Rara chicken curry, a North Indian Smoky Onion Fennel Pepper Cardamom curry, that is absolutely bursting with amazing complex flavors! Prepare it as-is with tofu or use your protein of choice to make it your own! It is delicious served with flatbread, naan, or rice.

Today, we are making vegan chicken rara. The pronunciation of this has a D or an H in the second R, but you can pronounce it however you like.

I’ve been exploring meat-heavy and regional Indian dishes, and developing easier and vegan versions of those. And this rara chicken is my most recent adaptation in this series!

The origins of rara chicken curry are disputed. It either comes from the Punjabi or Himachal region(north indian states), or it may come from Lucknowi cuisine(mid eastern state cuisine). There are different stories about it, but either way, it is an absolutely delicious North Indian curry! 

When you make these recipes with meat, it requires a lot more steps as well as cooking the meat in the sauce for a much longer time. But when we’re using plant-based protein — like tofu, beans, or chickpeas — they don’t need that much time in the sauce. If you’re using other vegan proteins, like seitan or soy curls, you can cook those in the sauce for a much longer time for a really good flavor infusion. This curry has both meaty tofu pieces and mince meat style tofu crumble. Substitute these to preference.

Rara chicken uses lots of umami-packed onion caramelized with whole spices, and then you add in a rara masala blend. The black cardamom, clove, and fennel seeds give an entirely different flavor to the dish, and also there’s quite a bit of Kashmiri chili powder to add a vibrant, red color and even more amazing flavor. If you don’t use Kashmiri chili powder and use paprika, the color payoff will be a little less. Different brands of Kashmiri chili powder will have different color payoffs and heat as well.

There are obviously many spices in this dish, but if you don’t have a spice or two, that’s fine. It’ll still turn out absolutely delicious, so definitely try it. 

We toast the spices for the rara masala blend before grinding them, because it is also used as a finishing spice. It is important that you roast the finishing spice beforehand to give the final blend a melded flavor profile. Otherwise, some of the spices, like fennel, will show up a lot more strongly in the spice blend, and some of the spices might make everything taste a bit too earthy if they’re not toasted. 

Rara chicken curry is a very thick-sauced dish. If you prefer more sauce, add in more water, stock, or non-dairy milk. The sauce is simmered for quite a bit of time to get all that flavor payoff out of the spices.

One of the main reasons I’m making vegan versions of these meaty dishes is that they tend to have a lot more spices, and decadent sauces compared to the vegetarian versions. This is either because the meat needs more seasoning, or because meat dishes are more pricey (in India). When you’re paying that much for a dish in a restaurant, you want something decadent and creamy with a complex flavor profile. 

But all of that flavor is actually in the sauce, so we’re using that same sauce and all of those spices with plant-based protein. You can also add roasted veggies to the sauce instead for a really flavor-packed veggie side.

Why You’ll Love Rara Chicken Curry

• simplified, plant-based version of a North Indian classic curry
• roasted whole spices give the tofu and sauce amazing flavors from cardamom, cloves, fennel seeds, and more
• one-pan meal
• versatile! Bake or fry the tofu, or use protein of your choice. It’s even OK if you’re missing a few of the spices.
• gluten-free and nut-free with easy soy-free option

Continue reading: Rara Chicken Curry (North Indian Smoky Onion Pepper Cardamom curry)

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Saag butter beans — creamy spinach curry with melt-in-your-mouth beans and lots of amazing Indian spices — is a hearty, veggie-forward main dish that’s just got an incredible flavor and texture! What makes it really special is the crispy garlic chili oil tempering that you drizzle on top. Serve with rice, naan, flatbread, or sourdough for an easy, flavorful meal. Gluten-free soyfree and nutfree

I finally got some butter beans to use in this simple saag. Saag basically means greens, and the most common saag uses mustard greens. For this saag we use spinach to make a really flavorful spinach curry with a set of spices for the authentic flavor. If you don’t have every single spice listed here, use whichever spices you have, and it will still turn out amazing. 

To get the right texture for the greens, use frozen spinach and pulse it in the food processor while it’s still frozen. That gives it this coarsely chopped texture which I really love in my saag. If you don’t like any texture in your saag, you can puree the spinach with some water or non-dairy milk and use that mixture.

