Kitchen Simmer: Spicy Tofu Curry

Monday, July 25, 2011

Spicy Tofu Curry

Tofu is a highly debatable protein...either you like it or you hate it. Well, I was one of those few that was always on the fence about it. There were times when I loved it and times that it didn't care for it so much. But this tofu curry definitely pushed me a lot closer to staying on the "loving it" side. Tofu is like a sponge and it works beautifully with curry and all the spices that make up a curry. This really tasted like an "omelete" curry and I was amazed how well it turned out.

Ingredients:
1 firm tofu brick (see note) cut into cubes
1 medium onion chopped
12-15 curry leaves
1 bell pepper or several sweet peppers
2-3 cloves of grated garlic
2 Tbs of grated ginger
1 cup of diced tomatoes (fresh or canned)
1 tsp of fennugreek seeds
1 Tbs of curry powder
1/4 tsp of ground turmeric
Red chili powder (to taste)
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 can of coconut milk

Notes on Tofu: You can buy plain tofu or any flavored tofu you like. I actually found a firm tofu that was flavored with a lot of pepper. You will want to press as much excess water out of the tofu as you can without breaking the tofu. You can do this by putting it on a plate with a paper towel above and below the tofu and pressing down gently with either your hand or another plate.

Fry the tofu in about 2 Tbs of canola oil. I wanted to give a little more color to the tofu so I added a sprinkle of turmeric into the oil before frying the tofu. Fry each side until golden. Then set to drain on a paper towel while you create the curry sauce.

Use the remaining oil (after frying the tofu) to fry the onions and peppers. Once the onions start getting tender add the fennugreek seeds and the grated garlic and ginger. Fry for about a minute and finally add the powdered spices. Allow to cook for another minute.