Spiced Cauliflower and Tofu in Green Masala Sauce. Baked Cauliflower and Tofu in green cilantro sauce. Hara Masala Gobi Tofu. The green masala sauce paste can be made ahead and stored. Vegan Gluten-free Nut-free Recipe. Can be soy-free with chickpea tofu or chickpeas or beans or other veggies. Jump to Recipe
This is an easy green masala sauce that you can add many things to. In this recipe, the cauliflower and tofu are tossed in some spices and baked, added to the simmering sauce and served. The flavors meld together and the baked roasted cauliflower and tofu are crisp and smoky.
The green masala sauce has cilantro and some spinach and is a flexible sauce. You can make it with all cilantro, or all spinach or other baby greens. If you hate fresh cilantro, you might like this well cooked cilantro sauce, or use mint + spinach instead. Add veggies of choice or chickpeas or beans. Loads of options.
Serve with Naan or other flatbread or over rice.
More Easy Indian Meals from the blog
- Mushroom Matar Masala
- Bombay Potato and Peas
- Aloo Baingan – Potato Eggplant Curry
- Tofu Matar Masala
- Tofu in Spinach Curry – Saag Tofu
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Spiced Cauliflower and Tofu in Green Masala Sauce - Hara Masala Gobi Tofu
Ingredients
Cauliflower and Tofu:
- 1/2 (0.5 ) large head of cauliflower chopped into small florets
- 7 oz (198.45 g) tofu pressed for 5 mins in paper towels and cubed, or use 1 cup more cauliflower, veggies or cooked chickpeas
- 2 tsp oil
- 1 tbsp cornstarch or other starch
- 1/2 tsp (0.5 tsp) each of salt , turmeric, ground cumin, coriander, garam masala
- 1/4 tsp (0.25 tsp) or more cayenne and black pepper
- 1/2 tsp (0.5 tsp) or more paprika
Green Sauce mix:
- 1 cup (16 g) packed cilantro
- 1/2 cup (15 g) baby spinach
- 4 cloves of garlic
- 1 inch ginger
- 1/2 (0.5 ) hot green chile
- 2 tsp lemon juice
Masala Sauce:
- 1 tsp oil
- 1/2 (0.5 ) medium onion finely chopped
- 1/2 tsp (0.5 tsp) each of ground cumin garam masala, and turmeric
- 1/4 tsp (0.25 tsp) ground cloves
- 1/3 tsp (0.33 tsp) salt
- 1/2 tsp (0.5 tsp) sugar or other sweetener
- 1/2 cup (122 ml) non dairy milk almond, cashew or coconut
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F / 220ºc. Chop the cauliflower and tofu and add to a bowl. Drizzle oil and mix and rub in. In a bowl, mix the starch, spices and salt and mix well. Sprinkle all over the cauliflower and tofu and toss. Sprinkle some more paprika over the cauliflower and tofu for additional color and toss to coat. (Add 1 tbsp nutritional yeast for cheesier flavor). Transfer to a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 25 minutes.
- Meanwhile. Blend all the ingredients under green sauce with few tablespoons of water until smooth.
- Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add onion and pinch of salt and cook until translucent.
- Add spices, mix and cook for a minute. Pour the sauce from the blender jar into the skillet. Use a few more tbsp of water to rinse and get all the sauce from the jar and pour into the skillet. Add salt and sweetener. Bring to a boil. About 5 minutes. At this point you can store the sauce for use later (refrigerate for upto 3 days).
- Add the baked cauliflower and tofu to the sauce. Add salt and non dairy milk, toss well. Taste and adjust salt and heat. Cover and bring to a boil. Let it sit covered for another 2 minutes before serving. Garnish with pepper flakes and serve with vegan Naan, flatbread or rice.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Meghan
This is now a family staple, asked for weekly, and devoured gratefully! By not only the adults, but the 5 year old and 13yr old even more so. Thank you vegan richa, we’ve made many of your recipes weekly go to’s, where would I be without you???
Vegan Richa Support
so nice
Hadia
So delicious!
