Vegan Tofu Tikka Masala is a Healthy Indian Meal cooked with aromatic spices and flavors. Tofu is substituted for paneer to make it nutritious for vegetarians.
Tofu is not my first choice when it comes to making any Indian dish. After all, why would I, when I have paneer. Personally I like the taste of paneer (Indian cottage cheese) more than tofu. If I have to compare them both, I think paneer is more juicy, soaks in the gravy better and has a better standalone taste. These were all the myths that were broken today when I made this Vegan Tofu Tikka Masala.
I started cooking this dish with a certain skepticism and lot of prayers. It's not that I have not used tofu in my cooking before. The main thing was that this was supposed to be my lunch and I was starving. I definitely didn't want to screw my lunch over tofu. I had to use it only because I was out of paneer and I realized that halfway through my prep. There was no looking back then and I had to eat tofu! Between us, KR likes it and I make it for him. While he would get to have this for dinner today, lunch was all me. The pressure to make something edible (according to my standards) was on me.
I was craving for some spicy Indian gravy and that is what I aimed to make. First we need to remove the excess water from tofu. Many use this tofu press to do that. I just wrapped it in a paper towel and placed a heavy utensil over it to create the pressure. Leave it for few minutes. Once the tofu is dry, take it out. Then cut the it into small cubes. Now comes the fun part. Add these tofu cubes to a ziplock bag along with turmeric powder, garam masala, dhania jeera powder, paprika, vegan yogurt and salt. Shake the bag so that the masala coats the tofu well.
Keep the ziplock in the fridge for at least 30 mins. Meanwhile prepare the gravy. Melt oil/butter in a pan, temper cumin seeds. Then add the chopped ginger, garlic and onion. Saute till the onion turns translucent. Then add chopped curry powder, sugar, chili powder, tomatoes and salt. Give a good mix and cook it till the tomatoes turn soft. Take it off the flame and let it cool down.
Now take out the tofu from the fridge. Melt oil/butter in a pan and toss in the marinated tofu. Roast it evenly and then take it off the pan. Now grind the onion tomato mixture to a smooth paste. Add it back to the same pan that you made the mixture before. Throw in a bay leaf, cinnamon stick, salt and water as required. Cook it till it comes to a boil. Simmer and cook for another 2 minutes. Add vegan yogurt and fried tofu. Lightly give it a mix.
Garnish with chopped cilantro and a slice of butter (optional). Serve it warm with steamed rice/bread.
Once I was done cooking, I was satisfied with its appearance and now couldn't wait to taste it. Plus I was starving all the more with the tantalizing aroma. I had to dig in now and I was so glad that I did. Because it tasted great. The gravy was creamy and sumptuous. The tofu blended well and tasted good with it. I literally lost count on the number of chapati I had with it! Loved it. Phew!
Meals like these are ideal for weeknights. A bowl of this protein rich gravy after a long tired day is all one would need and coming for a non tofu lover (until now), it says a lot. I think this is the only dish that I can say I love which has tofu in it. Some other recipes you can check out are Creamy Tofu Spinach Mushroom Curry, Tofu cooked with Sesame Seeds and Peanuts and Eggplant and Tofu stir fry in Hoisin Sauce.
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Vegan Tofu Tikka Masala
Equipment
Ingredients
- 14 oz packet of extra firm Tofu
- 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
- 1 teaspoon garam masala
- 1 teaspoon dhania jeera powder
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 3-4 tablespoon vegan yogurt
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- Half inch ginger
- 3 garlic cloves
- 1 large onion
- 1 teaspoon curry powder
- ½ teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon chilly powder
- 2 large tomatoes
- Salt as required
- 2 bay leaf
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 tablespoon vegan yogurt
- Cilantro for garnish
Instructions
- First we need to remove the excess water from tofu. Many use this tofu press to do that. I just wrapped it in a paper towel and placed a heavy utensil over it to create the pressure. Leave it for few minutes. Once the tofu is dry, take it out. Then cut the it into small cubes. Now comes the fun part. Add these tofu cubes to a ziplock bag along with turmeric powder, garam masala, dhania jeera powder, paprika, vegan yogurt and salt. Shake the bag so that the masala coats the tofu well.
- Keep the ziplock in the fridge for atleast 30 mins. Meanwhile prepare the gravy. Melt butter in a pan, temper cumin seeds. Then add the chopped ginger, garlic and onion. Saute till the onion turns translucent. Then add curry powder, sugar, chilli powder, tomatoes and salt. Give a good mix and cook it till the tomatoes turn soft. Take it off the flame and let it cool down.
- Now take out the tofu from the fridge. Melt butter in a pan and toss in the marinated tofu. Roast it evenly and then take it off the pan. Now grind the onion tomato mixture to a smooth paste. Add it back to the same pan that you made the mixture before. Throw in a bay leaf, cinnamon stick, salt and water as required. Cook it till it comes to a boil. Simmer and cook for another 2 minutes. Add vegan yogurt and fried tofu. Lightly give it a mix.
- Garnish with chopped cilantro and a slice of butter. Serve it with steamed rice/bread.
Notes
Tone down the spices if you want to make the curry mild.
Nutrition
Hi Priya! I LOVE how you spice crusted the tofu to give it extra flavor! This dish looks amazing and I can't wait to try it out!
Hey Laurel, Thank you so much. Do try it out. 🙂