Cauliflower tikka masala

The second dish i made for my thanksgiving theme meal is this yummilicious cauliflower tikka masala. I have been making paneer masala for a quite long itme now, though the recipe is not here in the blog. So, i first thought i would make my favorite paneer tikka masala, but then with cauliflower in season, i have got two beautiful flowers sitting in my refrigerator.

Didnt want to waste them, so i made this finger-licking gravy and served it with beautifully roasted cauliflower. The roasted florets had a nice crunch and the gravy complimented it so well.

If you are planning for a simple meal i would definitely recommend this tikka masala. It can be paired with roti and as well as rice. I served it with Lime and sesame seeds rice. The rice had only less spice and it paired so beautifully with this side. Altogether a delicious meal, that got ready in minutes.
For the dessert i made a simple No Bake Oreo cheesecake, recipe is coming next in my kitchen.

Ingredients

200 grams cauliflower florets

1 tablespoon oil

½ teaspoon salt

a pinch of turmeric powder

1 - 1.5 teaspoon tsp tandori masala

Mix together

½ teaspoon red chili powder

½ teaspoon coriander powder

¼ teaspoon cumin powder

¼ teaspoon turmeric powder

For the masala

1 onion, roughly chopped

2 tomatoes, roughtly chopped

4-5 cashewnuts

1 green chili, halved

2-3 cloves of garlic, minced

¼ teaspoon red chili powder

¼ teaspoon coriander powder

2 pinches of garam masala powder

salt to taste

Method

First let us prepare the cauliflower

Clean the cauliflower florets, In a bowl, add the florets and pour hot water on top, until the florets are fully submerged. Add turmeric powder to this and let this sit for 8-10 minutes. Drain and keep aside.
In a small bowl, take oil, tandori masala and salt. Mix well. Take the florets in a baking pan, pour this spice oil on top, and using your hands coat the florets well with this oil.
Preheat the oven to 200C and roast the cauliflower for 45-50 minutes or until the top of the florets are nicely browned. Since i was making this for my meal, i removed the florets when they are nicely browned, if you prefer a little charred florets, let it roast for another 10 more minutes.

While the florets are roasting. let us prepare the masala. Heat a pan, add a teaspoon of oil, when it is hot, add onions, green chili, and garlic. Saute until the onion turn translucent. Next add the tomatoes and ¼ cup of water. Let it cook until the tomatoes turn mushy. Now add all the spice powder, salt and the cashews, and another ¼ cup of water, let it be on the heat for another 8-10 minutes for the spice powder to blend well.
Once done, remove from heat, let it cool for 10 minutes. Now blend the ingredients with ½ cup of water. Blend it smooth.
Now again, in the same sauce pan in which you sauteed the ingredients, heat another 1 teaspoon oil, when it is hot, add the blended masala to it. Let it cook until the oil separates on top, about 8-10 minutes, if you feel the gravy is too thick, add 2-3 tbps of water to it.