Choose whichever method you like for preparing your saag. Whether the texture is chunky, chopped, or smooth, it will taste amazing, especially with these creamy butter beans and savory tempering!

Why You’ll Love Saag Butter Beans

• creamy butter beans in a deeply seasoned spinach curry sauce
• crispy chili garlic tempering oil adds even more flavor and amazing texture
• easy to make with any greens you like
• simple, 1-pan meal ready in about half an hour
• naturally gluten-free, soy-free, and nut-free

Continue reading: Saag Butter Beans (Beans in North Indian Spinach curry)

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Kadhi pakora is a popular, homestyle North Indian curry starring crispy vegetable pakora fritters in a creamy yogurt curry sauce. This version is from North Indian Punjabi cuisine (gluten-free, soy-free, nut-free). Orginally published may 15, 2013. Updated with photos video and details.

In Indian cuisine, kadhi is a spiced, saucy dish, often made with yogurt. The creamy sauce can be paired with fritters, veggies, papadums based on region and often served over rice. Spices and texture vary by region as well.

Punjabi kadhi (North Indian kadhi from the state of punjab), like this kadhi pakora, is usually creamier and made with sour yogurt, while Maharashtrian kadhi(from maharashtra state) is thinner with spiced oil d featuring mustard seeds and curry leaves, and Gujarati kadhi is sweeter and can often have other spices, as well. Marwari kadhi tends to be hotter, with more chilies, and has variations like papad kadhi where crisped papadums are added to the kadhi right before serving, which makes for a great texture combination.

For today’s kadhi, we are using cumin seed tarka, and for the fritters we’re using chickpea flour, which is the flour of white chickpeas or garbanzo beans. That is different from besan, which is the flour of brown chickpeas. There is a difference between besan and chickpea flour. If you’re using besan, you will need much less water to make the batter for the fritters.

The baked fritters when soaked in the kadhi, are more like dumplings. Delicious on their own and also with the sauce.
You can also make your own Coconut Milk Yogurt or Peanut yogurt or Cashew yogurt or use store bought for the Kadhi.  

Why You’ll Love Kadhi Pakora

• crispy broccoli-onion fritters in a creamy curry sauce
• make the sauce while the fritters bake in the oven
• super rich and creamy curry sauce from non-dairy yogurt and chickpea flour
• naturally gluten-free, soy-free, and nut-free

Continue reading: Indian Punjabi Kadhi Pakora (Onion Fritters in Spiced Yogurt Sauce)

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Kali mirch beans (Beans in Indian Black pepper Cream sauce) uses the amazing sauce from North Indian Chicken kali mirch( black pepper chicken curry) but with Beans! This one pan meal is delicious with flatbread or sourdough for dipping or make it a fusion meal by serving over pasta, baked potato, or roasted cauliflower! (1 pan, 30 minutes, gluten-free, soy-free, nut-free)

Murg kali mirch is black pepper chicken curry, a north Indian and Pakistani dish with a spiced, creamy white curry sauce. The only heat in this curry comes from black pepper, and loads of it. Usually, you would marinate the meat in black pepper, ginger, and garlic but we’re making the sauce, and then adding beans to it in this recipe.

This sauce is incredibly versatile! Use other proteins, if you prefer, like other types of beans, chickpeas, chickpea tofu, crisped up or baked tofu, seitan, soy curls, or other vegan chicken substitutes that you like. 

If you’re using tofu or any other larger protein, marinate it in about 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper and dashes of salt, garlic, and oil, then bake or pan fry it to golden, before adding to the sauce. 

Serve kali mirch beans with naan, flatbread, toasted sourdough, or garlic bread. It’s also delicious spooned over a baked potato, seared cauliflower, or your favorite pasta for a fusion version of this dish. 

The sauce is absolutely delicious with just a few ingredients, so definitely try this one! 

