This super easy, ultra creamy, and heavily spiced Cauliflower and Chickpea Masala is my new favorite dinner! That spicy-creamy sauce is just so 👌that I have to sop up every last bit with a piece of naan. This dish comes together super fast, requires very little chopping, is insanely inexpensive, and holds up well in the fridge, so it’s great for meal prep! This one is going right into my weekly rotation. :)
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How to Serve the Cauliflower and Chickpea Masala
I’ve been eating my Cauliflower and Chickpea Masala with a piece of naan bread to scoop up that delicious sauce, but this dish would be equally as good over a bed of hot rice. Either way it’s creamy, spicy, and oh so delish!
Make it Spicy or Mild
You can adjust the heat of this sauce by increasing, decreasing, or even eliminating the amount of cayenne pepper in the spice mix. The amount listed below creates what I would call a “medium” spice level, but that’s extremely subjective, so take that with a grain of salt.
Make it Vegan
An easy sub for the heavy cream in this recipe would be full fat coconut milk (the stuff that comes in cans, NOT the dairy milk substitute). You can play around with the quantities, but I’d guess somewhere between 1/2 to 1 cup would work well.
Cauliflower and Chickpea Masala
Servings 4 About 1.25 cups eachIngredients
Masala Spice Mix
- 2 Tbsp garam masala ($0.60)
- 1/2 tsp cumin ($0.05)
- 1/2 tsp turmeric ($0.05)
- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika ($0.05)
- 1/4 tsp cayenne ($0.02)
- 1/2 tsp salt ($0.02)
- Freshly Cracked Pepper ($0.03)
Skillet Ingredients
- 1 yellow onion ($0.21)
- 3 cloves garlic ($0.24)
- 1/2 Tbsp grated fresh ginger ($0.15)
- 2 Tbsp olive oil ($0.32)
- 12 oz. frozen cauliflower florets ($1.00)
- 1 15oz. can chickpeas, drained ($0.49)
- 1 15oz. can tomato sauce* ($0.59)
- 1/4 cup water ($0.00)
- 1/3 cup heavy cream ($0.26)
- salt to taste ($0.02)
Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine the spices for the masala spice mix (garam masala, cumin, turmeric, smoked paprika, cayenne, salt, and pepper).
- Finely dice the onion, mince the garlic, and grate the ginger. Add all three to a large skillet along with the olive oil and sauté over medium heat until the onions are soft and translucent (about 3 minutes). Add the spice mix and continue to sauté for one more minute.
- Add the frozen cauliflower florets to the skillet with the aromatics and spices, and continue to sauté for about 5 minutes more, or until the cauliflower have thawed through and are completely coated in spices.
- Add the drained chickpeas, tomato sauce, and 1/4 cup water to the skillet. Stir to combine, then allow them to simmer over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, for about 15 minutes. This will help mellow the acidity of the tomato sauce and allow the spices to blend. If the mixture becomes too dry as it simmers, add a couple more tablespoons of water.
- After the sauce has simmered for 15 minutes, turn off the heat and stir in the heavy cream. Give the masala a taste and add salt as needed. Serve in a bowl either over rice or with a piece of bread for dipping.
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Notes
Nutrition
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How to Make Cauliflower Chickpea Masala – Step by Step Photos
Begin by combining 2 Tbsp garam masala, 1/2 tsp cumin, 1/2 tsp turmeric, 1/2 tsp smoked paprika, 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper, 1/2 tsp salt, and some freshly cracked pepper in a small bowl.
Finely dice one yellow onion, mince three cloves of garlic and grate about 1/2 Tbsp fresh ginger (ginger is hard to measure, so this is flexible).
Add the onion, garlic, and ginger to a large skillet with 2 Tbsp olive oil and sauté over medium heat until the onions are soft and translucent (about 3 minutes). Add the spice mix and continue to sauté for one more minute.
Add 12oz. frozen cauliflower florets to the skillet and continue to sauté until the cauliflower is thawed through and coated in spices.
Next, add one 15oz. can chickpeas (drained), one 15oz. can tomato sauce, and about 1/4 cup water to the skillet. Stir to combine and then let the sauce simmer over medium-low heat for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. If the sauce starts to dry out as it simmers, add a couple more tablespoons of water.
After the sauce has simmered and the tomato sauce has mellowed a bit, turn off the heat and stir in 1/3 cup heavy cream.
After stirring the cream into the sauce, give it a taste and add more salt to taste (I added about 1/4 tsp).
I garnished here with fresh cilantro, but didn’t find that it added a lot to the flavor, so that’s entirely optional!
