Palak Tofu
A lot of Indian recipes are already vegan, or are super easy to veganize. Palak paneer is usually made with cottage cheese, so how do we turn palak paneer into a vegan dish? Simple! Replace the cottage cheese with tofu and turn it into palak tofu instead.
Palak tofu isn’t that much different from palak paneer. It looks the same, and even the texture is pretty similar. I also added a little bit of coconut cream to make this spinach curry a bit creamier. Personally, I really enjoy this dish with some basmati rice and Indian bread (try it with this gluten-free garlic roti).
Ingredients for palak tofu
- Spinach, 10.5 oz (300 g)
- Tomato, 1
- Tofu, 17.6 oz (500 g)
- Chili peppers, 3
- Garlic, 8 cloves
- Red onion, 1
- Ginger, 1 inch
- Coconut cream, 5 oz (150 ml)
- Cooking oil, 3 tbsp
- Nutritional yeast, 1 tbsp
- Cumin seeds, 2 tsp
- Turmeric powder, 1 tsp
- Chili powder, 1 tsp
- Ground cumin, 1 tsp
- Ground coriander, ½ tsp
- Garam masala, 1 tsp
- Salt, 1½ tsp
- Pepper, ¼ tsp
how to make palak tofu
- Preheat the oven at 400°F (200°C). Cut the tofu into cubes, place them on baking paper and sprinkle some nutritional yeast, salt and pepper over the tofu. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes, or until they have a light golden brown color. Turn them over halfway.
- Meanwhile, bring a pot to a boil and add the washed spinach leaves. Cook for about five minutes, take the spinach out, rinse with some cold water and set aside.
- Cut the onion, garlic, ginger and chili peppers. Heat 2 tablespoons of cooking oil (I used coconut oil) in a frying pan. When heated, add the cumin seeds together with the onion, garlic, ginger and chili peppers.
- Cook for about 3 minutes on medium high heat. Next, add the chopped tomato and cook it until the tomato gets soft. Remove from heat and let it cool down.
Once cooled down, put everything in a food processor or blender together with the spinach and a splash of water. Mix into a smoothe paste.
Using the same frying pan, heat 1 more tablespoon of oil and add all the spices and salt. Mix it all together before adding in the spinach paste. Also add the coconut cream and let it simmer for about 5 minutes.
When the tofu is nicely baked, mix it well with the curry and remove from heat. Serve with basmati rice or Indian bread. Optional: garnish the palak tofu with a swirl of coconut cream and some chili flakes.
Palak Tofu
Ingredients
- 10.5 oz spinach (300 g)
- 1 tomato
- 17.6 oz tofu (500 g)
- 3 chili peppers
- 8 garlic cloves
- 1 red onion
- 1 inch ginger
- 5 oz coconut cream (150 ml)
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 3 tbsp cooking oil
- 2 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 tsp tumeric powder
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 1 tsp cumin powder
- ½ tsp coriander powder
- 1 tsp garam masala
- 1½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp pepper
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Hi there!
My name is Josca.
I am a Dutchie who is obsessed with plant-based food, sustainable living and exploring our planet.