspired by Indian butter chicken, but with cauliflower. So another delicious, healthy, and flavorful rich vegan curry Indian Butter Cauliflower Recipe for your main course menu.
This just tastes like the same but a vegan version of butter chicken. I have also made vegan butter chicken with tofu. I will be publishing that soon. However, this vegan butter chicken cauliflower is heavenly delicious too.
In this recipe, I've roasted my cauliflower for good 20 minutes which enhanced the flavor. You can directly also add your cauliflower to the butter masala curry. But in my experience, the roasted cauliflower in this curry tastes better.
Again this curry is loaded with lots of flavorful spices that make the curry so heavenly delicious. So little bit of preparation and a delicious vegan butter cauliflower is ready.
This creamy rich curry goes best with both rice or flatbreads. Serve the butter cauliflower with vegan naan/ tandoori roti or lachha paratha and any of this raita for a full course menu.
What is butter cauliflower?
Butter cauliflower is basically an Indian curry. This is also known as gobi Makhani. Makhani is a rich gravy made with lots of butter and cream and rich ingredients like cashew nuts, etc. These vegetarian makhani recipes are inspired by Authentic Indian Butter Chicken or Murg Makhani. In this rich, creamy gravy, you can add either paneer or cauliflower for the vegetarian version.
Since this is vegan, we will be avoiding dairy products like paneer, & heavy cream, etc. But these roasted cauliflower tastes equally great. You can also make this vegan butter chicken with roasted tofu or baked tofu. The gravy recipe will remain the same. And the only difference is tofu in place of cauliflower. The richness of gravy comes from coconut cream and lots of cashew nuts also. If you are allergic to nuts, then skip that.
How to Make Vegan Butter Chicken or Butter Cauliflower?
Ingredients & Preparation:
Cauliflower Head - Take a large head. Clean and wash 3 /4 times. Pat dry with a kitchen towel. Now cut into bite-sized florets. If florets are large, cut into 2 - 3 pieces.
Coconut Milk - This will make the curry thicker and creamier. We will use half of the cream/ milk to marinate the florets.
Marination Mix - Keep it simple with salt, paprika, garlic powder and onion powder. Add in coconut milk or cream.
Butter Masala Gravy- Vegan butter/ olive oil, whole spices (bay leaf, clove, cardamom, black pepper, cinnamon), ground spices (coriander, red chili powder/ paprika, cumin powder, turmeric powder), salt, onion, tomatoes, 1/4 cup cashew nuts (or 2 tbsp cashew paste), and coconut milk.
Process Steps:
This is an easy 2-step recipe and takes less than 20 minutes to make the rich creamy gravy.
Step - 1 : Make Roasted Cauliflower
Make a marination mixture. Add into chopped cauliflower. Leave it for 20 minutes to marinate. Then spread the florets on a baking tray.. bake for 20 minutes at 350 - 400 degrees.
Step - 2 : Make Gravy
Heat a pan. Add vegan butter/ oil. Put in whole spices and saute for 15 - 20 seconds or till fragrant. Next add chopped onion, ginger-garlic (paste/ minced), and saute till translucent. Add ground spices and give it a nice stir. Now add chopped tomatoes or 14oz canned tomatoes and saute till tomatoes are cooked soft and start releasing oil.
Once done puree the cooked onion tomato and spice mixture in a high-speed blender (remove the bay leaf before grinding). Then transfer the pureed sauce to the cooking pot or pan again.
Now add the rest coconut milk and cashew paste. Add roasted cauliflower and simmer for 5 minutes more. Garnish with chopped fresh coriander leaves and serve hot.
Serving ideas for vegan butter chicken or butter cauliflower
This is a rich and creamy curry recipe. It pairs up well with steam rice, any of the flatbreads you love. Or with this vegan naan. I personally like it with rice. And it's delicious and addictive.
More Indian vegan curry recipes here:
Recipe Card for Vegan Butter Cauliflower aka Vegan Butter Chicken
Vegan Butter Cauliflower (Vegan Butter Chicken)
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 large cauliflower head
- 1 can coconut milk (240ml)
Marination Mixture
- 1/2 cup coconut milk
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp lemon juice
Curry Gravy/ Sauce
- 2 - 3 tbsp vegan butter or oil
- 1 bay leaf
- 4 clove
- 4 cardamom
- 1/2 inch cinnamon
- 5 - 6 black pepper
- 1 tbsp coriander powder
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tsp red chilli powder
- 3 - 4 medium onion roughly chopped
- 2 medium tomato roughly chopped
- 1 tsp salt
- 3/4 cup water
- 3 tbsp coriander leaves finely chopped
- 1 tsp ginger garlic paste 4 garlic pods + 1/2 inch ginger
- Rest of the coconut milk
Instructions
- Take a large head cauliflower.
- Clean and wash 3 /4 times.
- Pat dry with a kitchen towel.
- Now cut into bite-sized florets.
- If florets are large, cut into 2 - 3 pieces.
- In a bowl take 1/2 can coconut milk.
- Add salt, paprika, garlic powder and onion powder.
- Add in the chopped cauliflower. Mix it well.
- Leave them for 20 minutes to marinate in the spices.
- Then spread the florets on a baking tray.
- Bake for 20 minutes at 375 - 400 degrees
Making Curry Gravy/ Sauce
- Heat a pan. Add vegan butter/ oil.
- Put in whole spices (bayleaf, cardamom, cinnamon, peppers, cloves) and saute for 15 - 20 seconds or till fragrant.
- Add chopped onion, ginger garlic (paste/ minced)
- Saute on medium flame till onions turn translucent.
- Add ground spices and give it a nice stir.
- Now add chopped tomatoes and saute till soft and starts releasing oil on sides.
- Turn off heat and allow it to cool down slightly.
- Then transfer the cooked spices into a blender and puree it to smooth paste.
- Transfer the pureed curry paste to pot/ pan again.
- Add 1/2 - 3/4 cup water and bring it to simmer.
- Now add rest of the coconut milk.
- Next, add in the roasted cauliflower and simmer for 5 - 7 minutes more.
- Turn off heat once the gravy thickens to the desired consistency.
- Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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Emmeline
I just love this idea, saving to try soon! Love a good butter chicken but I also love cauliflower - so I think this might just be a dream come true 😉
Jacqueline Meldrum
This looks utterly delicious. I'm saving this to try. Is it ok to be craving this at 10 in the morning?
Sam G
It’s currently 8:37am and I am debating heading to the store to grab the ingredients. I’m right there with ya! 😂
Ipsa Faujdar
Aww, that's so sweet. Lots of love. Hope you enjoyed the curry 🙂
David
Yum! I love this idea! I actually frequently serve a roasted cauliflower with Indian butter chicken -- this recipes combines the two ideas in one tasty recipe!
Dannii
What a great vegan twist on butter chicken. I can't wait to try it.
Jen
You photos have my stomach growling so this just shot to the top of my "to make" list! Thanks for sharing.
Katya
Just made this- it was delicious. Left the cauliflower in the oven for significantly longer tripled the red pepper powder but it was a great recipe
Ipsa Faujdar
thank you.glad u liked it 🙂