Tofu curry

This Indian-inspired dish is packed with delicious flavour.

Tofu curry. Credit: Freshly Picked with Simon Toohey

• serves

  4

• prep

  10 minutes

• cook

  30 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

Curry paste

• 10 almonds, blitzed to a crumb
• 1 red onion, roughly chopped
• 1 long green chilli (see Note)
• 3 cloves garlic
• 4 cherry tomatoes

Curry

• 70 ml grapeseed oil
• 1 block smoked hard tofu, cut into 2cm chunks
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 Indian bay leaf (optional)
• 1 black cardamom pod (optional)
• 1 tsp Kashmiri chilli (optional)
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 200 ml water (you may not need all of it)
• 100 g frozen peas

To serve

• 1 cup dairy-free coconut yoghurt
• Bunch of coriander, leaves picked
• ½ green chilli, sliced (optional)
• Steamed rice

Instructions

1. Place the curry paste ingredients in a small blender and blitz until the right consistency.
2. Add the grapeseed oil to a cast iron pan or a wok. Fry the tofu into 2cm chunks and fry until crisp on the outside. Scoop out of the oil and let it rest on baking paper.
3. In the same pan with the oil, add the cumin seeds, cinnamon stick, bay leaf and black cardamom and fry for 30 seconds.
4. Add the Kashmiri chilli and garam masala, followed by the curry paste mixture. Fry for 5-10 minutes until reduced and looking thick. Stir occasionally to ensure the paste doesn’t burn.
5. Add 150 ml of water, and season with a pinch of salt. Cover with a lid and simmer for 20-25 minutes, adding more water if it begins to dry out.
6. Add the fried tofu and peas and cook for another minute or until warmed through.
7. Pour into a serving dish, top with a couple of spoons of coconut yoghurt, g, plus the green chilli slices and coriander leaves. Serve with steamed rice.

Note

Remove the seeds from the chill before blending if you like a milder curry.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.