Roasted Tandoori Spice Vegetables

 

This is a delicious and healthy medley of roasted veggies with aromatic and tasty tandoori spice. This is an easy to make side with rainbow veggies.

Roasting veggies brings out beautiful caramelization that adds to addictive flavor. Whether you roast a single vegetable like Roasted Potatoes, Bhaingan Bharta or Curried Roasted Cauliflower, or a mix of veggies like this Kaima Bano Gatoi, the flavors are elevated exponentially. Have you met someone who doesn’t love roasted veggies? That’s the magic of roasting.

When you combine roasted veggies with a  seasoning or a marinade of lovely aromatic spices that results in a totally addictive meal. The spice mix that you’ll need is the classic Tandoori Masala. Tandoori masala is a quintessential blend of spices making it a great one to add with veggies, paneer, or meat. This lovely blend can be homemade (check here for the recipe)  or store-bought. We use this not just for making paneer tikka (or make this Paneer Tikka Poutine), but it can be used to make salad dressing like this Rainbow Salad With Tandoori Dressing. This recipe uses the tandoori masala to roast a medley of veggies.

The veggies used in this recipe are potatoes, sweet potatoes, Cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, parsnip, golden beets, onions, and bell peppers. They are mostly seasonal veggies. Other than bell peppers, Bell peppers are perfect to roast and they are always a part of regular paneer tikka, or Malai Paneer Tikka. So do not skip that.  This is a perfect combination of starchy as well as fiber rich veggies. Regular beets may add a purple color to everything while marinating, and so used golden beets. Parsnips belong to the carrot family and are nuttier in flavor. This is also a rainbow of veggies on your plate. When the weather outside is gloomy and cold, this is the right one to brighten up. A rainbow will always make anyone happy, whether in the sky or on a plate. That’s what I always believe in and that’s why I make these rainbow foods like Rainbow Salad With Tandoori Dressing or Pasta Salad with Peanut Sauce, or even this Rainbow Cake.

Now, when using different starchy root veggies and florets, it is important to cook all of them through at the same time. Each veggie requires a different cooking time. When using a medley, it is important to have them cut in a size that makes them all cook in the same amount of time. Sweet potatoes cook faster than potatoes or beetroot, and bell peppers and broccoli cook even faster. So it is ideal to have the veggies that cook longer into smaller size and the ones that cook quicker, chunky in size. In this manner, they are all perfectly done.

This recipe uses an array of veggies. In case a veggie is not available in your region, or you don't have one on hand, substitute with the other veggies to adjust the quantity of the total vegetables in the recipe. It would still be yum! Also, if you want to add paneer, add the marinated paneer during the last 15-20 minutes. 

A couple of things to note while making this - roast the vegetables in a single layer. Over crowding may make the steam and roasting may not happen. For this recipe, two baking sheets will be required for roasting. Also, I prefer to line the baking tray with silicone mat so that clean up is a snap.

It is a great choice to marinate the veggies in the tandoori spice blend to soak up the flavor and seasonings. At least 30 minutes to an hour works ideal. They can be marinated in the refrigerator for a longer time like & hours, if you plan to make them for dinner, or for a huge crowd. 

This is also a crowd pleaser. This recipe easily feeds 6-10 as a side. When you have other curries along like this Slow Cooker Rajma, Mughlai Moong Dal, or sagu, this roasted veggie can feed double the servings. Making this for a crowd is easier as the effective cooking is done in the oven, and it requires one time mixing in between. This makes it a great choice to make often. 

This can be a wonderful way to eat your veggies. When want to cut down the grains in your meal, this along with some proteins will make a perfect and scrumptious meal. This tandoori spice roasted veggies are great to serve with comforting Jeera Rice, everyday roti/chapathi, or with these Garlic Butter Paratha. 

I am sharing this recipe for Bakeathon 2022. In the month of December, we share three recipes a week that are baked. Here are the links to the recipes I have shared earlier for Bakeathon 2022.

Pumpkin Banana Bread

Eggless Banana Almond Gingerbread

Pandesal

Samosa Chaat Pizza

Cheese Hatch Chile Tamale Cups

Cranberry Gingerbread Rolls

I am also linking this to Sundays on Silverado, Happiness is Homemade, and What's For Dinner

Ingredients

Serves 6-10

For the Veggies

Onion - 1.5 cups, 1-in chunks

Carrots - 1.5 cups, 1/2-in chunks/slices

Parsnip - 1.5 cups, 1/2-in chunks/slices

Potatoes - 1.5 cups, 1/2-in chunks

Sweet potatoes - 1.5 cups, 3/4in chunks

Broccoli - 1.5 cups, medium florets

Cauliflower - 1.5 cups, medium florets

Green bell pepper - 1.5 cups, 1-in chunks

Red bell pepper - 1.5 cups, 1-in chunks

Golden beets - 1.5 cups, 1/2-in chunks

Kasoori methi - 1 tbsp

For the Marinade

Thick yogurt - 1 cup

Oil - 6 tbsp

Salt - 1and 3/4 tsp

Tandoori masala - 4 tsp

Kashmiri chili powder - 1 tsp

Turmeric - 1/4 tsp

Ginger - 3-in piece

Garlic - 6 cloves

Water - 2 tbsp

Kasoori methi - 1 tbsp

Method

Prep the veggies according to the size mentioned.

Grind the ginger and garlic with two tablespoons of water to a smooth paste.

To a bowl, add the thick yogurt, oil, salt, turmeric, kasoori methi, cayenne, tandoori masala, and the ground ginger-garlic paste. Mix thoroughly.

Add this paste to the veggies, mix thoroughly, cover and marinate for 30 minutes to an hour, or up to 8 hours in the refrigerator. 

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Arrange the veggies in a single layer in silicone lined baking trays.

Roast for 25 minutes. 

Gently flip or mix and continue to roast for another 25-28 minutes, until the veggies are crisp and done.

Remove from the oven, transfer to serving dish. Serve as such, with rice, or paratha, or any flatbread.