Tofu Crumble

Are we having a 'Tofu' week on my blog this week? I don't think so. I just happened to try two dishes with tofu and here is the second one.

When I visited one of my friend's places recently, she had made edamame stir fry or palya using 'morning star veggie crumbles'. Her process was very simple. Stir fry the edamame or any other non-watery veggies in some oil, add the veggie crumble (You can get it in freezer isle I believe), add salt and some spice powder to it and that's it. She also told me that she makes this when she is pressed for time. Curious as a cat, I wanted to know the ingredients. It had egg white as one of the ingredients which was discouraging for me to buy it. Its main ingredient is textured vegetable protein (TVP). I do not keep all those things at home and I wanted to try my hands at making it myself. It was very good. I have pointed out my errors in the notes section. If you are going to try it out, make sure you read that section.

Ingredients:
Tofu - 1 19 Oz block regular variety (I used silken since that is what I had on my hand and that was a mistake)
Red Onion - 1 big chopped finely divided use
Garlic - 2  pods grated fine
Soy sauce - 2 tsp
Ketchup - 2 TBSP (Yes, you heard it right)
Pepper powder - 1 tsp or to taste
Salt - to taste
Cayanne pepper - 1 tsp or to taste (You could use hot sauce if you prefer that)
Whole wheat flour - 1/3 - 1/2 cups (See Notes to understand why the range)
Dry Milk powder - 2 TBSP (skip it if you don't have it)
Lima beans - 1 12 Oz bag or any other veggies like beans or peas up to 1 pound
Oil - 4 TBSP divided use
Rasam Powder  or chaat masala or garam masala - 2 tsp or to taste
Red chilli powder - more if needed

Method:
When I decided to make this, I didn't want a tofu scramble. I wanted it to have chunks and to achieve that I decided to make patties out of the tofu and cook them till half done. That way, when I crumble, I would get some chunks and some mush. Drain the tofu and place it between the blocks of paper for at least 30 minutes. Use regular tofu and not silken like I did. When it is fairly dry, crumble them into a bowl. Add cayanne pepper, salt, soy sauce, ketchup, garlic, 3 TBSP of chopped onion, black pepper, dry milk powder and wheat flour. Make a dough out of it and shape into burger patties.

Heat some oil in a large skillet (about 2 TBSP should do).  Place the patties on it and cook turning once. It need not get very brown. Set aside. When cool enough to handle, take two forks and crumble them. In another pan, heat the remaining 2 TBSP of oil. When hot, add onion and add some salt and let it cook. When onions are almost done, add the lima beans or any other veggies that you are using to it and let that cook. Add the rasam powder or chaat masala or garam masala. Add the crumbled patties and mix well. Let them all cook together for about 10 minutes on low heat until dry. Adjust the seasonings if needed and turn off the heat. Serve with roti, naan or toasted bread. The same recipe can be used to make veggie patties. Cook them a little longer on low heat to cook entirely.

Notes:
Use regular tofu. I couldn't get all the water out and it became an issue and that is why I had to add more wheat flour. If you prefer, you can add dried bread crumbs in the place of wheat flour. This amount makes a huge batch of crumbles. You can freeze some of the patties and use it later. Just thaw it and crumble and proceed. Use how muchever wheat flour or bread crumbs is needed to make the patties, not more. You can add some cumin or other spices of your choice and leave out the masala powder at the end. In that case, increase the cayanne and black pepper powder.

Enjoy!!