Vegan Richa Support
thank you Hadia
Maria B.
Love this recipe ! I just had a question regarding the serving size. How much is one serving ?
Vegan Richa Support
thanks!! approx 2 cups
Makeda M Nueckel
Thanks for a great recipe! Family of 5 and everyone liked it, commenting on the delicious and authentic tasting curry sauce. Will make again
Meghan
We love Indian food and this is the second food journey you’ve taken us. This recipe is a staple in my kitchen, my 11yr old begs me for it, I savor in it, it’s not hard, and it’s adjustable to a point. LOVE IT!!!
Vegan Richa Support
The journey has just begun – thank you for the top notch rating!
Shale
I make this recipe ALL THE TIME it’s so good!!! The first time I made it, the roasted tofu and cauliflower in the spices smelled so good I couldn’t help myself and ate a sizable portion before actually adding them to the sauce, whoops. The most delicious are the little bits of tofu that get all crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. I am still tempted every time, but knowing how delicious it is in the curry helps me get to the finish line, haha.
Richa
Awesome
Lin
My new favorite recipe!! I’ve never had anything like it.
Vegan Richa Support
So glad you enjoyed it!
SusanL
Made this today. OMG! so good!!
Nicole M
This is phenomenal! I’m so glad a made a double batch! I bought these tiny Thai peppers not knowing how spicy they were, good thing I tasted it before adding the FOUR I bought! One made it quite spicy but very enjoyable 😋 I served it with come farro cooked in veg broth. I’ve made a few of your recipes and they’ve all been great, but this just knocked my socks off
Cate
Loved it! I added a whole pepper. I like things spicy . I served mine over black rice. I will make this again.
Richa
yay!
Erin
This recipe is amazing! It turned out so well I had take a pic and send to friends:) I stuck to the recipe, put it over some rice, and doubled it so we could have leftovers for lunch the next day. You’re recipes are a staple in our house and we will be definitely me making this again. Thanks for sharing!
Richa
yay!!
Roxanne
Is there anyway to omit tofu for chickpeas maybe?
Richa
yes use 1 cup cooked chickpeas instead of tofu
Sarah
If I use chickpeas instead, do I still add them to cauliflower, toss with spices and bake in the oven? Or would I add them later with the baked cauliflower to the masala sauce?
BTW – I made this recipe last week and it is delicious. Am making it again for friends and want to sub chickpeas for the tofu.
Thank you!
Richa
Add them later with the cauliflower to the sauce, or you can add to the pan for the last 10 mins so they pick up some spices.
Sarah
thanks Richa! much appreciated!
Lachlan
Amazing recipe! The second time I tried it I put in 3 cups of spinach to increase the amount of greens and added two cups of sliced mushrooms shortly after the onions went in and it was nearly as good.
Love your website
Richa
awesome!
Erica
Could you use frozen spinach??
Dave
I made this and I thought it was very good. More importantly, my wife said it was really good. She “appreciated the freshness”. It was very good-but given that my wife did not make out with me dedoute the deliciousness, it only gets 4 stars instead of five. I used agave to sweeten instead of sugar. Since tofu is sold mostly in 14oz packs I doubled sauce amounts. My brother and his wife are vegan and coming to visit and I’m going to make this if that floats anyone’s boat.
Richa
😀 some extra cashew cream and spices might do the trick ;). I also would suggest the Butter Tofu or Butter Soy curls/chickpeas https://www.veganricha.com/2017/05/butter-tofu-paneer-tofu-butter-masala-recipe.html
Amy Smith-Faczan
This recipe is a WINNER! I might have to double the green sauce and add some broccoli or bell pepper to make extra. We ate it all in one sitting!
So flavorful!
Richa
awesome!
Teniah
You never fail…..This is such an amazing recipe. I served this over a spiced rice that I made for my husband’s meal. His was venison jalfrezi, but he ended up actually liking MY vegan meal better, so next time he said he would be happy to have that…..SCORE!!!!
Kajal
Can I double the cauliflower and leave out the tofu?
