Vegetable rogan josh is my vegan/vegetarian take on the ever-popular British Indian curry house favourite that comes in a thick spicy sauce.
This vegan curry takes a little over an hour to prepare and cook, but despite the complex flavour profile, it is very easy to make.
Vegetarian/Vegan Rogan Josh Curry
I have a deep love for a good vegetarian or vegan curry, they provide a big old bowl of tasty grub with far less calorific load than the meaty equivalent.
I've got completely made-up offerings like my vegan butter bean curry and my chickpea and parsnip curry, as well as veggie versions of curry house favourites like my vegetable bhuna and vegetable karahi recipes.
This vegan rogan josh curry is built on my chicken rogan josh recipe, and it utilises a very similar spice mix.
But instead of chicken, we get a load of veggies, big "petals" of onion are joined by new potatoes, cauliflower and courgette.
It's all cooked down in a sauce with tomatoes and a fantastic, vibrant array of fragrant spices and a decent whack of Kashmiri chilli peppers.
This recipe also gets a bit of fenugreek at the end of the cooking process. Which is a departure from my previous rogan josh recipes. I feel it adds a wonderful fragrant feel to this vegetable-based curry!
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use different vegetables?
Yes, absolutely, use whatever you have lying around at home.
Just be sure to add harder root vegetables like carrots, sweet potato, celeriac or squash early on in the cooking process. Then add softer vegetables like broccoli, green beans, runner beans or peppers later in the cooking process.
How spicy is this curry?
This question gets asked a lot, and it is very difficult to give an "objective" answer.
I personally find this curry to be medium hot. Almost all of that heat comes from Kashmiri chilli powder, which is fairly mild.
But I will caveat that by saying that mild heat for one person could be either a raging inferno or a mild tickle to another person. Trust your instincts, you know your tolerance to spice much better than I do!
Can I make this in advance?
Yes, this curry will sit in the fridge perfectly well for 4-5 days if stored correctly.
But you will need to add more water when you reheat it. The reheating process will also cook the softer vegetables a little more, so try not to heat it up for a long period of time.
A QUICK NOTE!
I like to cook this recipe with mustard oil, which benefits from being heated to the smoking point and then cooled a little before you start cooking.
But I have also tested this recipe with sunflower oil and peanut oil, and it works perfectly well.
Serving Suggestions
I've served my vegan rogan josh in these pictures with plain basmati rice and my tandoori naan bread.
I often serve a curry with plain rice, because there is plenty of flavour to go around. But if you prefer a pilau rice, knock yourself out; it would work wonderfully here.
If you don't have time to rustle up some naan bread, how about making some chapatis? They can be made from start to finish in around an hour, and they are perfect with this dish.
If you want the full curry house experience, make a quick kachumber salad, mint raita and some poppadoms. Then you are ready to crack open the beer!
Equipment Used
I only mention specific brands of equipment if I think that they make a material difference to a recipe. But if you have any questions, feel free to ask them in the comments section below the recipe.
- Hob/Stovetop.
- 30cm or 12" frying pan (with a lid).
- Stirring and serving spoons.
- Chopping board.
- Kitchen knife.
- Mini blender.
- Pestle and mortar or spice grinder.
- A combination of weighing scales, a measuring jug, measuring cups and spoons.
Spicy Vegetable Rogan Josh Recipe (Vegetarian and Vegan)
Ingredients
- 1 Large Onion 200g
- 30 g Ginger 1 Thumb-Sized Piece
- 3 Garlic Cloves
- 300 g New Potatoes 2 Cups
- 1 Small Cauliflower 12cm or 5" Diameter or around 300g
- 1 Small-Medium Courgette 125g
- 1 Star Anise
- 3 Green Cardamom Pods
- 3 Cloves
- 1 Blade Mace
- 1 teaspoon Black Pepper Corns
- 2 tablespoon Cooking Oil
- ¼ teaspoon Ground Cumin
- ¼ teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon Kashmiri Chilli Powder
- ¾ teaspoon Ground Coriander
- ¾ teaspoon Ground Turmeric
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- 2 tablespoon Tomato Puree
- 2 Medium Tomatoes 250g Total
- ½ teaspoon Sugar
- 175 ml Water ¾ Cup
- 2 teaspoon Dried Fenugreek Leaves
Instructions
- Cut the onion in half, peel it, roughly chop half of the onion and then cut the other half into 4 wedges.
- Peel the garlic and ginger, add them to a mini blender, throw in the roughly chopped onion, then blitz with enough water to create a smooth paste.
- Add the cardamom pods, black peppercorns, cloves, mace and star anise to a dry frying pan (30cm or 12" in diameter) and toast over a medium-high heat for a couple of minutes. Grind the toasted spices in a spice grinder or a pestle and mortar.I like to pick out any larger pieces of cardamom pod at this point.
- Return the pan to a medium heat and add the cooking oil. When the oil is hot, add the onion, garlic and ginger paste, and cook for 7-10 minutes. The moisture should evaporate, and the onions should just start to become golden in parts.
- Whilst the onion puree is cooking, cut the new potatoes into bite-sized pieces.
- Add the potatoes, onion wedges, along with the ground cumin, cinnamon, coriander, the spices that we ground up earlier, the Kashmiri chilli powder, and turmeric, then stir to combine. Season with the salt and cook for 2 minutes, making sure you keep it moving to prevent the spices from burning.
- Cut the tomatoes into 8 wedges each, and after 5 minutes, add in the tomato puree, tomato wedges, sugar and water, then stir well. Reduce the heat to low, add a lid and simmer for 25-30 minutes or until the potatoes are almost cooked through.
- Whilst the potatoes are cooking, break the cauliflower down into bite-sized pieces and chop the courgette into bite-sized pieces
- Add the courgette and cauliflower to the pan, return the lid and cook for 10 minutes. You may need to add a splash of water at this point if your tomatoes were not juicy enough.
- Turn the heat up a little, crush the fenugreek leaves into the pan, stir and cook for a final couple of minutes before serving.
