Cauliflower Stir Fry Recipe

Make this delicious Cauliflower Stir Fry under 25 minutes. This fusion style stir fried cauliflower is so simple that anyone can cook! It goes well with just anything. Serve along-side noodles, Basmati Rice dal, Turmeric Rice, quinoa or with cooked millets. This Cauliflower Stir Fry tastes so good that you can eat it as a snack too. I have used only cauliflower here, feel free to add different veggies liked sliced onions, scallions, bell peppers and carrots for varied flavors.

This recipe requires basic pantry staples like oil, ground spices, fresh herbs and a basic homemade stir fry sauce (shared below). Indian chili powder, garlic powder, garam masala (or five spice) and fresh garlic impart wonderful flavors to the stir fried cauliflower.

To add another layer of flavors, I also use soya sauce, vinegar and little maple syrup, which is the stir fry sauce here. You are free to leave out this sauce if you want or incorporate more Indian flavors by using kasuri methi, amchur (dried mango powder) or chaat masala.

Expert Tips

• Remove the leaves from the cauliflower head and rinse under running tap water (upside down). Break up or cut the florets to almost the same size. Add them to a colander and rinse them again. Shake off to get rid of excess water.
• To get rid of small creatures in the cauliflower, add them to a bowl of slightly hot water (not very hot) with little salt and vinegar. Leave them for 5 minutes. This step helps to get rid of any small bugs hidden in the florets. Salt & vinegar helps to get rid of any unwanted residue.
• It is important to splash water at intervals to steam cook the cauliflower.
• To make the Indian version (without sauce and vinegar), you can also add some chaat masala/ amchur (dried mango powder), kasuri methi and cumin powder.
• You can add your favorite sauce. But if you add too much of liquid/sauce, you may end up with too much sauce.

More Cauliflower Recipes
Cauliflower Pakora
Gobi Manchurian
Cauliflower Curry
Aloo Gobi
Cauliflower Masala
Cauliflower Kurma

Photo Guide

How to Make Cauliflower Stir Fry (Stepwise Photos)

1. For this recipe you will need 5 cups of cleaned cauliflower florets (450g,1 lb). Make sure most of the florets are of the same size as you want them to be cooked evenly. If you are new to cleaning cauliflower, read my pro tips below.

2. Add the following spices to a small bowl and mix them.

• ½ to 1 teaspoon Kashmiri red chili powder or chili flakes (adjust to heat tolerance)
• ¾ to 1 teaspoon Garam masala or five spice as needed
• ½ to ¾ teaspoon garlic powder
• Also measure ¼ teaspoon salt and keep it aside (do not mix with the spices)

3. You may leave out this stir fry sauce but it adds another layer of flavors. Optionally make the stir fry sauce by mixing

• ½ to ¾ tablespoon soya sauce or tamari
• 1 teaspoon maple syrup or ½ teaspoon sugar/jaggery
• ¾ tablespoon apple cider vinegar

4. Chop 2 tablespoons of coriander leaves or any other fresh herbs. Slice ¾ to 1 tablespoon garlic cloves. Keep them thick. If you are using small cloves, just crush them and use.

5. Pour 2 tablespoons oil to a heavy bottom pan or wok and heat it.
Add garlic cloves.

6. Stir in the cauliflower and fry for 3 to 4 minutes on a medium high heat.

7. Sprinkle the salt.

8. Reduce the heat to low. Mix all the spices and sprinkle them all over. Mix well.

9. Splash 1 to 2 tbsps water & mix. Cover and lower the heat. Let cook until the florets are tender/cooked but not too soft. If the pan is too dry, you may splash a few tbsps of water in between and continue to cook. It takes me 4 to 5 mins for this step.

10. Optionally if you want to use the sauce, increase the heat to medium high or high and pour the sauce all over.

11. Stir fry on the highest heat till all of the sauce is absorbed by the cauliflower. Taste test and add more salt, spices or sauce to your liking. Adding too much of sauce or spices is going to make your cauliflower too salty, spicy and is going to overpower the flavors. Sprinkle coriander leaves.

Remove Cauliflower Stir Fry to serving plate and serve hot as a side with just anything. We serve with basmati rice & dal, rice-curry or quinoa and raita.

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