Crispy Spiced Cauliflower Steaks
- Total Time
- 1 hour
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
Yield:4 servings
- ½of 1 cinnamon stick, broken up
- 2teaspoons coriander seeds
- 2teaspoons fennel seeds
- 1teaspoon black peppercorns
- 1teaspoon cumin seeds
- 4cloves
- Large pinch of ground cayenne
- 2tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons Diamond Crystal kosher salt, plus additional, as needed
- 1⅓cups brown- or white-rice flour (about 7⅓ ounces)
- ⅔cup tapioca flour (about 3⅔ ounces)
- ¼cup freshly squeezed lime juice (from 2 limes)
- ¼cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (from 1 large lemon), plus additional lemon wedges, for serving
- 1tablespoon grated fresh turmeric (or ½ teaspoon ground turmeric)
- 2small heads cauliflower (about 1 pound each), leaves removed, cut from top to core into ½-inch-thick slices
- 1½ to 2cups coconut oil
- 1cup Greek yogurt, for serving (optional)
- 2tablespoons roughly chopped cilantro leaves and tender stems, for serving (optional)
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)
1267 calories; 100 grams fat; 82 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 7 grams monounsaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 83 grams carbohydrates; 7 grams dietary fiber; 7 grams sugars; 14 grams protein; 1179 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Powered byPreparation
- Step 1
Line a baking sheet with a wire rack or paper towels, and set aside.
- Step 2
Finely grind cinnamon, coriander, fennel, peppercorns, cumin and cloves in a spice grinder, spice mill or mortar and pestle.Transfer to a bowl, and stir in cayenne and 2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons salt. Set aside.
- Step 3
In a large bowl, whisk both flours until combined. Whisk in lime and lemon juices, then gradually whisk in enough water until the mixture is the consistency of thin pancake batter (about 1⅓ cups). There is no gluten in either flour, so don’t worry about overmixing.
- Step 4
Stir in turmeric and the spice mixture. Taste, and adjust salt as needed.
- Step 5
Working with 1 or 2 steaks at a time, push the cauliflower steaks into the batter, turn to coat and allow to marinate for at least 3 minutes.
- Step 6
Heat a large cast-iron skillet over medium high. Add coconut oil to a depth of ⅓-inch, and heat until hot. Carefully drip a few drops of batter into the oil to test that it’s sufficiently hot. The batter should immediately sizzle and expand. Slip the steaks one at a time directly from the batter into the pan. Don’t overcrowd the pan — the steaks should never touch.
- Step 7
Cook until golden brown on the bottom, 8 to 12 minutes, rotating the steaks around the pan after 6 to 8 minutes to ensure even browning. Use a thin metal spatula to carefully flip the steaks. Continue cooking until the second sides are golden-brown and the cores are tender when pierced with a knife, 4 to 6 minutes. Transfer steaks to the prepared baking sheet, and allow to drain. Season with salt. Repeat with the remaining steaks and any remaining smaller pieces of cauliflower, adjusting the heat as needed to prevent the steaks from browning too quickly.
- Step 8
Serve hot or reheat in an oven at 400 degrees until hot and crispy, about 5 to 7 minutes. Top with a dollop of Greek yogurt and a shower of chopped cilantro, if desired. Serve with lemon wedges for squeezing on top.
Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
Emily
How do you cut the cauliflower to make a steak?
Martha
I prepared a batter of a beaten egg, added olive oil to the egg and salt. Put the coliflower in the batter and then breaded it in home-made non-glutten bread crumbs. Put in the oven, in broil, and they were crunchy, delicious, with 1/10 of the colories of this recipe.
Till
Is this as delish as it sounds if you sub canola or olive oil for unloved coconut oil? Samin, Ella, cooks, please report if you try with those oils.
Joanna
This looks fantastic, and I am eager to try. However- the calories are giving me pause. Yikes. Wondering if another kind of oil, or blending with another oil, might help?
Prakash Nadkarni
Any neutral vegetable oil is fine. (Avoid EVOO, whose flavor will dominate.) This recipe is a variant of an Indian vegetable-fritter recipe that typically uses a chickpea-flour batter, which acts like egg in coagulating quickly because of its protein content. In India, coconut oil use is prevalent mainly on the coast, where coconut trees are abundant. The rest of the country uses a variety of vegetable oils (soybean, canola, peanut, cottonseed) with mustard-seed oil prevalent in Bengal.
lulu
Ok. Why is everyone avoiding the toughest question: How do you cut a cauliflower into steaks. I tried this for a shore dinner last year and I got maybe one usable "steak" per head. Everyother effort make the head fall apart. Should I microwave the whole head, or steam it for a while? Happy for your solution to making cauliflower "steaks". They are flowerlike and beautiful but challenging!!
Roald
What is the significance of the "Diamond Crystal kosher" salt vs. ordinary kosher salt or just plain table salt?
R Stuart
Giving weights is great, but I'm not aware of any widely available scale that measures in thirds of an ounce. Grams or ounces with decimal points would be much more useful.
Prakash Nadkarni
In my part of India, the garam masala variant's like Chinese 5-spice: equal parts (wt) of cinnamon, cloves, star anise, black pepper, cardamom (5-spice replaces the last 2 with fennel and Sichuan pepper).The much cheaper cumin, coriander seed, fennel and cayenne are added separately (the 1st three in larger quantities) and aren't considered part of the blend. If your garam masala mix has coriander/cumin, 4-5 tsp total should be fine. If not, use 1 tsp and add cumin,coriander,fennel separately.
