Turmeric Cauliflower Steaks with Crisped Chickpeas and Cilantro Chutney
Thick cauliflower steaks rubbed with turmeric and cumin and seared until the cut faces are dark, served with chickpeas crisped in the same pan and a sharp cilantro, mint, and sesame chutney.
Why You'll Love This Recipe
The steak is a way of cutting cauliflower, not a fancy idea, and it changes the vegetable entirely. A slab an inch thick has two broad flat faces, and a hot pan turns those faces sweet and deeply browned while the middle stays firm and juicy. Two medium heads give four steaks, and you will have loose florets left over from the rounded outsides, which go into the pan alongside and come out as the crispiest pieces on the platter. Nobody at the table has ever complained about getting those.
The chutney is what makes it dinner. It is cilantro, mint, ginger, green chile, lemon, and sesame seeds blitzed with a little water into something bright, hot, and sharp, and it exists to cut across the sweetness of the browned cauliflower. Making it takes about ninety seconds in a small blender while the steaks cook, and it is worth the second appliance. The chickpeas, which go into the pan after the steaks and blister in the turmeric-stained oil, give the plate the crunch it would otherwise be missing.
I make this when I want a dinner that looks like something and still lands on the table in half an hour. It plates well, so it is a decent thing to cook for people, and it is genuinely fast, since the only real technique is leaving the steaks alone long enough to brown. Any chutney left over will keep for a few days and I put it on everything, spooned over rice, stirred into yogurt, or dragged across a fried egg the next morning.
Ingredients
- 2 medium heads cauliflower (about 1 3/4 lb trimmed), each cut into two 1-inch steaks through the core, loose florets kept
- 1 1/2 cups no-salt-added canned chickpeas (from one 15 oz can), drained, rinsed, and patted dry
- 1 1/2 cups cilantro leaves and tender stems, loosely packed
- 1/2 cup mint leaves, loosely packed
- 3 tbsp sesame seeds
- 1 green chile, such as serrano or jalapeno, stemmed and roughly chopped
- 1 tbsp roughly chopped fresh ginger
- 4 garlic cloves, 2 for the chutney and 2 thinly sliced for the pan
- 4 scallions, thinly sliced on a long angle
- 3 tbsp lemon juice, from 2 lemons
- 2 1/2 tbsp olive oil, divided
- 1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 1 1/2 tsp coriander seeds, crushed
- 1 1/4 tsp ground turmeric
- 1/4 tsp fine sea salt
Instructions
- Cut the steaks: Pull the leaves off each head and trim the stem flush, leaving the core intact, since the core is what holds a steak together. Stand the head upright and cut straight down through the middle, then cut one inch-thick slab from each half. Two heads give four steaks. Keep every floret that falls away, and cut the rounded end pieces into florets as well.
- Season and start the steaks: Mix the turmeric, cumin, crushed coriander, and salt in a small bowl. Brush the steaks on both sides with one tablespoon of the oil and rub the spice mix over them, pressing it into the cut faces. Heat another tablespoon of oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high, lay in the steaks, and leave them completely alone for five minutes.
- Turn them and cover: When the underside is deep gold with dark ridges, turn the steaks, add the loose florets around them, and cook two minutes. Add two tablespoons of water, cover the pan, and steam for four to five minutes, until a knife slides into the thickest part of a stem with only slight resistance. Move everything to a platter.
- Make the chutney: While the steaks steam, put the cilantro, mint, chopped ginger, green chile, two garlic cloves, the lemon juice, two tablespoons of the sesame seeds, and three tablespoons of cold water in a small blender. Blitz to a coarse, bright green sauce, scraping down once. It should be spoonable rather than smooth, and thick enough to sit on a steak.
- Crisp the chickpeas: Return the pan to medium-high with the last half tablespoon of oil. Add the dried chickpeas and the sliced garlic and cook four minutes, shaking the pan, until the skins split and blister and some chickpeas are dark brown. Scatter them over the steaks with the scallions and the last tablespoon of sesame seeds, and spoon the chutney over the top.
Variations
- Mushrooms alongside: Brown half a pound of quartered cremini mushrooms in the pan while the steaks steam and pile them on the platter, which turns this into a heavier plate.
- Lentils underneath: Spoon a cup and a half of warmed brown lentils onto the platter first and set the steaks on top, so the chutney runs down into them.