Why You’ll Love Kali Mirch Beans

• creamy black pepper sauce is easy to make in one pan
• versatile! Add beans or use your plant-based chicken substitute of choice, and serve with bread to dip or over baked potato, pasta, or seared cauliflower.
• simple, one-pan meal ready in 30 minutes
• naturally gluten-free, soy-free, and nut-free

Continue reading: Kali Mirch Beans (Beans in Indian Black Pepper Cream Sauce) 

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Vegetable bhuna is a rich, Indian curry with an amazing flavor. Read on for my tips to make the best Indian restaurant style vegetable curry! Tender crisp fenugreek roasted veggies folded in a creamy tomato curry finished with a cumin spiced oil – tadka. You can add your favorite veggies to make this your own!

Bhuna is a spiced, Indian curry typically made with chicken or other meat in a creamy, spiced tomato-yogurt sauce. Bhuna means to-fry or to roast and for the sauce we fry the spices, then fry and caramelize the aromatics and continue adding more ingredients and roasting, deglazing and caramelizing to make this roasted sauce. Here, we’re using cauliflower, beans, carrots and lots of veggies for a vegetable bhuna that’s packed with flavor!

There are 3 steps in the recipe and they serve a purpose. First, we pre cook the veggies, we get a char going on the longer cooking veggies, roast them a bit then add a bit of water to steam and cook them until evenly al dente.

Second, we make the sauce with spices, aromatics, tomato and cream element. Then we fold in the cooked veggies and take it off heat. We do not cook the veggies in the sauce! Cooking them in the sauce adds all the veggie flavor to the sauce. We want the sauce flavor to stand out and not taste like veggie soup.

Third, we make a finishing spiced oil (tadka) with cumin seeds, bay leaf and fenugreek, then add some peppers and onions for crunch and lightly cook and fold those into the dish before serving. The spiced oil adds amazing flavor and the crunch adds texture as well as carries the spice flavor into the veggies and sauce!

This bhuna vegetable curry is a delicious way to use up veggies in your fridge or freezer! This is a restaurant-style curry and hence has more steps than your usual vegetable curry but, the resulting flavor is so worth the extra time.

Why You’ll Love Vegetable Bhuna

• creamy, tomato vegetable curry with cumin spiced oil with an amazing flavor
• versatile – Use your veggies of choice!
• naturally gluten-free with soy- and nut-free options.

More Vegan Curries

• Chickpea Coconut Curry
• Malaysian Tofu Curry
• Malabar Curry
• Baked Tofu Curry
• Butter Chickpeas curry

Continue reading: Restaurant-Style Vegetable Bhuna (North Indian Veggie Curry)

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Soycurls and Spinach in Indian White Sauce is a plant-based version of popular Malai Palak chicken(Cream Spinach Chicken curry). Spinach and spiced soycurl Chikin bake in a luscious creamy sauce with Indian flavors. This is a 2 step 1 Pan baked, simplified version of this classic curry that is sure to become a family favorite!

Malai means cream, Palak is spinach. This creamy white sauce with Indian spices, dotted with fresh spinach and spiced and crisped vegan chicken, is comfort food like an Indian spinach florentine! Is is usually made on the stovetop, but in this version, we are simplifying the recipe and baking our curry in 1 pan in the oven and just 2 steps. That means Easy clean up and just a few minutes of active time in the kitchen! It is a No tomato white sauce with loads of spices, onion, garlic and non dairy cream and pairs well with with Naan or rice or also with toasted sourdough or garlic bread.

In place of chicken, I use soy curls, which are a whole food ingredient with a chicken-like texture. If you don’t want to use soy curls, though, you can use tofu or roasted vegetables. There are instructions for these substitutions included in the recipe.

This luscious vegan Malai Palak Chikin is an easy weeknight meal that is absolutely packed with flavor!

