The other day, in the middle of a busy work-from-home snow day, I made up a plate of food for Jay, with some dal, rice, chapati, and these Pan-Roasted Brussels Sprouts.
Mealtimes are always a little suspenseful around the little fusspot, but like I’ve told you before, dal and rice are always a safe bet and I was pretty confident he’d eat it up. All except the Brussels sprouts, a vegetable he’s only had once before since he came home to us, and that time was memorable for all the wrong reasons.
So imagine my surprise when I walked in to check on him just five minutes later and found they were the first thing to have disappeared from his plate. Even as I looked around suspiciously, wondering if they’d found their way down the garbage disposal, he asked for– and polished off– a second serving right before my eyes. And then he declared: “I love this vegetable.”
I couldn’t help show off with that little true story to convince you that these Pan-Roasted Brussels Sprouts are, in a single word, awesome. The pan roasting makes them lightly golden and perfectly al dente, and the chickpea dumplings give them a clean, healthy deliciousness that other famous Brussels sprouts partner– bacon — just cannot match.
My favorite way to eat Brussels sprouts so far has been to oven-roast them, and that recipe is pretty awesome too, but I think this one simply knocks it out of the park. Try it the next time you get some fresh, green, sprouts at the market. You’ll be back for more too.
- 1 pound Brussels sprouts, halved, or if very large, quartered
- 1 medium onion, thinly sliced, then cut through the middle so you have quarter-moons.
- 5 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tsp coconut or other vegetable oil
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- 1/2 cup chickpea flour or besan
- 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1/4 tsp turmeric
- 1/2 tsp crushed cumin seeds
- Salt to taste
- Heat the oil in a wide saucepan or wok. Add the mustard seeds and, when they sputter, add the onions and garlic.
- Sprinkle on some salt and saute, stirring frequently, until the onions are translucent, about three to four minutes.
- Add the brussels sprouts and stir to mix. Turn the heat to low. If you have a heavy lid with a diameter slightly smaller than that of the saucepan, use it to cover the sprouts while at the same time pressing down on them. Otherwise, just cover the saucepan and let the sprouts cook. Stir every three or four minutes to make sure they are roasting evenly.
- When the sprouts are lightly golden brown and almost al dente, tender but with a pleasant bite, mix the besan flour in a small bowl with 3/4 cup of water, cayenne, turmeric, cumin and salt.
- Pour into the brussels sprouts. The besan will start firming up as it heats. Scrape with a spatula, the way you would cook scrambled eggs, and continue to cook another 10 minutes, stirring frequently, until the besan is cooked through and don't have a raw flavor any more.
- Check salt, garnish with coriander leaves if desired, and serve hot.
This sounds outrageously good! Can’t wait to try it.
Thanks, Catherine! Hope you try. 🙂
I have just started cooking recipes that call for chickpea flour and have found it to be a pretty awesome ingredient. Will be trying this recipe tonight! Thanks for sharing.
Hi Sheri, it definitely is an awesome ingredient. Have you tried my Besan Chilla– you’ll never want an omelet again. 🙂
Not yet but I will!
Sounds lovely.. And can I say I love reading about the foods that Jay is discovering. I think you should add a Jay rating to your recipes.
Haha, Ambica, what a great idea. 🙂 I just might do that!
Wow, I love brussel sprouts and only knew how to roast them in the oven. This sounds great and like the other reviewer, have been looking at recipes using chickpea flour! Thank you!
Thanks, JN, hope you try it! 🙂
These brussels sprouts sound amazing! I love the intense spice mix. 🙂
Very nice recipe with Brussels sprouts Vaishali….this is a new and very interesting combination, I am definitely going to try this, looks super delicious! You must have been a happy mom to see the little guy going for a second round of veggies 🙂
Am so going to make this soon 🙂 Sounds so yum. Will make this soon with a ping-back
As a side-comment, I love your blog. Not a lot of Indian-background vegans out there and admire your writing skills <3
Oh I made a similar dish recently! I made a powder of the mix and stuffed it into the brussells sprouts by making a plus-shaped cut on the top 🙂 Served with capsicum sambar 😀 It was delightfully yummy and crunchy!!!
Wow. Looks so inviting. Very very tempting.
Your site is wonderful; it’s my absolute favorite. I made these Pan-Roasted Brussels Sprouts tonight and although mine came out a bit messier than yours, they still tasted delicious. All of your recipes are wonderful – especially your scones. Thank you for keeping us happily well-fed.
Hi Claire, so glad you tried the recipe– and liked it! 🙂 Thanks for letting me know.
This is a wonderful recipe! The spiced besan really adds a little something extra to the sprouts. I felt like I was eating something sinfully rich, but I actually omitted the oil, yet it was still wonderfully rich. Thanks for the great recipe! Will definitely make often!
Hi Teri, so glad you tried it, and minus oil! That would make this a real health star. Thanks for the feedback. 🙂
Hi, I tried this with chopped brussel sprouts,…tasted like cabbage zunka..thanks for an awesome recipe
I have tasted ‘Roasted Capsicum’ along Paneer & Besan and its was so spicy-tasty.
Pan-Roasted Brussels Sprouts looks spicy-delicious as seen in images. Let me try it at first & will share my feedback with you.
Thanks for sharing it to us.
I just made this and was very disappointed. I’ve used besan flour before but have never added that much water. Usually only enough to make it a little wet like wet sand. But your recipe calls for 3/4 cup water to 1/2 cup of flour. I decided to follow your directions and it turned into a flavorless goopy mess. Sorry but I wouldn’t make it again.
Hi Brooke, you must not have followed the directions. There is no way that the besan and the water would cook on the stove for 10 minutes and remain a goopy mess. The other possibility is you had already added water to the sprouts. If you follow the directions, your besan should cook and become almost dry– in fact, using less water would cause it to burn.
Tried this today and it was a goopy, mushy mess. Even after cooking for 10 min the besan was gummy and thick, not at all like eggs. I felt like it was too much water. I followed the measurements and instructions exactly. I’m thinking maybe the pan wasn’t hot enough when initially added to quickly burn off some liquid.
Hi!
Tried this today. It was insane. Thanks a ton for this recipe.
This was the best brussel sprouts sabji yet!! My son and Husband who dislike sprouts finished their plates. Thankyou so much for sharing! Love it
LOVE!!! Found this recipe as I was trying to use up the bit of chickpea flour that wouldn’t fit in the jar and had sprouts going spare. But it’s been more than just a dish of convenience- I’ve been trying to ‘crack’ a cauliflower pakora I used to be able to get 20 years ago but have never managed to get the chickpea flour not tasting awful. This is literally the first time that’s worked. Thankyou for more than just the yummy brussels dish!
Delish!!! I had 2 lbs of Brussels sprouts so I just kept the besan:water ratio as the original recipe (taking note of people who commented that it turned out goopy) and it was perfect. Added garam masala for a little extra flavor and then added crushed peanuts on top for some crunch in addition to cilantro. Will be making this often. Thanks!