Ingredients

The following ingredients have 2 Servings
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 medium onion, diced finely
  • 3 garlic cloves, diced finely
  • 1 red pepper, diced finely
  • 2 x 400 g / 14 oz cans chopped, skinned tomatoes (OR 5 medium ripe tomatoes)
  • 1 tbsp tomato paste
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 1½ tsp smoked sweet paprika
  • ½ tsp ground chilli
  • ½ tsp salt, adjust to taste
  • 2 tsp brown sugar (optional), adjust to taste
  • 175 g / 6 oz firm silken tofu (I use this one)
  • ½-1 tsp kala namak* (black Indian salt)
  • ½ tsp turmeric
  • black pepper, to taste
  • fresh parsley, chopped finely
  • chilli oil, recipe here (optional)
  • 1 small aubergine, diced (optional)
  • ¼ cup frozen green peas (optional)

Instruction

  • Heat up 2 tbsp of olive oil in a large pan, on low-medium heat. Add chopped onion and fry, stirring frequently, until it softens and becomes almost translucent.
  • Add chopped garlic and fry for another 2 minutes, stirring frequently, until the onion becomes translucent and the garlic softens and becomes fragrant.
  • Add chopped red pepper and fry it until it softens. If using aubergine, you could add it to the pan at the same stage as the red pepper and let it cook in the sauce or you could stir-fry it separately (like I did) in 2 tbsp of olive oil to get a nice char on it and to be able to control its 'doneness' better.
  • Now stir in all of the spices: cumin, smoked paprika and chilli. Fry them off gently for about a minute, stirring the whole time.
  • Stir tomato paste into the mixture and add chopped tomatoes and about half a cup (120 ml) of water. Season with ½ tsp salt and let the tomato sauce thicken by cooking it on a low-medium heat for about 45 min. Make sure you give it a stir every now and then.
  • Drain tofu and cut it up into a rough dice. Season it with black salt and a few pinches of turmeric and set aside.
  • Once the sauce has thickened, taste it and season with a bit more salt and some black pepper. If your tomatoes are tangy, you may want to balance the flavour with a little sugar (I used 2 tsp).
  • Place seasoned tofu on the sauce and pop frozen peas into the pan too. Decrease the heat to low, pop a lid on to allow the peas to defrost and the tofu to warm up. Add fried aubergine in at the last minute.
  • Serve with some fresh or toasted bread on the side, sprinkled with fresh parsley and drizzle with some chilli oil.