Why You’ll Love this Indian Spinach Curry

• easy recipe baked in a single pan in the oven and 2 steps.
• no standing over the stove
• packed with protein, greens, and FLAVOR!
• gluten-free with nut-free soy-free options

More Vegan Soy Curls Recipes

• General Tso’s Soy Curls
• Coconut Curry Chikin Soy Curls
• Instant Pot Butter Chicken with Soy Curls
• Sesame shallot basil Stir fry with soy curls
• Vegan Chikin florentine

Continue reading: Malai Palak Chicken (Indian White Sauce with Soycurls and spinach)

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Pahadi curry — crispy tofu in a flavorful cardamom pepper onion curry sauce — is an amazing, one-pan meal! It’s based on an North Indian mountain cuisine curry that’s usually made with meat. But tofu or other vegan meat substitutes are just as delicious in this deeply-seasoned sauce. 1 Pan 40 minutes, gluten-free recipe. Options for Soyfree Nutfree

This is a hearty mutton (meat) recipe that I’ve adapted from Pahadi cuisine and converted to a vegan curry. Pahadi means mountains, and the mountainous regions in India have their own cuisine. There are many states in the region and this mountain cuisine varies based on the state and city cuisines.

Many of the recipes from the cuisine use lots of whole spices in the sauce. Like all of my other vegan Indian recipes, even you don’t have all of the whole spices, you can still make the recipe. It will still have enough flavor overall, but you definitely should try it with the listed spices at least once. 

I often also use these spices, like the Kashmiri chili powder and black cardamom, in other recipes, so if you get a bag, you’re going to keep using them. 

Get them from the Indian store, because you can get a smaller quantity for much cheaper than online. You can also order from Indian stores online, because they often deliver, as well. 

You can bake or pan-fry the tofu for this recipe. I’m pan frying in the video, but the recipe includes baking instructions, as well. You can also use other proteins like pumpkin seed tofu, seitan, tempeh, soycurls or chickpeas/beans! Come along with me on this journey to try out the various regional Indian cuisines, made easier!

Why You’ll Love Pahadi Tofu Curry

• rich, flavorful, tomato-yogurt curry sauce with lots of whole and ground spices
• tender, toothsome tofu pieces
• one-pan meal
• Indian regional cuisine recipe
• only 40 minutes to make it

More Indian Curry Recipes

• South Indian Eggplant Curry Casserole
• Malai Tofu Curry
• Aloo Matar – Indian Peas & Potato Curry
• Vegan Malabar Curry with Veggies & Beans

Continue reading: Pahadi Curry (1 Pan North Indian Mountain Tofu Cardamom Pepper Curry)

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Punjabi chole is a North Indian chickpea curry with a unique and delicious blend of flavors. In this Instant Pot Punjabi chana masala, the beans cook in the Instant Pot in the sauce until they melt in your mouth! Serve with rice, naan, or flatbread. Glutenfree Soyfree Nutfree

Chole, is a traditional chickpea curry from different northern states of India. Punjabi chole comes from the state of Punjab and has this distinct flavor profile in the sauce. Caramelized onion, whole spices, melt in your mouth chickpeas, this chole feels like home. Once you make this restaurant style chickpea curry, you will make it again and again!

The sauce is made with lots of caramelized onions, black cardamom, ginger, garlic, and a chole masala blend that you can find in an Indian grocery store or online. If you can’t find chole masala, you can use garam masala instead.

The other feature of Punjabi chole is that you cook the chickpeas until they are super soft and melt in your mouth and the color of the chickpeas and the sauce becomes almost the same. That is why the pressure cooking time is much longer than what you would for chickpeas that are just about cooked for using in salads.

This is also applicable for a lot of other beans or legume-based Indian dishes. They are usually cooked for a longer time, like you’d cook a chili, so that everything caramelizes and becomes aromatic, and the beans almost begin to dissolve into the sauce, and all of the flavors of the sauce go into the beans. If you follow my recipe exactly, that’s the texture that you’ll get.

If you prefer a firmer chickpea texture, you can just cook it for about half the cooking time, and it will still work out well.

Instead of chickpeas, you can use other beans in this recipe, because the sauce is where all the flavor is at! 

Chole is the original Chana masala. Chana masala is a simpler chickpea curry and everyone has their own version, not necessarily authentic indian. For the real deal, try this chickpea curry and fall in love with chickpeas all over again.

Why You’ll Love Punjabi Chole

• melt-in-your-mouth chickpeas in a creamy, caramelized sauce thats packed with Indian spices!
• easy to make in the Instant Pot or on the stovetop
• naturally gluten-free, soy-free, and nut-free

Continue reading: Punjabi Chole (North Indian Chickpea Curry) Instant pot. stovetop option.

