Cauliflower nuggets
Crispy cauliflower nuggets in 30 minutes. This crispy cauliflower snack is perfect appetizer for gatherings, always a hot with kids and tastes best with any dip. Vegan & gluten free.
Servings: 20 nuggets
Calories: 57kcal
Ingredients
- 2.5 cups minced cauliflower from 1 medium caulifower head
- 1 medium sized carrot peeled
- 1 large onion halved
- 2 green chilies
- 1 inch ginger peeled
- 1/2 teaspoon red chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon garam masala powder
- 4 tablespoons rice flour
- 1 cup powdered rice flakes or bread crumbs
Instructions
- Separate the florets from a medium sized cauliflower head.
- Bring 3 cups of water to a boil along with a pinch of salt. Add the florets and par boil for 3-4 minutes.
- Drain excess water and rinse the cauliflower florets well in cold water.
- Now into a food processor jar, add 1 onion, halved, 1 peeled carrot, cut into big pieces 2 green chilies and 1 inch peeled ginger.
- Also add the boiled cauliflower florets.
- Process for few seconds.
- Remove the veg mixture to a wide bowl and add the spice powders namely garam masala powder, red chili powder and salt to taste. Also add 4 tablespoons rice flour.
- Mix very well and add 2 tablespoons powdered rice flakes. Set aside the rest of rice flakes for coating the nuggets. You can also use bread crumb
- Mix the ingredients very well.
- Now pinch small balls and roll tightly to shape as nugget. Roll each nugget over the powdered rice flakes or bread crumbs.
- Heat oil for frying. Place 3-4 nuggets in hot oil and fry in medium flame until they turn golden brown.
- Drain excess oil. Fry all the nuggets in the same way.
- Serve cauliflower nuggets warm with any dip or salad.
Oven Instructions.
- Preheat oven at 180 C or 325 F.
- Prepare the nuggets as explained and coat each nugget in powdered rice flakes or breadcrumbs.
- Grease a baking sheet with few drops of olive oil.
- Arrange them in a single layer in a well greased baking sheet. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until they turn crispy and golden.
- Flip them in between after 12 minutes of baking.
Notes
Vegetables that go well in this recipe are broccoli, green peas, corn, cabbage etc. You can add these vegetables in any proportion to suit your taste. Just make sure to add as much rice flour you need to bind the mixture properly. But do note that if you add too much of rice flour, the nuggets will become hard and dry instead of being crispy.
Make sure to mince the cauliflower really well to make nuggets that have melt in mouth texture. If the cauliflower florets are not minced properly, the nuggets balls may break while frying.
Easiest way to mince cauliflower is to use a food processor. Just place the blanched cauliflower florets in the food processor and processor with chopping blade for few seconds.
If doing manually, you can try grating the cauliflower head using a box grater with big holes.
For flavoring here I have used minced ginger- green chili. You can also add few garlic cloves for more flavor.
I have kept the seasoning really simple here with just some red chili powder and garam masala powder. You can add any seasoning you like here. Few options for you are
Italian seasoning along with dried or fresh herbs like basil, parsley
Everything bagel (it tastes really good in this recipe)
Smoked paprika
Plain old salt and pepper (may be while making for kids)
I have shallow fried these cauliflower nuggets. You can also deep fry them or to avoid oil you can bake these too. Find instructions in the recipe.
Nutrition
Serving: 20g | Calories: 57kcal