Create Vegan Butter Chicken

Butter Chicken is a global favorite within the pantheon of Indian classics, but this vegan take includes no butter, no cream and no chicken. I know some of you are probably frowning at the screen right now upset that I've called a dish with no butter or chicken in it "butter chicken", but this dish is so close to the original, it just seemed wrong to call it a tomato and cauliflower curry.

In place of the chicken, I've used big hunks of cauliflower marinated in aromatics and spices that are roasted until caramelized. In place of the butter and cream I've used a combination of raw cashew nuts, coconut oil and nutritional yeast. I'd be lying if I told you that cauliflower has a taste and texture exactly like chicken (because it doesn't), but is it meaty and delicious? Absolutely!

It's the sauce though that really makes this dish shine. Rich, creamy, and redolent of warm spices, this curry strikes a marvelous balance between sweet, savory, spicy and tangy with loads of umami to boot. I modeled it after my real butter chicken, caramelizing the tomatoes as well as the aromatics, which lends depth and sweetness to the sauce. The cashews and coconut oil add plenty of richness to the sauce, and what they lack in dairy flavor is more than compensated for with a generous helping of nutritional yeast.

So there you have it, my faux "butter chicken", which ranks right up there with my vegan tunafish sandwich and Southwestern Tofu Scramble among dishes that even the most stalwart carnivore can enjoy.