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!
This is a great recipe! Making sure to use a quality garam masala is definitely the key to making this super flavorful. I used extra garlic and ginger and subbed coconut milk for the heavy cream to keep it vegan. I also added some frozen shopped spinach at the end for some extra greens. Love this for a quick weeknight meal.
I made this a couple times during quarantine and it’s so yummy. I used half and half in place of the heavy cream and it still turned out great. Very hearty and healthy :)
Very good but maybe my spices suck or I need a lot of flavour. I added around double to triple of what the original recipe asked for and the spices were still a little muted by the tomato sauce. Still though, very delicious. It’d be even better with meat!
Maybe your spices were stale. Try it again with fresher spices. Any leftover spice, keep in a screw-top jar. I save jam and sauce jars for this reason. I have one cupboard shelf stocked with all sorts of spices and herbs. But then I cook Indian food at least once a week!
I had this issue, as well. Mine came out very tomatoey and was also darker in color than your typical masala. All my spices are brand new, so that wasn’t the issue, and I was able to fix it by adding more of the heavy cream (in the end I probably had to use about double the amount of heavy cream listed in the recipe).
Great recipe! I didn’t find it needed the extra water. And instead of heavy cream I added powdered coconut cream, then cooked it a bit to thicken it up (maybe my tomato sauce was a bit thin).
At any rate, it’s a delicious speedy meal with plenty of spicy punch. Thank you!
This was a great recipe in a pinch! Used fresh cauliflower and blanched it first. I was out of fresh ginger so added dried to the spice mix. Also did not have heavy cream so used the rest of the whole milk I had (about 2 tbsp) and a spoonful of whole milk yogurt. Topped with cilantro and yogurt which added a nice tanginess.
This is delicious! I used fresh cauliflower instead of frozen so I added a half cup of water with the cauliflower and cooked for ten minutes before adding additional ingredients. I substituted light coconut milk for the heavy cream, and served over basmati rice. Also, we passed toppings – coconut, sliced jalapeño peppers, and toasted chopped cashews. Not necessary, but a nice touch that would make it a “company dinner.”
Made this for the first time tonight and it was delicious!! This will be added to my weekly rotation!
My new favorite easy Indian dish! The flavors are insane! I used almond milk creamer in place of the heavy cream to keep it dairy free, and it was still delicious!!
I’ve made this before and have loved it!
Question for these quarantined times: I have almost everything on hand to make this except the right amount of tomato sauce (I have about half of a 14.5 oz can leftover from a previous meal). Any suggestions on what would be best to substitute for the rest? I have tomato paste and other canned tomato products. Thank you!
I have the same question, can you use crushed tomatoes??? Will they cook down enough?
I love this dish but I am wondering if it freezes well.
Tomato Paste is easy to turn into sauce! I put the paste in a pot, add water to preferred consistency, some salt and onion powder, maybe garlic powder and you’re good to go!
If you have other tomato products like peeled or diced, you could throw it in a blender/use an immersion blender and it would be about the same.
Fast, easy, delicious and a good recipe for the end of the week (or during quarantine :-) ) — the fresh cauliflower I bought about a week ago was still fresh and good. Topped it with green onions and cilantro for color. Thanks!
I loved this recipe! I had to substitute cauli rice for the larger pieces, but it was delicious, fragrant, and pretty!!
Really really good! Served it with Basmati rice and Naan bread.
This recipe is WONDERFUL! I had to make some substitutions to use what I had. I used a can of tomato soup plus 1/4 cup of water instead of tomato sauce. This made it a bit sweet at first, but once it simmered, the flavor mellowed out. I also used about 1/3 of a block of cream cheese instead of heavy cream like another person suggested and it worked well.
I will agree that this is a medium spice level. It’s surprisingly filling and I’m so thrilled I made it. Thank you Beth and everyone else on the team!
We tried this recipe last night and it was fabulous! I used fresh cauliflower instead of frozen and steamed it for 5 minutes before adding it to mix. Very tasty, easy meal to make!
Thanks for sharing the fresh cauliflower info – that’s what I’ve got to work with. :)
Thank you too for sharing the fresh cauli info!!!!
This dish was more amazing than I expected it to be. I don’t ever buy frozen cauliflower, but I bought all of the ingredients I didn’t have from your 15 Recipes for Emergency Preparedness. SO GOOD! The flavors are amazing and I loved the spice. You could sub cooked chicken pieces for the cauliflower and probably even used frozen broccoli in a pinch (but it might not look as pretty). I had it with a piece of garlic bread because I couldn’t get to Trader Joe’s to get my favorite frozen naan. And then put the leftovers in individual containers over leftover cooked rice I had frozen. Thank you so much!