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!!

Fettuccine Pasta in Peanut Sauce

The inspiration to make the recipe was from our visit to noodles and company a month ago!! My husband had ordered Pasta with Indonesian style peanut sauce...I am not a great fan of all these spaghetti kind of noodles and hence went for my favorite penne pasta. But I tasted what he had and you know it tasted like our gun powder ...I guess that was from the sesame and red chilly powder in it. I wanted to try it at home some time. I make Pasta varities since it turns out easier to pack it for his lunch.

I made this with the things I had at home. It may miss one or more of items than what may go into it...but still tasted good. I have heard the cayenne pepper is normally used in Thai cooking but I did not have it with me hence substituted that with red chillies (paprika)....

Ingredients ( serves around 6):

1/2 Pack Fettuccine Pasta
2 Cups Broccoli Florets
1 Green Bell Pepper
1 Pack Organic Tofu
Few Tsp Olive Oil

For the Sauce:

Unsalted Roasted Peanuts Handfull (with no skin)
1 Tsp Sesame Seeds
3 Red Chillies
2 TBSPN Butter at room temperature (you may skip it...I always love to mix cheese or butter to my pasta)
1 Tbspn Lemon juice
1 Inch Piece Ginger
Salt to taste

Dry roast the sesame seeds and red chillies separately.
If the peanuts you are using is not a roasted one then you may roast it in the microwave before grinding it.
Grind together Peanuts, Sesame seeds, Red Chillies and Ginger.
Add the butter and salt to the Peanut sauce.

Marinate the tofu in olive oil for an hour.
Pre-heat the oven to 350 Deg F.
Bake the Tofu till it starts getting golden say about 45 minutes to an hour.

Cook the Pasta as mentioned in the package (make sure to add salt....I keep forgetting to add it)
Take Olive Oil in a pan
Add the veggies but do not make it too soggy. Take it out of the pan.
Take some sesame oil.
Add the pasta and the peanut sauce. Cook it for 5 to 10 minutes. Since all the ingredients used have been roasted before making the sauce you need not cook it for a long time with pasta.
Add more salt if needed.
I learnt one thing about adding veggies to pasta. If you are adding the veggies while making the pasta and serving it later...they kind of get soggy especially when using sauces like marinara, alfredo etc. Hence,  add the vegetables and tofu just before serving by way of topping it. It stays fresh, crisp and tastes better.

Take Pasta in the plate and the veggies and tofu. ...drizzle few drops of sesame oil....heat it and serve!!

Spinach Tofu masala

I love the food prepared with all green leafy vegetables like mulai keerai pulipu,vendaya keerai macial etc but you rarely find these green leafy veggies in the place where I live. So I am left with Palak only to try out different recipes using it.
I love panneer but I do not have the time to make this at home (and I am not comfortable to use the ones that we find at the stores). My husband is a great fan of tofu and he keeps telling me to make dishes with it. During his bachelor days this was always part of his cooking!!
Since tofu is a healthier option (than panneer) wanted to experiment by subsitituting panneer with "Tofu"....I cannot call it Palak Panneer right...it is Palak Tofu!!

This was my maiden attempt at making it and it turned out pretty good....hence wanted to share it with all of you...

The ingredients for making it -
Spinach - 2 bunches (if you buy the ones that comes in the box then use 3/4th of the box)

Tofu - 1 pack

Onion - 1 small

Tomatoes - 3 small

Green chillies -2

Ginger - 1 inch piece

Jeera - 1 tsp

cashew - 5

Coriander powder - 1/2 tsp

Chilly powder - 1/2 tsp

Garam Masala Powder - 1/2 tsp

Whole milk ( 1 cup) or heavy cream 4 tbs

Salt as per your taste

I generally use the spinach that just comes as leaves (ease of use) in a box and I buy the organic ones too...

If you are planning to use the ones that comes in bunches...then take the leaves alone and wash them thoroughly (do not use the stem part).

Take a tsp of oil and ginger and the spinach and cook it till it is done. Let it cool.Grind the spinach coaresly with ginger and cashews.

Drain the water from the tofu before cooking it.I like to make tofu by baking it in the conventional oven (instead of frying it in the oil). I would let you decide the way you want it.
If you are making it in the conventional oven then preheat it to 350 deg and bake the tofu till it turns slightly brown.

Heat oil in a pan and add jeera and let it splutter. Fry the onions and then cook the tomatoes with it. Add the grounded mixture and cook it well. Add salt and all the powders and boil it for some time. Add the whole milk or heavy whipping cream and boil for couple of more minutes.
Finally add the tofu...

The Palak Tofu is ready to be served with rotis...
Enjoy!!