Tandoori cauliflower

When we were kids, our family used to go to the small Indian restaurant. I was a kid such a long time ago that I can even remember the restaurant being divided into two sections, smoking and nonsmoking. My sister, my dad and I ordered the same thing every time—half a tandoori chicken. It would take a time, but it was worth it. I loved the spice mixture and the exotic red color.

It has been a while since I ate any chicken, so I haven’t had my tandoori chicken either. Indian restaurants tend to make their tandoori stuff with meat, so I’ve had a long pause on everything tandoori. I felt like I was missing something, so I did what I always do: I started to think about how I could make the thing I wanted but couldn’t have, the way I wanted it. I thought I could make something with cauliflower, since it is more or less the official vegetable substitute for chicken after the cauliflower wings boom.

I made some dairy-free raita and naan bread to go with my tandoori cauliflower. They made a really nice combo.

The ingredients for the tandoori cauliflower

One medium sized head of cauliflower

1 tsp tandoori spice mix (ours had salt added, so we didn’t add any additional salt)

1 clove of garlic

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp tomato paste

2 tbsp dairy-free yogurt

Heat your oven to 200°C / 390°F.

Chop your cauliflower into small pieces.

Mix all the ingredients in a small bowl. Cover the cauliflower with the marinade.

Cook the cauliflower pieces in your oven for 20 minutes or until they get some color.

Enjoy!