Instant Pot Chickpea Cauliflower Korma
An Insta-friendly riff on the Chickpea Cauliflower Korma recipe in Jennifer Iserloh's The Healing Slow Cooker - chickpeas, cauliflower, combined with a not-shy simmer sauce.
Today's recipe is a fantastic mash-up of sorts. It's an Insta-friendly riff on the Chickpea Cauliflower Korma recipe in Jennifer Iserloh's The Healing Slow Cooker. An Instant Pot korma. I paired it with the high-impact Indian-spiced Simmer Sauce from Coco Morante's The Essential Instant Pot Cookbook. If you have a simmer sauce on hand, whether it's this aforementioned one, or a store-bought version you love, this couldn't come together more quickly. It's the perfect vehicle to get all sorts of goodness into your body in one, delicious sitting.
I love this recipe because it's absolutely packed with power ingredients, including a nice range of fragrant spices. I like to think I get a lot of spice in my diet, but I think the real key is integrating spice blends into lots of meals. Not just a few times a week, but daily. For example, the simmer sauce has coriander, cayenne, cumin, turmeric, paprika, and whatever spices are in your garam masala blend. It's how you shift from single notes to a chord.
No problem if you don't have an Instant Pot, a stovetop version is a breeze as well, and I'll include guidelines for that down below! Also, for reference, this is the Instant Pot I used for this recipe: Instant Pot DUO Plus 6 Qt 9-in-1
Side note - Another way to get a medley of spices and power-ingredients into your meals are pastes. That's part of the reason I love strong curry pastes like this one, or a boosted miso paste like this one.
Lastly, if you have an Instant Pot, be sure to poke around this new section with all the instant pot recipes in one place.
Premium Ad-Free membership includes:
-Ad-free content
-Print-friendly recipes
-Spice / Herb / Flower / Zest recipe collection PDF
-Weeknight Express recipe collection PDF
-Surprise bonuses throughout the year
Instant Pot Chickpea Cauliflower Korma
You can certainly use chickpeas cooked from dried, use about 2 cups. To keep it vegan, use your favorite non-dairy yogurt for topping.
- 2 cups Indian-spiced simmer sauce, or favorite korma curry sauce
- 1 large head of cauliflower, 2 lb., cut into florets
- 1 14- ounce can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 1 14- ounce can of diced tomatoes, (fire-roasted, optional)
- 1 small onion diced
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- One 1-inch piece of ginger, peeled and grated
- 1 cup chopped cilantro
- lemon olive oil, a squeeze of lemon, salted-smashed garlic yogurt, lemon zest, fresh herbs (cilantro, dill, etc.)
-
Pour the sauce into the bottom of the Instant Pot in an even layer. Add the cauliflower, chickpeas, tomatoes, onion, garlic, and ginger. Give it all a little bit of a stir, and close the pot. Secure the lid, set the pressure release valve to SEALING. Press MANUAL for 4 minutes at high pressure.
-
When cooking is complete, carefully QUICK RELEASE. Gently shake or tap the pressure cooker, and then carefully open away from you. Stir in half of the cilantro, and reserve the rest for serving. Scoop the korma into deep bowls and add as many toppings as you like.
To make on a conventional stovetop, bring the sauce to a simmer, stir in all the other ingredients (except cilantro), cover, and cook until the cauliflower is tender - 5-7 minutes or so. Proceed with the recipe as written.
Adapted from Jennifer Iserloh's The Healing Slow Cooker.
For reference, this is the Instant Pot I used for this recipe: Instant Pot DUO Plus 6 Qt 9-in-1
Related Recipes
Spicy Instant Pot Taco Soup
Taco Soup, a weeknight winner. A hearty melding of beans, and corn, and taco spices, and quinoa. Finished with avocado and pepitas and a squeeze of lime.
Instant Pot Mushroom Stroganoff with Vodka
Make this stroganoff your dinner tonight, seriously! Made with caraway-spiked vodka, and a hearty mushroom base, you get all of what you love about mushroom stroganoff, without the all the butter and cream.
How to Make Ghee
This is how to make ghee. It's wonderful and simple! It's a process I enjoy, and it yields one of my favorite cooking mediums. For those of you who might be unfamiliar, ghee is an unsalted butter that has had the milk solids removed after separating from the butterfat, resulting in beautiful, golden, pure fat with an unusually high smoking point.
40 Essential Instant Pot Links
All the helpful, essential Instant Pot links in one list. Links to accessories, videos, water test how-to, recipes, guides, etc.
Instant Pot Congee with Brown Rice and Turmeric
Today we're going to explore congee. And, spoiler alert, making congee in your Instant Pot is literally reason enough to buy one. A complete home run.