Dig in!
Love,love, this recipe. I like the idea of trying it with coconut milk. But I stuck to the original. I put it in my Insta pot seared the onion, garlic and ginger. I added steamed broccoli sautéed it in the spices added the rest. Turned my pot on soup mode foe 15 minutes. It came out perfect. The. I added the heavy cream. It was heavenly. I served it over brown jasmine rice and your homemade naan. Also an excellent recipe!! Thanks foe sharing this it was a great meal!
Sorry. That should read steamed cauliflower
So I normally don’t leave comments, but this recipe really is the bomb!!! I blanched fresh cauliflower and used that instead of frozen florets and substituted the heavy cream with about 200ml coconut cream. Other than that I followed this recipe to the T and I’m shocked how delicious this came out along with how easy it was. The flavour of this curry reminds me of this beef dry Indian curry I used to make before I stopped eating meat and it’s probably the recipe I have missed the most. Now I can make this instead and be super satisfied! Also try serving with coconut rice!!
Made the vegan version of this and it is AMAZING!!! I am not vegan but the vegan version is ridiculously delicious!
Like most of us, I used to find Indian cooking intimidating. It boils down to knowledge of spices. I have been cooking Indian for a few years and have learned a lot, but not all online sources provide good recipes. This recipe is perfect. If it seems spicy, rest assured that once you add the coconut milk or cream, it moderates the spice level. I used fresh cauliflower and added potatoes, so it had to simmer a little longer, but otherwise I stuck to the recipe and it turned out great. This is a new favorite at our house.
Loved this recipe! Admittedly I changed it a bit to use what I had- I used plain yoghurt instead of cream because it was all I had, and its delicious!
What brand of garam masala did you use? The brand I have must be too heavy on the cloves because 2 Tbsp was way too overpowering. I want to try this again but think I may need a different kind of graram masala
Right now I have the Private Selection brand (Kroger’s private label), but I’ve used other kinds in the past. I don’t remember what the other brands are that I’ve used, I usually just buy whatever is available at the store I happen to be shopping in. :)
I love this recipe! I’ve made it a couple of times now. The first time I did it as written, only I used 1 head of fresh cauliflower because I couldn’t find frozen that wasn’t mixed with brocolli, and it was delicious. My 7 and 8 year olds thought it was a little spicy though, but they still devoured it. The second time,I used fresh cauliflower again because I couldn’t find frozen, but I used coconut milk instead of cream. I omitted the cream and water and just added 1 can of coconut milk. I also left out the cayenne pepper (because of my kids). The recipe was awesome both ways. This is definitely a keeper.
Wonderful! I used fresh cauliflower, and added extra cumin, garlic powder and paprika. Only did the cayenne pepper for individuals since some in the family do not like real spicy food. Definitely one we will make again.
Can you substitute fresh cauliflower for frozen?
Yes you certainly can!
I bravely suggested to my Indian boyfriend that I could make this recipe for us for our #stayathome dinner during this quarantine. Added extra spice and had him regularly test it. Got a “Not bad” which is pretty good, coming from him since that’s what he said about the food from an Indian restaurant we got takeout for from once (though admittedly, not his favorite Indian restaurant). It will never be as good as his mom’s coming, but I never expected that. 5 stars for not letting me make my Indian boyfriend bad Indian food.
Amazing recipe! I never realized how easy making Indian food is, but this recipe definitely proved it for me. I actually didn’t have the garam masala and used Red Tandoori Masala instead and the food still tasted amazing.
We made this a few nights okay. Three adults loved it. In the quarantine shopping days, frozen cauliflower was hard to find, but hubby found some. We didn’t plan ahead very well, so there was no naan, but I would like to make it again and make sure we have naan next time. We love Indian food, but there are no restaurants close by and now we have the quarantine stuff, so making it at home is probably a better option.
I have been following Budget Bytes for a long time, but this is our first time making this recipe. It is soooo good! I literally said, “Wow!” out loud after my first bite. Everything came out perfectly. Served with Naan and some cooked greens. Both my husband and I loved it!
This is definitely getting added to the meal rotation. I can hardly wait to eat the leftovers tomorrow. Your website has been a godsend as I’ve been trying to eat more vegetarian this year. Thank you!
Delicious! I added two large carrots, a can of peas, and used fresh cauliflower. Just popped the carrots first into the oil to soften them up before moving on with everything else. Peas I added with chickpeas, and fresh cauliflower I also added a little early to give it a chance to soften. I also upped the spice ratio to account for these additions, and I used 10oz full fat coconut milk instead of cream! Served over rice it was hearty and delicious!