Tofu Butter Masala

"A hobby a day keeps the doldrums away" - Phyllis McGinley.

Above saying is so true at least in my case. Cooking/Baking and now blogging has become such a nice diversion that I feel as long as everyone is passionate about something, there will be no depression. Without going into the touchy zone, I made this tofu butter masala today in which, I did not use any butter. Why do I call it butter masala then? You might ask. It is based on paneer butter masala recipe but I used tofu instead of paneer and no butter at all. But feel free to use butter if you like. This dish is a sibling of Tofu Yogurt Masala that I have posted before. I used milk in this and added cardamom powder. Apart from that they are very similar.

One year back - Black Eyed beans curry in peanut sauce
Ingredients:
Extra firm tofu - 1 pack (firm variety works well too)
Red onions - 3 small or 2 medium chopped fine
Garlic - 3 pods minced
Crushed tomatoes - 1 - 1 1/2 cups or about 3 large tomatoes blanched and pureed
Green Peas - frozen about 1 1/2 cup or 1 16 Oz can drained and rinsed
Cauliflower - 1 small head cut into florets
Milk or heavy cream or half and half - 1 - 1 1/4 cup (I used 2 % milk)
Oil - 4 TBSP divided use (You could butter for the part of making curry - 3 TBSP butter + 1 TBSP oil)
Salt - to taste
Turmeric - a big pinch or two
Black pepper powder - 1 tsp or to taste
Coriander Cumin powder - 1 1/2 tsp or 3/4 tsp of each cumin powder and coriander powder
Cardamom powder - from 3 pods
Red chilli powder - 3/4 tsp - 1 tsp or to taste
Cilantro - few TBSPs for garnish

Method:
Preparation of Tofu:
Drain the tofu and place it on several layers of paper towel. Place some weight like canned beans or a book (cover with some plastic before you place it on) to drain all the water. This will take at least an hour to two. When all the water is drained, cut them into cubes. Heat 1 TBSP of oil in an iron skillet. Dosa tawa works very well too. Place the tofu cubes in a single layer. Let them brown and turn them to brown them all the sides. You could do this in the oven too. I didn't feel like turning the oven on just for that. Drain the tofu on a paper towel. Set aside.

To make the curry:
Heat a pan. When hot, add the remaining 3 TBSP of oil. When oil is heated, add garlic, onions. Sprinkle some salt, turmeric and mix well. Let the onions cook. When onions are cooked, add cauliflower. Mix well and you could cover with a lid and let the cauliflowers cook. If you are using frozen peas, you can add it along with cauliflower. Since I was using canned peas, I waited for the cauliflower to cook and then added the peas. Add crushed tomatoes or tomato puree, all the spice powders. Mix well and let it simmer. When the whole mixture comes to a simmer, add prepared tofu, milk or heavy cream and stir. Adjust the seasonings if required. Let it come to a boil and turn off the heat. Garnish with a few chopped cilantro leaves. You can vary the milk/heavy cream quantity as per your taste and how thick or thin you want your curry. There is no need to add cauliflower and peas. You can just make it with tofu but you will need lots of it. I didn't have that much.

Notes:
You can use mixed vegetable bag for the vegetables part. Or use cubed potatoes. This works well with zucchini too.

Enjoy. Pin It