RECIPE | Braised tofu with sour yoghurt and spinach

This is an Ottolenghi Recipe. I've probably made this about three times already and am making it again tomorrow night for my brother and my boyfriend. It's so delicious.

I've also frozen portions of the curry too and just defrosted it and cooked some fresh rice on days that I don't have time to cook.

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INGREDIENTS

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Serves 2

• 75ml vegetable oil
  1 x 280g block firm tofu, cut into 3cm cubes and patted dry
  Fine sea salt and black pepper
  1 onion, peeled and finely sliced (150g)
  4 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
  220g plain yoghurt
  1 tbsp lime juice
  30g walnuts
  1 tsp cumin seeds
  1 tsp black mustard seeds
  2 tsp hot madras curry powder
  ¼ tsp ground turmeric
  1 tsp caster sugar (or granulated)
  50g spinach leaves
  50g frozen peas

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METHOD

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1. Put four tablespoons of the oil in a large frying pan on a medium heat, and season the tofu with a quarter-teaspoon of salt. Once the oil is hot, add the tofu and fry for about five minutes, turning until it’s golden on all sides. Transfer the tofu to a plate, leaving the oil in the pan.
   

2. Add the onion, garlic, a quarter-teaspoon of salt and a good grind of pepper to the pan and cook, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes, until softened and starting to brown.
   

3. Meanwhile, put the yoghurt, lime juice, walnuts and a quarter-teaspoon of salt in a blender and blitz for three minutes, until completely smooth.
   

4. Put the remaining tablespoon of oil in a small pan on a medium heat and, once hot, add the cumin and mustard seeds, and fry for 30 seconds, just until the mustard seeds start to pop. Take off the heat and put to one side."
   

5. Once the onions start to brown, return the fried tofu to the pan (or the unfried tofu cubes, if you didn’t cook them earlier), stir in the curry powder and turmeric, and fry for 30 seconds, just until fragrant. Pour in the yoghurt mixture, 250ml water and the sugar, and cook on a medium heat for five minutes, until the sauce starts to thicken and cling to the tofu. Stir in the spinach and peas, cook until the leaves have just wilted, then take off the heat.
   

6. Pour the mustard and cumin oil all over the top and serve straight from the pan.

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image from: Yotam Ottolenghi

NOTES

• I’ve used either fresh or frozen green beans instead of peas

• I served it with some cooked white rice

• I froze the curry into serving portions and froze it. It tasted pretty much the same when defrosted and heated.

• The original recipe is from Ottolenghi “Braised tofu with sour yoghurt and spinach”
  

I’d love to know if you make this recipe