Before I turned vegan, Paneer (cottage cheese) formed an important part of food at home. We had paneer three times a week with ‘Paneer Makhni’ being both a staple meal time dish and also much loved by guests at home. While I never did use any butter in my recipe, it did use paneer and cream. The original recipe was drawn from a Tarla Dalal book.
Ingredients
(This recipe serves 3-4 people)
-Tofu – 150 grams
(Marinated overnight with 4 tbsp coconut milk, a pinch salt, one pinch turmeric and one tsp nutritional yeast)
-Coconut milk or any other plant milk – 100 ml.
-Nutritional yeast – 5 grams
-Salt – 5-10 grams
-Sugar – 10-20 grams depending on the tartness of tomatoes
-Kasoori methi – 10 grams
-Turmeric – 3 grams
-Tomato puree – 150 grams
-Chopped onion / onion paste – 50 grams
-Ginger paste – 5 grams
-Garlic paste – 5 grams
-Canola oil – 10 grams
Method
1. Heat oil on medium flame in a cooking vessel.
2. Add ginger-garlic pastes and saute on medium heat till light brown.
3. Add the onion and saute till onion turns brown.
Add the salt, turmeric and kasoori methi. Stir to mix and add the tomato puree.
4. At this stage, cube the tofu and keep aside.
5. Thin the gravy with water and season it with sugar.
6. Taste and check the seasoning. Adjust salt and sugar as required.
7. Add the tofu and the coconut milk . Cover and let simmer till the tofu is absolutely soft.
8. Enjoy with hot rotis !
Notes:
1. I have never used silken tofu. I buy the one most easily available with the neighborhood grocer. Do not skip the simmering tofu step! This recipe also goes well with our accompaniments, which you can buy here!
2. If you do use silken tofu, here is what you need to do : if you have time press the tofu slab between two chopping boards with the top one being weighed down to release water. Rub the drained tofu with oil, salt, and turmeric on all sides. Now cube the tofu. Place this on parchment paper or silpat and cook in a preheated oven at 180C for about 30-40 minutes till you get a nice browning on the tofu cubes.
thebakeartexpress.in 