Instant Pot Indian-spiced Simmer Sauce
An incredibly fragrant and feisty Indian-spiced simmer sauce - tomato-based, ginger-slammed, garam masala-boosted.
Post Your Comment
Comments
I am SO LATE to the instapot situation. This will be my first recipe attempt. Silly question probably: If using dry beans, should I soak and/or instapot pressure cook them (like I would in a slow cooker) and THEN add them to this recipe? Like.... fresh? Thank you for all the links -- I am a little nervous about this new gadget!
Hi SB - for this recipe, yes, you want the chickpeas to be pre-cooked (or from a can)....
This was delicious! Perfect for a sick day. So flavorful and light. We make something called rasam on such days, this is a great substitute. Thanks!
I made the Indian simmer sauce (stovetop), letting it simmer for 30 minutes and then sit with heat off for an hour or so. Then, I made the cauliflower korma right in that pot using all the simmer sauce. I didn't add any additional onions or tomatoes because I prefer it less liquidy, but my husband likes more of the sauce so next time I'll add the can of tomatoes. Used frozen cauliflower florets from Trader Joes, and also added in 3/4 cup of frozen peas.
It looks very delicious. Which dessert would you recommend after that?
Really depends on what you like, and what time of year it is!
Added tofu and raisins. Absolutely delicious.
Hello! I am new to instant pot and this was the second of your recipes I’ve tried. Loved the stroganoff! I also loved this but I had some issues while cooking. My IP never reached pressure and overheated before it started counting down from 4 minutes. Luckily when I opened everything seemed cooked, but I’m not sure how that happened. I did not make the simmer sauce... I bought some curry sauce at the store. Any ideas?
Hi Jenny! Hmm - maybe the store-bought simmer sauce was a bit dryer. If you do it the same way in the future, add a bit of water to the sauce which should help.
What brand is the lovely bowl in the photo? Looking forward to trying out the recipe!
It's from a vintage shop. if you poke around a bit you'll be able to find something similar :)...
Hi! I'd like to make this in a slow cooker, do you think that's possible?
Truly fantastic and oh so fast! I added 1 finely diced jalapeno, seeds and all, because I love extra heat and it came out wonderfully. Looking forward to adding this to my dinner rotation!
This recipe has found it's way into our regular rotation! There is always indian simmer sauce on hand in my freezer now. I also lightly roast my cauliflower and add it in later during the cooking. No instant pot but find stove stop works just fine. My house smells delicious right now as I whip up a batch for dinner!
HS: Love hearing this Meesh!
Made this last night with the simmer sauce I made last week and froze. The flavours delicious but like Lesley I might have cut my florets too small and will adjust cook time as well. I used a squeeze of lemon for that flavour punch. Adding a sprinkle of some dried crispy fried onions really added to the texture of the dish and a slight SWEET surprise ....Lovely surprise!!! Once again a winner Heidi !!! :)
HS: Thanks LannY!
I made this & your simmer sauce. Delicious! Really flavorful and perfect for the "Bomb Cyclone" weather in NY. I'm commenting to share that I just had this korma for breakfast, as a kind of Shakshuka situation. I just put the Instant Pot on saute for a couple of minutes, then cancel, then made indentations with the back of a spoon, cracked eggs into the divots and cooked it on low pressure for a minute. Quick release. Served with a dollop of garlic chive labne. So good.
HS: Brilliant!
My Instant Pot arrived; I made the simmer sauce then this wonderful korma! Delicious! I kept the pieces of cauliflower a bit bigger than I would when roasting, and they were perfectly al dente when done. Definitely needed to add some salt to the simmer sauce before adding to the pot. I didn't have yogurt, but I topped with a few spoonfuls of coconut milk and some lemon zest. This was a beautiful, flavorful dish. Made about 5 servings for me. Will be watching what you come up with next, Heidi! Happy New Year!
HS: xo Jen! So glad you enjoyed it.
My cauliflower came out a bit too soft. Next time I will not cut the florets so small. Or maybe just cook 3 minutes. I added some toasted cashews and that helped restore some texture. I made the simmer sauce too and it really is delicious. I appreciated being able to get the level of cayenne that I prefer. For this recipe I also added a third of a cup of coconut milk. Really yummy and I am glad to have leftovers.
HS: Thanks Lesley - and yes, make a note on the recipe re: size...the IP seems much less forgiving re: texture versus stovetop. xx!
Heidi, I made this for lunch today and it's fantastic! I had a jar of Trader Joe's masala simmer sauce and used that, but I'll try your IP simmer sauce the next time. I did not have enough cauliflower, so I added a red pepper. Thank you for a great recipe!
HS: Thanks for the note Connie! Nice adaptation :)