I love Indian food. More specifically, I love Chicken Tikka Masala. But I no longer eat chicken. That’s ok. It’s that sauce that’s so special.
I tried out a few recipes before I gave up the bird, but none came close to the food that I often crave from our amazing local restaurant Arun’s Indian Kitchen. (If you’re ever in Coral Springs, FL, you must check them out.)
So in my new quarantine-inspired vegan adventure, I came across two recipes for my Indian food of choice.
Unfortunately, I didn’t save the source for the original recipe I found for “Vegan Butter Chicken”. (I’ll give you the source of the original recipe whenever possible… I’ll be more diligent about keeping that information when I find a recipe that works for me here on out.) Chicken Tikka Masala is often called “Butter Chicken” — a more Americanized version of an Indian classic, I suppose.
And then I found a recipe for “Vegan Butter Cauliflower” at itdoesnttastelikechicken.com (a wonderful site for some terrific recipes).
The recipe I’ll present in a moment is my own concoction constructed by combining some elements from each of those recipes.
Instead of cauliflower as the “meat” we used broccoli, simply because we like broccoli and aren’t huge fans of cauliflower (see picture above). But in this case, the recipe is simply for the sauce. Pour it over anything you want!
INGREDIENTS
Sauce
- 14 oz can of coconut milk
- 1/2 cup of raw cashews (soak in hot or boiling water to soften them)
- 1 small can of tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon garam masala
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon powdered ginger
Cauliflower/Broccoli or whatever you want to eat in the sauce
- 2 tablespoons vegan buttom
- 1 chopped yellow onion
- 4 cloves of garlic, mince
- whatever veggies you want
INSTRUCTIONS
Sauce: Add all of the sauce ingredients to a food processor or high-speed blender and blend until smooth and creamy
Veggies: Melt the vegan butter (a recipe to make your own is coming soon) in a large pot or frying pan. Add the onion and garlic and saute. Then mix in your veggies and toss them for a few minutes. Pour the sauce and stir. Cook on low-medium heat for about 1o minutes, until veggies are tender. Serve over rice or with a side of naan bread.
