Tikka Masala is a South Asian dish that has become one of the most popular dishes in the UK and all around the world. Generally, it's served with chicken but our recipe is made with a whole roasted cauliflower.
We've never tried the meat version but we are in love with our vegan Whole Roasted Cauliflower Tikka Masala, and we are sure you'll love it too!
Cauliflower is probably one of the most versatile vegetables. You can cook almost anything with cauliflower and it will taste amazing. From an Asian-style Orange Cauliflower to this Whole Roasted Cauliflower Tikka Masala. Our recipe is Vegan and Gluten-free.
For this recipe, we marinate the cauliflower with different spices and plant-based yoghurt before roasting it in the oven for 40 minutes. While the cauliflower is roasting, we prepare the delicious tikka masala sauce in which the cauliflower will be served. We make a tikka masala with a combination of different spices, fresh onion, garlic and ginger and cashew cream made from soaked cashews.
Our whole roasted cauliflower tikka masala is really simple to prepare once you have all the spices. If you enjoy cooking Asian food at home, you'll probably already have all of them. Another option is to get a Tikka Masala Spice Mix so you won't need to buy all the spices separately.
Whole Roasted Cauliflower Tikka Masala Step by Step
How to Marinate and Roast a Whole Cauliflower
To prepare this recipe, choose a fresh and good looking cauliflower. Depending on the people you are cooking for, adapt the size of the cauliflower. Our recipe is made with a medium-size cauliflower and it serves 4 to 5 people.
Remove the stem leaves, steam the cauliflower for 10 minutes and place it cauliflower on a baking tray. Preheat the oven to 200C.
To prepare the marinade, mix in a separate bowl garam masala, turmeric, chili powder, coriander, salt, oil and plant-based yoghurt. Skip the chili powder for a non-spicy marinade. Combine all the ingredients until you have a uniform batter. Using your hands, cover the cauliflower head with the mixture making sure the whole surface of the cauliflower is well coated.
Bake the cauliflower for about 40 minutes at 200C or 400F. You will know that your cauliflower is ready when you can easily put a fork through.
How to make the Tikka Masala Sauce
While the cauliflower is cooking, you can prepare the yummy Tikka Masala. First, soak cashews in hot water as they need to be soaking for at least 20 minutes.
Using a garlic and ginger presser, press some garlic cloves and ginger. Then, finely chop some onion.
Heat some coconut oil or vegetable oil in a pan, for this recipe we use our cast iron pan. Add the onion and when it starts to soften, add the pressed garlic and ginger. Stir for a couple of minutes and add the spice mix.
The spice mix we use to make Tikka Masala is a combination of garam masala, cumin, coriander, turmeric, smoked paprika, cardamom and black pepper.
Cook your spices for at least one minute until fragrant. Add chopped fresh tomatoes and fry for a couple of minutes.
When the cashews are ready, drain the water and rinse them with cold water. Transfer the cashews into a blender jug and add water. Using a hand blender, blend until the cashews are totally blended and you have a smooth sauce.
Add the cashew cream into the pan with the rest of the ingredients, stir and let it simmer for 10 minutes.
Transfer the sauce into a blender jug and blend all the ingredients until smooth consistency. Your Tikka Masala sauce is now ready to serve!
Serving Suggestions
To serve our Whole Roasted Cauliflower Tikka Masala, we recommend using a big serving bowl. Place the cauliflower in the centre and add the rich Tikka Masala sauce covering the bottom of the bowl. Ground some pistachios and sprinkle them on the top. Right before serving, cut the cauliflower into 4-5 slices depending on the portions you want to serve.
Our favourite way to serve this dish is with steamed basmati rice. You can serve this Whole Roasted Cauliflower Tikka Masala with naan bread or papadums as well.
This dish is perfect for family dinners as the presentation is beautiful, it's easy to serve and it just tastes delicious. Your guests won't be disappointed! When we plan on making dinner for more than 4 people, we serve it together with another Indian curry such as our Vegan Palak Paneer or our Chana Masala. They both go perfectly with this Tikka Masala.
How to make this Whole Roasted Cauliflower Tikka Masala Nut-free
We use cashew cream for our recipe, but we know that nuts represent an allergen problem for many people.
To make this recipe nut-free, substitute the cashew cream for coconut milk. Coconut milk is creamy and has a nutty flavour as well. We use it in many of our recipes and it works really good when making this sauce too.
Whole Roasted Cauliflower Tikka Masala
Ingredients
Cauliflower Head Ingredients
- 1 Cauliflower head
- 2 teaspoon garam masala
- ½ teaspoon turmeric
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon coriander
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon coconut oil
- 3 tablespoon plant based yoghurt
Tikka Masala Ingredients
- 1 medium onion
- 4 garlic cloves
- 1 thumb-sized piece of ginger
- 2 teaspoon garam masala
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon coriander
- ½ teaspoon turmeric
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- ½ black pepper
- Seeds of 4 cardamom pods
- 2 tomatoes
- 1 cup cashews
- 1 cup water
Instructions
- Remove the stem leaves and steamd the cauliflower for 10 minutes. Place the cauliflower on a baking tray. Preheat the oven to 200C.
- To prepare the marinate, mix in a separate bowl the garam masala, turmeric, chili powder, coriander, salt, oil and plant-based yoghurt. Combine all the ingredients until you have a uniform batter. Using your hands, cover the cauliflower head with the mixture making sure the whole surface of the cauliflower is well coated.
- Bake the cauliflower for about 40 minutes at 200C or 400F. You will know that your cauliflower is ready when you can easily put a fork through.
- While the cauliflower is cooking, you can prepare the Tikka Masala. First, soak cashews in hot water as they need to be soaking for at least 20 minutes.
- Finely chop or press the garlic and ginger and finely chop the onion.
- Heat some coconut oil or vegetable oil in a pan. Add the onion and when it starts to soften, add the garlic and ginger. Stir for a couple of minutes and add the spices.
- Cook the spices for at least one minute until fragrant. Chop the tomatoes, add them to the pan and fry for a couple of minutes.
- When the cashews are ready, drain the water and rinse them with cold water. Transfer the cashews into a blender jug and add water. Using a hand blender, blend until the cashews are totally blended and you have a smooth sauce.
- Add the cashew cream into the pan with the rest of the ingredients, stir and let it simmer for 10 minutes.
- Transfer the sauce into a blender jug and blend all the ingredients until smooth consistency.
- Place the roasted cauliflower in a big serving bowl and add the sauce until the bottom of the bowl is covered. Add more sauce on the top before serving.
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