Richa
yes
Nicole
Made a double batch for my husband for birthday along with flatbread. I can’t even say how delicious it is!!!! So glad I made enough for leftovers.
Rachel
Hi Richa,
I am going to make this for a potluck and will triple the recipe but I read once that you don’t triple the spices. Can you advise on this.
Thank you
Richa
Triple all the not hot spices like cumin garam masala etc. and herbs and double the hot spies like cayenne, black pepper, paprika dn green chile. Then adjust later if you need more heat with added cayenne.
Beth W
Made this today, delicious!
Richa
Awesome!
Blue Butterfield
This was amazing! Thank you so much. Did do a double recipe (a full head of cauliflower and 1 block tofu) and it still went down in one sitting between 2 teenage boys. My family here in Portland Maine absolutely adores your work. Just ordered the new book! Many many thanks.
Richa
Awesome! always good to hear that everyone loved it! thanks for ordering the book!
Soozi G
I just made this for my kids (and myself)…sooo good, they gobbled it up. Thank you so much. I enjoy reading your posts, and emulating your eating habits.
Mallika
I’m the biggest fan of your recipes and look forward to seeing them so often!! Love them!! Thank you so much!!
Steve
Yum yum. Flavour was amazing. Wasn’t real sure about the Tofu though. Tofu didn’t carry the flavour to well, perhaps next time I may cut the Tofu smaller?
Richa
yes you might want to cut it smaller. the smaller pieces will soak some of the sauce in the short time they are in the sauce. Larger pieces will need a longer simmer time.
Susan
My house smells delicious! This is terrific. I must have done something wrong because I didn’t have enough sauce. I’ll have to make it saucier next time. Yum – thank you!
Richa
add in more non dairy milk, or more of the cilantro and spinach. Both the greens cook down to very small amounts, so if they are very loosely packed, they will reduce to a small amount. also if the stove runs hotter it will thicken the sauce quicker. add more non dairy milk.
Julia
Thank you! This dish was DELICIOUS and my entire home smelled awesome! I used only Cilantro and no spinach, and left out the hot spices (to suit my dinner companions) – So great! and again, leftover, for lunch today!
Srivani
This was super easy and sooooo tasty! Thank you!
For the milk, I used a half can of coconut milk which added a wonderful creaminess.
Richa
Awesome!
Chandana
Made today !!! Though i dint Have spinach i added an extra amount of cilantro . and cashew milk and it was yummy !! Even my husband liked it. Thanks richa for this wonderful recipe:)
Richa
awesome!
Yasmin
Hi Richa
I LOVE your recipes . I can’t figure out why I stopped getting them in 2017. Any ideas?
Richa
Maybe the mails are going to spam? you can subscribe again and see if that works.
Iris
This was amazing!!! So tasty. I subbed chickpeas instead of the tofu, very filling.
Richa
I like arugula in sauces too in some amount in combinations such as this. So glad you loved it!
Heidi
This was amazing! I used arugula rather than spinach and found it to have a great flavor with brilliant spices. Thanks!!!
Richa
I like arugula in sauces too in some amount in combinations such as this. So glad you loved it!
Betty
I made it this evening (with kale instead of spinach–worked fine). My husband who is not fond of tofu thought it was very good. Success!!
Richa
yay!
Suz
Good deal that kale works, too. We have lots of kale growing in the garden right now. This recipe is what’s for dinner.
Nicole
i need to try this. it looks amazing. i love a cauliflower masala. (gobi masala!)
https://cuckoolemon.com
Sarah
This was so good! Did cut back on the cayenne a little and served it over brown rice. Perfect for a weeknight meal.
Richa
Awesome!
Emily
Do you think you could replace the cornstarch with arrow root/tapioca flour or just leave it out? Thank you!
Richa
yes any starch will do.
sukanya
This post comes at the perfect time with me struggling with what new to cook with all the Tofu and Spinach lying in my fridge.. Thank you….
Richa
If you have loads of spinach try this https://www.veganricha.com/2013/10/palak-tofu-tofu-in-spinach-curry-vegan.html