Over the years, I’ve been sent a bunch of cookbooks and I’ve probably turned down many times the number that I’ve been sent just because I can’t read them all!

Anytime I get an offer to check out a new America’s Test Kitchen cookbook though, I always jump at the chance. They write unbelievable cookbooks that combine all of my favorite things: good recipes, excellent photos, and easy-to-understand instructions.

Their latest book, The Cooking School Cookbook, is maybe their best so far. I made this Cauliflower Vegetarian Curry from it a few weeks ago and it was one of the better curries I’ve ever had. Check out the recipe and also see how you can win a copy of this awesome book!

Cauliflower Vegetable Curry

5 from 2 votes
Author: Nick Evans
Servings: 6 Servings
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 50 minutes
This is a filling and tasty homemade vegetable curry packed with potatoes, cauliflower, and chickpeas. This is a must try recipe!

Ingredients 

  • 2 tablespoons mild or hot curry powder
  • 2 teaspoons garam masala
  • ¼ cup vegetable or coconut oil
  • 1 large white onion, diced
  • 12 ounces red potatoes, chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 inches fresh ginger, peeled and grated
  • 1 Serrano chile, minced
  • 1 tablespoon tomato paste
  • 1 15 oz. can diced tomatoes
  • ½ head cauliflower, cut into 1-inch pieces
  • 1 14 oz. can chickpeas, drained
  • 2 cups water
  • cups frozen peas
  • ½-1 cup coconut cream
  • Salt and pepper
  • Rice for serving

Instructions

  • Toast curry powder and garam malasa in a small skillet over medium heat until fragrant, 1-2 minutes. Set aside for later.
  • Heat vegetable oil or coconut oil in a large sturdy Dutch oven over medium-high heat until it’s shimmering. Add onions and potatoes and cook until veggies start to brown, about 10 minutes.
  • Make a well in the center of the pan and add another tablespoon of oil if the pan is dry. Add garlic, ginger, chiles, and tomato paste to the center and for 30 seconds.
  • Stir in reserved, toasted curry and stir to combine. Add cauliflower and stir to combine. Continue to cook for a minute or two.
  • In a small food processor, pulse diced tomatoes with juice to make a light sauce. Add tomato sauce to pan along with water and chickpeas. Season with a big pinch of salt and stir together.
  • Increase heat and bring curry to a simmer. Reduce heat to medium, cover, and cook until cauliflower and potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes.
  • Stir in peas and coconut cream. Season to your liking. Serve curry over cooked basmati rice.

Nutrition

Serving: 1bowl | Calories: 240kcal | Carbohydrates: 22g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 16g | Saturated Fat: 14g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 51mg | Potassium: 628mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 332IU | Vitamin C: 46mg | Calcium: 47mg | Iron: 2mg
Course: Main Dishes
Cuisine: Indian

Did you make this recipe?

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Cauliflower Vegetarian Curry

Toasting the Curry

This Cauliflower Vegetarian Curry recipe is actually not hard to make and it all comes together in a single pot which is great. There are a few tricks though to really amp up the flavors in the dish.

Trick number one is to toast the spices, both the curry powder and the garam masala. You can do this in a dry skillet over medium heat and just toast them for a few minutes until they are really fragrant.

Cauliflower Vegetarian Curry
Toasted.

Starting the Curry

To kick off the cooking for the actual curry, it’s important to cook the veggies in two groups. Group one is the onions and potatoes. You want to cook these first in a large Dutch oven over medium high heat for about 8-10 minutes so they brown nicely.  While the original recipe used vegetable oil to cook in, I used coconut oil to give it some extra flavor.

Important browning - Cauliflower Vegetarian Curry
Important browning.

Once the potatoes and onions are getting nicely browned, make a well in the center of your pot and add the garlic, chiles, and ginger to the center. If the pan is dry, add a bit more oil to the pan. These aromatics will only need to cook for thirty seconds or so.

Add the aromatics! - Cauliflower Vegetarian Curry
Add the aromatics!

Then add the toasted curry powder and the tomato paste. It will almost look like the stuff is burning at this point, but it’s really just developing a lot of excellent flavor. Let it cook for another 30-60 seconds like this. It should be a deep, almost orange color.

Nice colors! - Cauliflower Vegetarian Curry
Nice colors!

Ideally, you should add the cauliflower at this point and let that get nicely coated with the curry spices.

I have an inability to follow instructions perfectly so I added the cauliflower along with the diced tomatoes (you should puree the tomatoes if you can), water, and chickpeas.

Hearty veg! - Cauliflower Vegetarian Curry
Hearty veg!

Stir this all together, bring it to a simmer, then cover it and reduce heat to medium. Let the curry simmer for 10 minutes or so until the cauliflower and potatoes are tender.

Then stir in the peas and coconut cream and season the pot with salt.

This Cauliflower Vegetarian Curry is ready to serve!

Cauliflower Vegetarian Curry ~ Macheesmo
Boom. Dinner done.

This is a completely filling curry. I served mine over rice, but you could also serve this Cauliflower Vegetarian Curry with flat bread. It’ll make your house smell amazing and leftovers reheat wonderfully.

Quick Review and Giveaway!

cookbookspread

There are certain cookbooks that are just instant classics and I think this may be one of those books. It has over 600 recipes. Each recipe isn’t overly fancy and is completely perfected by the team of test kitchen cooks that try out the recipes. Most recipes are accompanied not only with ingredients and directions, but also step-by-step photos (the above spread is for the veggie curry I made) and a list of things that can go wrong and tips to prevent them.

I’ve never been to cooking school, but I do imagine that many of the techniques and secrets learned there are similar to the stuff in this book. If you are a beginner to intermediate cook, I think this would be a great cookbook to add to your shelves.

I’m giving away two copies of this book because I like it so much! All you have to do to enter is leave a comment below with what cooking technique you would like to learn!

I’ll pick two winners at random a week from today, Monday November 11th!

Winners Update!

The two winners of the cookbook giveaway are Jamie and Lynn! Congrats!