Tofu Masala

For the past few weekends we have not been at home....so I was not left with anything to cook yesterday...hence wrapped up a totally South Indian meal - Capsicum Sambhar, Zucchini Kootu and our favorite Beans Usili....since my husband is coming home for couple of days in a week for lunch...it is making things lot more easier in terms of preparing food ...I can make roti and some sabzi for dinner and have South Indian lunch for afternoons (it is nice to follow this routine even though it is just for few days in a week!)..I would say it is a bit of luxury for me (I skip packing lunch boxes...they are a big menace) even while I was working I always loved to go home for lunch and have food in a relaxed manner.... good old memories....now getting back to where I left -

My son seems to have a liking for tofu....I am not 100% sure but he ate the spinach tofu masala whenever I made it and also likes to eat it when we visited noodles and company. I had spinach too with me....I started weighing the options - do I want to make the same stuff "Spinach Tofu Masala" with it or try something different as I had planned. Different dishes replacing panneer with tofu. I went with the second option of making something different...hence popped the spinach back into the refrigerator..may be I will make Spinach Rice with it (long time since I made it). Planned to make the tofu masala by adding couple of  veggies to it but I had forgotten to buy green bell pepper...I like the other colors too but the taste from the green bell pepper is a lot better than their counterparts (yellow, red or orange - they look good ....some how I feel they are not hot and less Indianish!). I could not do much now hence used the mini sweet peppers that I had in hand. I have started liking the recipes involving some amount of baking...not sure why...my recent craze "may be"...now that I have decided on what to make...there it goes (tofu) into the oven ...read further to know the recipe...

Ingredients:

1 Pack Extra Firm Tofu (organic)
4 Medium Sized Tomatoes
8 Mini Sweet Peppers (cut length wise)
10 Whole Cashew
1 Big Onion
1 Inch Cinnamon piece
1 Bay Leaf
2 Cardomoms
1 Tsp Zeera
1 Green Chilly
1/2 Tsp Chilly Powder (you may add more or less depending on your spice level and the spice level of the chilly)
1/2 Tsp Garam Masala Powder
1/2 Tsp Coriander Powder
Salt as per your taste

As mentioned earlier....look for the instruction in the pack for using the Tofu.

Pre-heat the oven to 350 Degree. Grease a baking sheet with olive oil.
Cut the Tofu into 1 inch cube. Line it on the baking sheet. Sprinkle some salt and drizzle little bit of oil on top of the tofu.
Bake it for a maximum of 40 minutes...until it turns golden brown.
In the meantime, cut the onion and saute it till it turns golden. Let it cool.
Grind the onion, ginger along with the cashews.
Take a table spoon of oil and add the zeera, green chillies and the pepper. Fry it for sometime. When the pepper is half cooked add the tomatoes and fry it for some more time. When they are almost done.
Add the onion, ginger and cashew paste.
Add the Red chilly powder, Salt and Coriander Powder.
Let it boil for sometime. You may  add  little bit of water if it is too thick.
If the tofu is done....you may add it to the above mixture and turn off the gas after few minutes.
(Note: If the tofu is not baked by the time you are done with the gravy. You may turn off the gas and then later add the tofu and bring it to a boil.)

This will go well with rice or roti. A nice option for people who want to have a twist to their palate with a low calorie option!!