Creamy, aromatic malai broccoli tikka is a fantastic vegetarian Indian snack for parties that everyone loves.
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Malai Broccoli is a modern-day fusion Indian dish. In recent years, it has started appearing on the vegetarian menu of many popular Indian restaurants. The dish got its name because of the white, cream-like marinade called malai in Hindi.
This delicious, rich, creamy white sauce differs from the bold paneer tikka or gobi tikka marinade. And it is the main reason for the popularity of the malai broccoli tikka.
More Reasons to LOVE Malai Broccoli
- gluten-free
- easy to make
- air fryer friendly
- tasty vegetarian appetizer
- mildly spicy with subtle aroma of spices
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Broccoli – use fresh or frozen florets. I highly recommend using fresh broccoli florets for bright green colour and natural taste.
- Cashew Paste: A smooth blend of cashews, ginger, garlic, green cardamom, and hot water.
- Yogurt or curd for the marinade.
- Cheese: Use grated parmesan, cheddar, or any other cheese for baking you prefer.
- Seasoning: Cumin Powder, Salt, Black or White Pepper Powder, Granulated White Sugar, Garam Masala, Fresh Coriander Leaves
- Corn Starch helps thicken the marinade and stick it to the broccoli.
How To Make Malai Broccoli
Step 1) Soak cashews, ginger, garlic, and cardamom in hot water for 10 minutes. Blend to a smooth paste.
Step 2) Blanch broccoli florets.
- Boil salted water in a saucepan.
- Add broccoli florets. Cook for 2 – 3 minutes.
- Transfer them to a colander. Drain all the water.
- And then, immediately transfer them to a bowl full of ice-cold water.
- Once again, drain all the water and transfer the broccoli to a colander.
- Allow it to sit for 15 – 20 minutes to drain all the excess liquid.
Step 3) Prepare marinade by combining cashew paste, yogurt, salt, spices, seasoning, coriander leaves, and cheese. Whisk nicely!
Step 4) Add broccoli florets and coat each piece with the marinade.
Step 5) Air Fry at 200 degrees Celcius for 15 minutes, turning the malai broccoli halfway through the cooking time.
Serving Suggestion
Malai Broccoli Tikka tastes great with mint chutney or roasted red pepper dip. You can serve it with a dipping sauce of choice, like any other grilled appetizer.
Broccoli Tikka makes an excellent component for vegetarian buddha bowls, salad bowls, or tacos. Or serve it on your mezze platter with other vegetarian snacks and dips.
My Tried and True Tips
- Marinade broccoli without blanching or soaking it in hot water. I prefer blanching it to get rid of that raw taste.
- While blanching, do not cook the broccoli for too long in hot water. Quick 1 – 2 minutes are fine to get rid of that rawness.
- This is a medium spicy malai tikka. You can add red chilli powder, kasuri methi, or green chilli paste to make it a little extra spicy.
- You can cook malai broccoli in a greased pan over the stovetop or grill it on a BBQ.
- Malai Broccoli Tikka is best consumed fresh and hot. Because once grilled, after a few hours, its crunchiness is lost.
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Air Fryer Malai Broccoli Recipe
Ingredients
- 250 gram broccoli florets
- ¼ Cup cashews (kaju)
- 1 tablespoon chopped ginger
- 1 tablespoon garlic cloves
- 2 green cardamom
- ¼ Cup plain Greek yogurt
- ¼ Cup grated parmesan cheese
- 1 teaspoon cumin powder (jeera powder)
- ½ teaspoon powdered white sugar or caster sugar
- ½ teaspoon Garam Masala (get recipe)
- ½ teaspoon white pepper powder
- salt to tastes
- 1 tablespoon cornflour (cornstarch), optional
- 1 tablespoon chopped coriander leaves
- Oil Spray
Instructions
- Soak cashews, ginger, garlic, and cardamom in ¼ cup of hot water for 10 minutes. Blend to a smooth paste.
- For blanching broccoli, boil salted water in a saucepan. Add broccoli florets. Cook for 2 minutes. Transfer them to a colander. Drain all the water. And then, immediately transfer them to a bowl full of ice-cold water. Once again, drain all the water and transfer the broccoli to a colander. Allow it to sit for 15 – 20 minutes to drain all the excess liquid.
- Prepare marinade by combining cashew paste, yogurt, salt, spices, seasoning, coriander leaves, cornstarch (if adding), and cheese. Whisk nicely. It should be thick and smooth with a spoon dropping consistency.
- Add blanched broccoli florets and coat each piece with the marinade.
- Preheat the air fryer to 200 degrees Celcius. Brush or spray the inner basket with oil. Arrange marinated broccoli in the inner basket. Do not overcrowd the basket. Spray oil over the marinated broccoli.
- Air Fry at 200 degrees Celcius for 15 minutes, turning the malai broccoli halfway through the cooking time.
- Serve malai broccoli with green chutney or a dip of your choice.
Sonal Sharma says
This looks delish! You mentioned cornstarch but haven’t seen it being used anywhere in the recipe. How much quantity would you use? And, when in the recipe would you add it so that it doesn’t turn lumpy?
Hina Gujral says
Adding cornstarch is optional, it helps in sticking marinade to the broccoli. You can add it while whisking the marinade so that there is no lump formation.