More so than its cruciferous cousins, cauliflower is a blank canvas. Its greatest asset is neutrality, coupled with a brain-like crown that offers ample surface area for seasonings to cling to.

Take Meera Sodha’s tandoori cauliflower. The recipe borrows a technique from classic tandoori chicken: spiced yogurt and high heat. Loaded with flavor and texture, it’s proof that the right coating can change everything.

Exposed directly to a ripping-hot oven, spices scorch before they have a chance to bloom. But the yogurt forms what Sodha describes as a “protective blanket,” insulating the spices so they can develop slowly, rather than burn off in seconds. Meanwhile, the yogurt itself caramelizes into a lightly charred crust that clings to every ridge.

At 475°F (about as close to a tandoor as a home oven gets), the cauliflower’s nooks and crannies become an asset. “The nubbly bits just take on flavor so well,” explains Sodha. More surface area makes for more crust, more char and more flavor.

Our adaptation swaps steaks for wedges and scales up the yogurt mixture. A cashew-cilantro sauce, punchy with serrano and lemon, pulls everything together. Serve it as a side or a main. It’ll hold its own either way.

Ari Smolin

Ari Smolin writes and edits for Milk Street’s magazine and cookbooks. Before joining the team, she baked her way from Brooklyn to Los Angeles—laminating croissants before dawn, shepherding sourdough loaves by the hundreds, and discovering that stone-milled flour plus seasonal fruit is her happy place. She writes about whole-grain baking as well, most recently co-authoring “Morning Baker: Recipes and Rituals for Breakfast and Beyond.” You can find her fruit-and-grain escapades on Instagram @Ari.Smolin. Want to talk flour? Drop her a line at ari.smolin@gmail.com.