LMK
Here's a handy tip for cleaning out your blade spice grinder (so that you can grind different spices): clean out the grinder as best you can with a slightly dampened paper towel. Add 1/4 c. uncooked rice. Buzz until the rice has turned to powder. The rice powder/flour will absorb the oils from the spices. Dump out the rice powder. Dampen a clean paper towel and wipe out the grinder again. You can wash the lid with soap and water.
Prakash Nadkarni
If you have a low-end coffee grinder (price: approx. $10) use that, or buy a separate coffee grinder for dedicated use. The grinding takes all of 15-20 seconds. Pre-ground spices lose their flavor quite quickly (3-6 months), while the shelf-life of whole spices is about 3-4 times longer. Also, bulk whole spices purchased at ethnic groceries (notably Indian stores) are dramatically cheaper, and you shouldn't let their "wholeness" stop you from getting good deals.
Teri
Epic fail. I made this as written (or at least tried to) but clearly must have done something wrong. The coating fell off immediately, sank to the bottom of the pan, and burned. I ended up with burnt bits of batter and soggy, greasy, undercooked cauliflower. Not worth the time, effort, ingredients or calories. I'll stick to roasting cauliflower from now on.
uxf
How does this batter compare to pakora batter or tempura batter. It seems everybody is trying to customize their own batter, so it'd be great to have a mini-tutorial on the differences between and principles of various batters for frying.
Latha
This is the westernized version of Bhajia/Pakora- try it with chickpea flour and rice flour- and ensure that the oil is hot and smoking-any cooking oil that is suitable fir frying is okay. Indian dishes typically use peanut/ sesame/ saffola oils.
Judith
I’m sure this is going to be delicious but honestly, it’s way too much trouble for a home cooking situation. I halved the recipe for 2. They burned on med high after 4 minutes.
Jean Harrison
My son cooked this for Christmas dinner this year and it was divine. I will certainly make this dish in the future.
Lori W
So yummy! Made the cauliflower and topped with a mixed green salad tossed with a little vinaigrette, a dollop of yogurt. some pomegranate seeds and a squeeze of lemon. I did use just 1 T salt in the batter, but omg, I could eat this often! So flavorful.
jonathan
The flavor of this dish is great, the only downside is that the batter was very gummy and stuck to my teeth. I’m not sure what it is, probably the flours involved, but it was tough to eat.
kelly
Cloves of what? Garlic or cloves? It just says to grind the cloves.
Leah
Cloves are a spice. They are made from the flower buds of an evergreen tree, and usually pretty easy to find in the spice isle of the grocery store
maestra
We made this with the flours as written (brown rice and tapioca), and it was nice and crispy. For those who are asking, these flours produce a crisper crust than besan / chickpea flour.
HaleyP
My notes, after reading (all) comments: I tried both steak shapes– cutting vertically and horizontally. Both fine, but my family + I preferred the "fritters" much more than the whole steaks. Easier snacking, faster to cook. It look me a few go-arounds to get the seasoning right. I used garam masala, probably 6tsp total. Also doubled turmeric power + cayenne, ended up upping salt after first batch I used rice flour + subbed chickpea for tapioca– worked well + I was happy with the crunch!
ABG
Yum. Made a half recipe, as written but omitting cayenne. I found that I only got 3 "steaks" out of my small cauliflower head and the rest were more like nuggets, since they didn't include the central stalk to hold them together. The nuggets were just as tasty but more of a pain to flip. I also found that it took nowhere near 8-12 minutes on the first side. More like 4-5. These were delicious and addictive. The only problem was eating too many of them and then feeling yucky bc all the oil.
Linda
Spicy. Go easy on the tumeric. Cut steaks with bread knife. Used metal icing tool and fork to turn, easy. I prefer dollop of sour cream to yogurt. I added batter once they were frying because it stick better then. Err on the side of thick vs. too thin on batter. Will cut thinner steaks and thin the batter a little next time. Will just roast all the leftover cauliflower - great recipe!
emilyg
Success! Looked just like the picture and tasted delicious. Took one commenter’s suggestion to let the steaks sit on a sheet pan once battered while the oil came to temperature. Delicious crispy crust, with enough batter left to do the extra florets as a side dish next week. I think the key to crispness is making sure the oil is hot enough.
Lucia
Made this last night and it was great (I was proud that it worked for me)! --consistency of batter was a little thin, and just fell off the cauliflower, so I added a little more rice/tapioca flour to make a medium soupy, but not thick batter --a cast iron frying pan or coated cast iron pan is key for making sure the cauliflower steaks cook slowly enough not to burn and cook through --don't fixate on "steaks"--some pieces fell off into florets, which sliced became more like fritters--but good!
Lucia
One more thing: Take salt recommended amount with a grain of salt! I didn't have "diamond crystal" so I used flaked salt--1 tbsp, not 2 tbsp and 2 tsp!
Zoe
My only issue was getting good cuts out of the whole head of cauliflower. I found that I could only use part of the head as "steaks". The rest fell apart. Any tips? I could definitely us the cuttings as "rice"??
MV
More of a question really.. I have a friend who cannot eat gluten and is also allergic to rice. What could I substitute for rice flour?
Pam
Great flavors but I would reduce the amount of salt.
Meg
The rice flour makes this really stick to your teeth. Good flavor though.
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