Tofu, Peppers & Peas Coconut Curry

It has been rather cold these few days and my craving for rich comforting foods seems to dominate my palate.  What I love, love, love about this recipe is the creaminess of the coconut milk and the tangy, spiciness that so perfectly smothers the tofu, peppers and peas.  A lovely vegan friendly dish packed with flavour 🙂

Preparation: 15 minutes (including deep frying the tofu)   Cooking time:  35-40 minutes     Serves:  4

INGREDIENTS

For Curry paste

1 small onion roughly chopped

1 large clove garlic approximately 1 tbsp (15ml) when finely chopped

1 2cm piece ginger approximately 1 tbsp (15ml) when finely chopped

1-3 green chillies (adjust accordingly to heat tolerance

• Roughly grind all the above curry paste ingredients in a grinder and keep aside

 Oil for deep frying tofu

200g soft tofu cubed

2 tbsp (30ml) sunflower oil

1 small cinnamon stick

1 tbsp (15ml) coriander powder

½ tbsp. (7.5ml) cumin powder

1 tsp (5ml) turmeric powder

1 large plum/gem tomato ground or grated

1 small red pepper washed and cubed

½ cup (125ml) frozen peas

1 ½ tsp salt (adjust accordingly)

1 tbsp (15ml) tamarind pulp soaked in 60ml water

1 can coconut milk

60ml finely chopped fresh basil leaves

Let’s cook 🙂

The first step is to wash and cut all the vegetable as per the recipe.  Now let us start of by grinding the onion, garlic, ginger & chillies in a grinder to form a nice roughish to smooth paste. Remove and keep aside.  Now grind the tomato and keep that aside.

Carefully cube the tofu and deep fry in hot oil until slightly crispy and light brown – drain on a kitchen towel and keep aside.

Heat the oil along with the cinnamon stick in a pot on medium heat.  Spoon in the curry paste and cook for 5-8 minutes or until light brown, stirring occasionally to prevent it from burning.  As soon as the paste in cooked and has a lovely light brown colour.  Toss in the coriander powder, cumin powder and turmeric powder – give it a good mix and immediately add the tomatoes and salt –  cook for 5 minutes, stirring every now and then.

Once the tomatoes have cooked through – Add the peppers and peas give it another good mix and cook for 5 minutes.  Remove the tamarind pulp and pour in the tamarind water.  Cook for a further 3 minutes.

Pour in the coconut milk and cook for 12-15minutes until a nice thick gravy forms.

Toss in the tofu and simmer for 5 minutes.

Turn of the heat and add the chopped basil leaves.  Add chopped chillies for extra heat.

Serve with hot basmati rice or any rice of your choice.

Do enjoy 🙂

Below:  ingredients and easy to follow steps with pics

Ingredients   Onion, tomato, garlic, ginger, green chillies and cinnamon stick

Ground onion curry paste, Ground tomato, coconut milk, fresh basil and spices

Tofu, Red Pepper & peas

Ground onion garlic and ginger cooked until light brown

Next step with tomatoes, peppers and peas