- Mustard seed oil: Fry a teaspoon of black mustard seeds and a few curry leaves in a little oil until they pop and pour the lot over the finished platter.
- Yogurt chutney: Stir half the chutney into a cup of plain yogurt for a cooler, creamier sauce to serve alongside.
- Charred lemon: Halve a lemon and sear it cut side down in the pan for two minutes, then squeeze it over the platter for a rounder, smokier acidity.
Storage & Leftovers
The cauliflower keeps three days in a sealed container in the refrigerator, with the chutney stored separately so it stays green. The steaks soften as they sit and will not be as crisp on day two, but the toasted flavor stays and the spices settle deeper into the vegetable.
Reheat the cauliflower and chickpeas in a dry skillet over medium-high for three or four minutes, undisturbed for the first two so the faces catch again. The oven at 400°F for eight minutes does the same job for a full platter. Add the chutney only after reheating, since heat turns it olive and dulls the mint.
The chutney keeps five days in a small jar with a thin film of oil poured over the surface, and it freezes well in an ice cube tray for up to three months. I would not freeze the cooked cauliflower, which comes back watery, but the chickpeas can be crisped fresh in four minutes whenever you want them.
Notes & Tips
- Trim the stem, keep the core: Cut the stem level with the base of the head and go no further. Everything a steak needs to stay in one piece runs through that core.
- Five minutes without touching it: The temptation to lift a steak and look is strong and it costs you the crust. Wait until you can smell toasted cauliflower, then turn once.
- Dry the chickpeas properly: Wet chickpeas steam and stay soft. A minute rolling them in a clean towel is what lets the skins split and blister.
- Cold water in the chutney: A few tablespoons of cold water, rather than more oil, is what gets the blender moving and keeps the sauce bright green and pourable.
- Use the whole cilantro stem: The tender stems carry more flavor than the leaves and disappear completely in the blender. Only the thick lower stalks need to come off.
- Chutney goes on at the last second: Spooned over hot cauliflower it stays vivid for a while, but it dulls if it sits on the platter. Take it to the table in its own bowl if people are slow to sit down.
Nutrition & Mindful Eating
- The cauliflower, the chickpeas, and the herb chutney split the work on this platter. The cauliflower gives it bulk and sweetness, the chickpeas add fiber and the crunch, and the chutney brings the acid and the heat that make a plate of vegetables taste finished.
- Cauliflower cut thick and seared turns nutty and sweet on the cut faces, a different food from the same head eaten uncooked, and it carries vitamin C along with the sulfur compounds that run through the whole cabbage family.
- Chickpeas crisped in a hot pan split and go crunchy on the outside while staying soft in the middle, and they bring both the fiber and most of the protein on this plate.
- Cilantro and mint are used by the handful here rather than as a garnish, which is the only way herbs contribute anything beyond looks, and the sesame seeds blended in with them add a nutty body along with a real amount of calcium.
- Turmeric, cumin, and coriander rubbed into the cut faces bloom in the hot oil as the steaks brown. That contact with fat and heat is what draws out their aroma, curcumin included, and it is why the spice rub tastes so much deeper than the same powders stirred into a sauce.
- As you eat, work from the dark seared ridge of the steak into the pale sweet middle and notice how the chutney changes both, and take the platter slowly enough to catch the point where you have had enough.
Frequently Asked Questions
My steaks fell apart. What happened?
The core came out, or the slabs were cut too thin. Trim the stem flush rather than coring it, since that solid center is the only thing holding the florets together, and cut a full inch thick. The two outer pieces of every head will crumble no matter what you do, which is why this recipe puts them in the pan as florets.
Can I roast these rather than searing them?
Yes, at 450°F for about twenty five minutes, turning once, which pushes the recipe past the half hour mark but frees up the stove. The pan gives you a darker, more concentrated crust in less time, and the chickpeas need the skillet either way.
Can I make the chutney without a blender?
Chop everything as finely as you can, crush the sesame seeds under the flat of a knife, and stir it together with the lemon juice and water. It will be more relish than sauce, which some people prefer. A mortar and pestle gets closer to the smooth version if you have one and ten minutes.
How spicy is the chutney?
Medium, with the heat sitting right at the front. Take the seeds out of the chile for something gentler, or use two chiles if you want it fierce. The lemon is doing as much work as the chile, so taste before adding more of either.