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This is a vegan version of chicken barra, a creamy chicken dish from North Indian cuisine. You can find it in some restaurants in India. You’ve got to try making this for it unique flavor and texture. It has a creamy silky sauce made with crispy onion and cashews, the protein is marinated in the sauce and roasted!

Barra is another absolutely delicious feature in some North Indian regional restaurants. Known for its thick and creamy sauce that is made with fried onion and cream and plethora of spices and herbs, it is a delectable must make. Continuing with my series where I veganize some fantastic sauces, this has been an instant fave!

Restaurant style Chicken Barra usually has many many steps, where you fry the onions, then you blend them to make the sauce and marinade, then make this separate marinade for the protein, and then make the sauce using some of the marinade. You also cook the protein and sauce separately, and so on.

I simplified the entire process to making just this one blended sauce which you use to marinate the tofu/protein and also cook up to make the sauce for the dish. I also pan crisp the onion over high heat instead of frying them. The onions will crisp up and scorch and get similar texture and flavor more quickly this way.

There is a creamy marinade for the tofu, and then you either grill or bake the tofu or crisp it in the pan. Then, the same marinade is the base for the sauce with some additional spices. 

Serve the tofu barra sauce along side the crisped tofu (kebab), or you can serve this as wraps by just putting the crisped up tofu in the wrap and using the sauce for drizzling all over along with some crunchy veggies, like lettuce, onion, and tomato. Or, you can serve it with rice, flatbread, or naan. 

If you don’t want to use tofu, you can replace it with vegetables, chickpea tofu, chickpeas or other beans, or use seitan or vegan chicken substitute or sautéed soy curls.

Why You’ll Love Tofu Barra

• creamy sauce with flavors of garam masala, Kashmiri chili powder, chaat masala, and cilantro
• versatile dish! If you don’t want to use tofu, use another vegan chicken substitute or veggies or beans instead.
• simplified recipe – the marinade is also the base for the sauce!
• gluten-free with nut-free and soy-free options

More North Indian Vegan Recipes

• Butter Tofu paneer
• Amritsari Tofu curry
• Aloo Gobi – spiced potato cauliflower
• Mutter Paneer – tofu and peas in tomato curry
• Rajma – kidney bean curry

Continue reading: Tofu Barra – North Indian Silky Onion Curry (Vegan Chicken Barra)

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A north Indian fave, this Indian ginger curry has mince, julienned and dried ginger for an incredible flavor along with whole and ground spices in a rich tomato sauce. The sauce is incredibly versatile! Make it with soy curls to make Adraki Chicken curry or use one of the variations to make it your own.

Adraki ginger chicken is a popular North Indian curry. The sauce has whole and ground spices, onion, tomato, green chilies and of course a lot of ginger in mince and julienne form and ground form. This delicious ginger sauce is perfect to ward off the seasonal bugs.

There are many curries and dishes that aren’t on the menu of a usual Indian restaurant outside India. But these often are popular in restaurants in India, in certain Regions or specializing in northern Indian food. Adraki Chikin is one such delicious dish. With the spiced and gingered sauce and a crisped up protein, this is a very flavorful sauce!

Soy curls are the protein we are using in this ginger curry, but you can use other plant-based proteins — like tofu, chickpeas, or seitan. This amazing sauce is also delicious with mixed roasted veggies!

No matter how you make it, this is an easy, weeknight meal that’s ready in about 40 minutes. Serve with rice or quinoa or Biryani or naan.

Why You’ll Love Adraki Ginger Curry

• Flavorful, ginger-tomato broth with lots of whole and dried spices
• Very versatile! Make it with soy curls, seitan, other chicken substitutes, chickpeas, tofu, or all veggies!
• Gluten-free and nut-free, as long as your non-dairy yogurt is nut-free
• soy-free options

More Indian Curry Recipes

• Vegan Lasooni Chicken Curry
• Kala Chana Ghugni
• Dhaba Rajma
• Khada Masala Murg Curry

Continue reading: Vegan Adraki Chikin Indian Ginger Curry

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