Vegan Gourmet Caravan

Tofu “Makhani” (Curried “Butter” Tofu)

Serves four with rice.

Ingredients

Sauce

1.25kg tomatoes, halved
125ml water
5 cm piece ginger, halved, one half minced the other chopped finely
4-6 garlic cloves
4 green cardamom pods
2 cloves
1 bay leaf
80g vegan margarine
100ml soy creamer
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground fenugreek
1/4 tsp garam masala

Tofu

2 tbsp peanut oil
2 tsp ginger, minced
2 tsp garlic, crushed
2 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp garam masala
800g firm tofu, drained, pressed and cubed
120g cashew nuts

Directions

First make the Sauce:

1. Place the tomatoes in a pot with water and add the minced ginger, garlic, cardamom pods, cloves, bay leaf. Cook until the tomatoes are completely broken down. Stir and crush tomatoes occasionally while cooking.
2. Remove from the heat and, using a food processor or hand held blender, process until smooth (do not remove spices). Press mixture through a sieve to create a smooth sauce and to remove spices and tomato pulp.
3. Return to the heat and bring to a boil. Cook until the purée has thickened slightly and incorporate the vegan margarine, a piece at a time, stirring constantly. As the sauce thickens ever so slightly add chopped ginger and creamer. Continue to cook until the sauce is thick enough to coat the tofu.
4. Remove from the heat and add salt, fenugreek and garam masala. Check seasoning. Put sauce aside and cook the tofu.

Secondly cook the tofu:

Cook the tofu in two batches of 400g each with half the other ingredients:

1. Heat the oil in a wok or frypan on a medium heat, when the surface begins to shimmer add ginger and garlic, fry for 30 seconds. Add lemon juice and garam masala. Add tofu and fry for 5 minutes and then add cashew nuts. Then cook until tofu is cooked through and browned on the outside, and cashews are nice an brown, about another 5 minutes.  Remove from the pan and cook second batch of tofu.

Assemble:

1. Once second batch of tofu is cooked add in first batch and then the sauce and cook until heated through. Serve with rice and roti.
2. Alternatively you can make this meal over two nights by cooking one batch of tofu one night and the second batch of tofu on the second night. Rather than adding all the sauce when the tofu is cooked add 2-3 ladles of sauce until the tofu is well coated. Heat until the sauce is hot.