Aloo Gobi (vegan)

Posted February 9, 2010

The one thing that I have missed since returning to a vegan diet is Indian food. Pittsburgh has so many wonderful Indian restaurants, all with fantastic lunch buffets. (Some former favorites are India Garden and People's Indian.) Eating vegetarian at an Indian restaurant is easy. But going vegan is virtually impossible with all the dairy that is used. So I've had to work on making my own Indian cuisine.

We had a friend over for dinner tonight, and I used that as an excuse to make a huge Indian spread: aloo gobi (cauliflower and potatoes), chana masala (chickpeas), masoor dal (red lentils) and palak paneer (spinach with homemade cheese). I unbelievably was out of basmati rice, so instead I served quinoa seasoned with a little lemon juice. What a lucky mistake. The masoor dal was incredible with the quinoa.

To facilitate writing out the recipes, as well as finding them later, I'm going to write one recipe per post. As you've already discovered, this is the aloo gobi post.

Aloo Gobi — prep time: 40 minutes; serves 6

Ingredients

1 head cauliflower, broken into florets

5 small potatoes, peeled and diced

3 tablespoons coconut oil

1/2 cup dry vermouth

1 teaspoon chili powder

1 teaspoon ground ginger

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 tablespoon ground coriander

1 teaspoon ground turmeric

1 teaspoon garam masala

2 teaspoons Demerara sugar or agave syrup

1 teaspoon sea salt

2 cups water

1/2 can (6-ounce can) of tomato paste

Directions

Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add potatoes and cauliflower and cook for several minutes, until starting to brown.

Add vermouth.

Mix water and tomato paste in a bowl.

Add water/tomato paste and remaining ingredients to pot with potatoes and cauliflower. Stir well, cover and cook over low heat for 25-30 minutes. Stir occasionally to keep vegetables from sticking.

Serve hot with basmati rice or quinoa, chana masala, masoor dal and palak paneer.