There was a very big hole left in my life when I went vegan and could no longer have butter paneer at my local Indian restaurant. That buttery, creamy sauce was just so decadent and I didn’t know how I was ever going to eat Indian food again without being disappointed.
Don’t get me wrong, I have found a few awesome vegan Indian dishes, but nothing that quite satisfies that butter chicken (or butter paneer) craving.
Until now…
If you’re a curry-lover, this is your heaven right here. This meal is so freaking flavourful and sooooooo so easy. If you put your rice on first, it will be ready by the time your rice is done cooking. Talk about a quick and easy weeknight dinner.
I’ve tried veganising butter chicken sauce so many times before and there was always something missing. Eventually I stumbled upon some dried fenugreek leaves and that was it. The missing piece!
You can get dried fenugreek leaves from Asian or Indian grocers and they’re also easy to find online.
Some fun facts about jackfruit…
- It’s native to Southwest India and grows well in tropical climates.
- You can buy it in a can, usually young and green (i.e. unripe), but you can also buy ripened jackfruit in a can (this is much sweeter).
- Young green jackfruit won’t make your curry taste like fruit. It actually has a completely neutral flavour, or slightly salty if you buy it in brine.
- It has a gorgeous soft texture that melts in your mouth.
- It’s super easy to digest and low in calories (not that we need to count calories when we eat mostly plant based whole foods!).
If you’re wanting a high-protein meal, you might want to substitute the jackfruit for some firm tofu. But trust me when I say it won’t be quite as delicious. The jackfruit has a really amazing texture that is just perfect for this vegan butter chicken recipe!
Stevia… in a curry?
Did you know that a super common secret ingredient in a lot of Indian curries is sugar? I remember when someone first told me this and then I really started to notice how sweet some curries tasted (Thai food is bad for this too!).
Stevia is 100% natural – extracted from the leaves of a Brazilian native plant – and it’s 100% sugar free. So it’s perfect for dropping into recipes such as this to get that sweet-savoury balance just right.
But, be warned: it is NOT a teaspoon for teaspoon substitute for sugar. It can be up to 150 times sweeter than sugar, so you really gotta go easy with this stuff.
I’m pretty darn sure you’re gonna fall in love with this recipe. Do let me know what you think!
xx
Deliciously rich and creamy!
- 1 x 300g (net weight) can young green jackfruit in brine
- 1 x 400ml can coconut milk
- 1 cup tomato puree (or passatta)
- 1 large brown onion diced
- 3 cloves fresh garlic minced
- 1 tbsp finely grated fresh ginger
- 1 tbsp coconut oil
- 1 tsp ground turmeric
- 1 tsp garam masala
- 1/2 tsp chilli powder (or more if you like it hot)
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 1/8 tsp stevia powder
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 2 tbsp dried fenugreek leaves (plus a teaspoon or so extra to garnish)
- 1 cup aged brown basmati rice
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Add the rice to a medium pot with 2 cups of filtered water and a pinch of salt. Bring to the boil then reduce the heat to low and cook for 20 minutes with the lid on.
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Meanwhile, drain the jackfruit and use two forks to break apart the chunks of jackfruit into smaller, textured pieces.
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Heat the coconut oil over low-medium heat and add the diced onion, stirring occasionally for 3-4 minutes.
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Add the garlic, ginger and spices and cook a further 2 minutes.
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Add the jackfruit, tomato puree, lemon juice, stevia, nutritional yeast and dried fenugreek leaves. Increase heat slightly to bring the curry to a gentle simmer for 5-10 minutes.
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Add the coconut milk just 1 minute before turning off the heat (this helps to prevent it from separating, which can happen when coconut milk cooks for too long).
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Back to the rice - turn the heat off after 20 minutes and let stand for a further 5 minutes with the lid on.
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Split into 2 bowls with a little extra fenugreek leaves sprinkled on top to garnish. Serve with the rice and/or your favourite Indian sides and condiments. Delish-bomb.
17 Comments
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What happens to the second tbsp of coconut oil?
Hey Robin – Thanks for pulling me up on that typo! It is only 1 tablespoon of coconut oil and I’ve just fixed it in the recipe! I am a big fan of coconut oil and I do sometimes add a little extra at the end just to make it extra silky, so I think that’s where I was going with the extra tablespoon. But I decided to leave it out of the recipe to keep the fat content down. Thanks again and hope you enjoy this 😉
the recipe calls for two tablespoons of Fenugreek leaf, I brought this product today to make the recipe but want to confirm that it is two tablespoons as the jar of it says to use it sparingly. Look forward to your reply and thank you.
Hi Lynn 🙂 I love this recipe with 2 tablespoons of fenugreek but if your jar says to use it sparingly, maybe just start with 1 tablespoon and see how it tastes? It does have a distinct flavour so you might prefer it more subtle… let me know how it turns out! x
Hi There,
I´m a bit confused by your recipe. 1300 grams of jackfruit is close to 3 lbs. My can of jack fruit is 565 grams (1.25 grams or 1 lb.) My can of coconut syrup is 400 ml ( about 1.5 cups). You´ve called for 1400 ml which is almost 6 cups. Is this correct or is there some mistake with conversion? I´m just not sure as you´ve indicated the recipe to feed two people. Something is wrong here. I guess I don´t understand.
Hi Myra, Apologies for how that looked in the recipe, but it was actually 1 x 300g can of jackfruit (your 565 gram can should be 300g net weight). Same goes with the coconut milk – it’s 1 x 400ml can. I have added the x symbol into the recipe now to make it less confusing – so sorry! Let me know how you like the curry 😉
Hi, i want to sustitute the fenugreek leaves with seeds, have you any idea how much i should put in? Thanks ?
Hey Brooke, fenugreek seeds do have a different flavour to the leaves and it’s not something I’ve tried – so maybe start with just a few and see how it tastes! You can always add more the next time you make it. Let me know how you go 😉 x
This one is the one. Usually pinterest recipes are not as good as they say they are. Especially when it comes to Indian food. And knowing Indian food, I can honestly say it’s one of the best curries I have tasted!!!!
So glad you loved it Jael! x
I have no stevia , what’s the equivalent amount of sugar or maple syrup please?
1 tablespoon of maple syrup or sugar will work instead, or you can even skip it altogether. It is definitely more authentic tasting with a hint of sweetness though 🙂
Can I use fresh jackfruit in place of canned. If so, do I need to precook the jackfruit before simmering in sauce?
Hi Susan, I have never been able to get fresh jackfruit so I can’t say I’ve tried it – but as long as it’s young green jackfruit (not mature and sweet), it should work just the same as the canned jackfruit and you won’t need to pre-cook it. Let me know how it turns out if you try it!
This was delicious!
You have done it again earth chick another great dish
Fantastic and easy for us mortals
Had trouble finding fenegreek leaves on the central coast but eventually found a great spice shop only a few kms away and they have everything and scored a free book very exciting
I’m thinking about coconut cream next time what do you recon
BTW I shared the left overs from your san choy bou recipient with my daughter and family Xmas day and every one raved about it I was the hero of the day
Thanks and FGS bring out a book
Awesome to hear Les – thanks so much! And yes on the coconut cream, I use it often in place of coconut milk 😉