Ah, the bowl. Buddha bowls, burrito bowls, curry bowls. We love them, but we don’t love spending $15 dollars plus tax and tip on them.
Enter the Tandoori Roasted Veggie Bowl with Cilantro Mint Chutney. This budget bite is a favorite meal-prep staple for us. Fluffy rice, crispy roasted veggies and a bright and herby chutney make this a satisfying meal that you can whip up in under an hour and reheat for lunch all week.
This bold and flavor-packed meal is made easy with our favorite tool, the sheet pan. Something magical happens when you throw a bunch of veggies in the oven and just… walk away for a while.
Simply cook rice (or your favorite grain) according to its instructions, and roast together a mix of cauliflower, red onion and chickpeas with tandoori masala and olive oil. Top with chutney and optional greek yogurt or cucumber raita.
Tandoori masala is a pantry staple for me, especially for tandoori paneer. We’ve applied it untraditionally to these veggies because, frankly, we would eat anything covered in it. We recommend Rajah brand, which can be purchased at your local Indian grocer or online. You can easily sub a mix of other Indian spices (cumin, coriander, cayenne, and cinnamon) if you don’t have any.
The most complicated part of the Tandoori Roasted Veggie Bowl is the chutney, which blends cilantro, mint, serrano peppers, cashews, cumin seeds, ginger, garlic, salt and lemon juice into a spicy and tangy sauce. You can also totally buy this in a jar – we frequently do this ourselves when in a pinch, but the homemade version is better. This recipe makes more chutney than you might need, but it freezes exceptionally well. Store it in ice cube trays and defrost individual portions as needed.
If you like this dish and are looking for other fusion recipes with Indian inspired flavors, we think you’ll love our Golden Cauliflower Salad with Raita Dressing.
We hope you enjoy this for dinner tonight! (And again for lunch tomorrow!)
Tandoori Roasted Veggie Bowl with Cilantro Mint Chutney
Ingredients
Tandoori Roasted Vegetables
- 2 cups cooked rice
- 1 head cauliflower chopped to florets
- 1 14 oz can chick peas drained and rinsed
- ¼ to ½ large red onion chopped into large pieces
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp tandoori masala (see notes for simplified spice blend recipe)
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- ½ cup greek yogurt for topping, omit for vegan
*or substitue cucumber raita, see notes
Cilantro Mint Chutney
- 1 packed cup cilantro leave most stems in, thick stems removed
- 1 packed cup mint
- ¼ cup cashews
- 1 serrano pepper (or substitue jalapeno)
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 2 cloves garlic chopped
- 2 tsp ginger
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp salt
- ¼ cup water (or add more/less for preferred consistency)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- In the meantime, prepare the rice according to its package directions.
- Prepare the produce. Chop cauliflower and red onion. Drain and rinse one can of chickpeas. Place cauliflower, red onion, and chickpeas in a large mixing bowl. Add 3 tbsp oil, 2 tbsp tandoori masala, 1 tsp garlic powder and one tsp of salt and stir to combine. Distribute veggies onto a baking sheet, leaving space so they are not overcrowded (we used two baking sheets). Roast for 20-25 minutes or until the cauliflower starts to char and chickpeas are crunchy.
- Prepare the chutney while veggies are roasting. To a food processor (or blender) add all chutney ingredients and blend until totally combined, adding water slowly as needed to blend.
- Assemble the bowl. Layer a bed of cooked rice, followed by a generous serving of tandoori vegetables, and drizzle with cilantro mint chutney. Top the bowl with optional greek yogurt, or, we also love using a cucumber raita (link in notes)
