Good Old Favourites #14

This was meant to be the Wednesday post, but dear beloved readers, I was laid low with terrible stomach flu. (And that's all I am saying - this is a food post after all.)

But what I thought we should cook this week is delicious Vegetable Tikka Masala. And then, to make the whole choice between rice and Naan a bit easier - why don't you try cauli-rice, and then you can serve Naan with the meal? (If you don't know how to make cauli-rice, all it is is cauliflower that has been food processed into tiny bits, like rice, and you fry in some coconut oil, with finely chopped onion and garlic - both optional.). So the carb becomes your vegetable, and that means that you can have some delicious Naan bread, which would always be my carb of choice, anyway. Banters - sorry you are only allowed the cauli-rice, no Naan for you!

Here's the recipe - originally from the LoSalt website.

Vegetable Tikka Masala

4 tablespoons oil
2 medium onions, chopped
3 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tablespoon chopped fresh ginger
1 tablespoon paprika
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
400g can chopped tomatoes
2 tablespoons tomato purée
a squeeze of lemon juice
100g mushrooms, halved or quartered
1 medium onion chopped
2 peppers (any colour), seeded and roughly chopped
100g small whole carrots, scrubbed
100g fresh or frozen peas (thawed)
chopped fresh coriander, to garnish
basmati rice and/or naan breads to serve

and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1. Heat the tablespoon of oil in a medium saucepan, add half the onions, garlic and ginger and cook over a medium hear for 3-4 minutes until softening and smelling good. Now add the paprika, cumin, coriander and turmeric and cook for 5 minutes more.
2. Stir in the chopped tomatoes, tomato purée and lemon juice and simmer for 10-15 minutes then blend with an electric blender. This is a tikka masala sauce.  
3. Heat the remaning oil in large saucepan and add onions. Fry for 5 minutes until softening, then add the peppers, carrots and mushrooms and cook for 5 minutes. Add the tikka masala sauce and simmer for 10 minutes or until the carrots are tender. Stir in the peas and heat through for 2-3 minutes. Taste and season with pepper.
4. Serve scattered with fresh coriander, with boiled basmati rice and/or a pile of warm naans.