Today we are making Vegan Tikka Masala using Tofu. Vegan or Tofu Tikka masala is a dish of roasted marinated tofu pieces in a spiced curry. It is so easy to prepare this at home which will make you think twice before ordering it from a restaurant next time.
Ingredients for Vegan Tikka Masala
Tofu – 250 Grams
Chickpeas Flour or Gram flour- 70-75 grams
Turmeric powder - 1/3rd teaspoon
Cumin powder - 1/3rd tablespoon
Coriander powder - 1/3rd tablespoon
Black pepper powder - 1 teaspoon
Tandoori powder - 1 Teaspoon
Red chili powder - Half teaspoon
Garam masala powder - 1/3rd teaspoon
Garlic powder - 1/3rd tablespoon
Salt - 1 and half teaspoon
Water as needed
Oil – 1 Teaspoon
Frying the Tofu and Bell Pepper
Oil – 3 Tablespoons
Half Bell Peppers
Ingredients for the Vegan Tikka Masala curry
Oil – 2-3 Tablespoons
Onion – 1 Large
Garlic Cloves – 6
Ginger – 1 Inch
Green Chili – 1 Small
Turmeric Powder – Half Teaspoon
Coriander powder - Half tablespoon
Cumin powder - Half tablespoon
Red chili powder – Half Teaspoon
Tandoori powder – 1 Teaspoon
Tomato puree – 150 ml
Water – 200 ml
Salt – 2 Teaspoons
Cooked Tofu
Cooked Bell Peppers
Garam masala powder – 1 Teaspoon
Coriander leaves for garnish
Step 1 :
I have taken around 250 grams of medium firm tofu. We need to slice the tofu into medium sized pieces. You can slice it even in large blocks but since its medium firm it might break easily while mixing. This is a large piece, I am going to slice it into half. This is perfect for the Vegan tikka masala. Slice the rest of the tofu as well.
Step 2 :
To a bowl, add 70-75 grams of gram flour or chickpeas flour. Add 1/3rd teaspoon of turmeric powder, 1/3rd tablespoon of cumin powder, 1/3rd tablespoon of coriander powder, one teaspoon of black pepper powder, one teaspoon tandoori powder, half teaspoon of red chili powder, 1/3rd teaspoon of garam masala powder, 1/3rd tablespoon of garlic powder, 1 and half teaspoon of salt or salt as per taste. Mix all the dry ingredients. You can reduce or increase the quantities of spices as per your taste, and if you don’t want this to be too spicy, omit the red chili powder all together. Add water to the flour gradually in small quantities. We are looking for a flowing batter without any lumps. When the batter reaches the perfect consistency add 1 teaspoon of oil and mix again. Check the salt level and spices once and if it feels right add the tofu cubes.
Gently coat the batter on the tofu cubes without breaking them. Then place the bowl in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
Step 3 :
After 30 minutes, heat a pan and add 3 tablespoons of oil. We are going to shallow fry the tofu pieces, you can also bake them or air fry them. Add the tofu pieces individually to the pan and that way they won’t lose their coating and won’t get stuck together. Cook it over medium heat and as you start to see the tofu turning golden from one side, flip it. Once it’s cooked from all sides, you can stir fry it and cook till its crispy.
Transfer the tofu into a separate bowl, I have added the rest of the tofu to the pan to cook and with the remaining batter I will coat some pieces of bell pepper which is optional but trust me adds great taste to the recipe. You can also add some onion slices. You don’t have to coat the bell peppers entirely with the batter just a slight coat is enough. Then add the bell peppers to the pan and cook in the same way till they get light crispy. Transfer the bell peppers to a separate bowl.
Step 4 :
Now to the same pan, add 2-3 tablespoons of oil, add 1 large finely chopped onion. Stir fry the onion and let it cook till it’s translucent.
Stir it in between so it doesn’t stick to the pan, then add 5-6 cloves of grated garlic and 1 inch grated ginger, let this cook for 2 minutes over medium heat.
Then add 1 small finely chopped green chili, cook for a minute. Now it’s time to add the spices, add half teaspoon of turmeric powder, half tablespoon of coriander powder, half tablespoon of cumin powder, half teaspoon of red chili powder, one teaspoon of tandoori powder, mix everything and stir fry over low heat for a minute. Then add around 150 ml of tomato puree, you can replace that with 1 large grated tomato. Mix the tomato puree with the spices well.
I like to add the tomato puree as it brings out a lovely color in the curry.
Let it cook till you see the oil releasing, then add 200 ml of water, also I almost forgot to add the salt, add 2 teaspoons of salt or salt as per taste, give it a mix. Let this cook over low heat till the curry starts to boil, then add the tofu, followed by the bell pepper to the curry.
Mix it so the tofu and the bell pepper is nicely submerged in the curry. Cover the pan and we will let this cook for 8-10 minutes over low heat. After 10 minutes, remove the cover, mix everything and make sure that the curry is not sticking to the bottom of the pan. It already smells great and look at the texture of the curry, just amazing.
This is the final spice, add 1 teaspoon of garam masala powder and mix again. We are almost done guys. Cover it for another 2 minutes and let it cook over low heat. After that switch off the heat and let it rest for 10 more minutes and then serve. Finally add some finely chopped fresh coriander leaves and the Vegan tikka masala is ready.
You can combine this with plain rice, chapatti, roti, paratha but my favorite combination with vegan tikka masala is always naan. Check out the texture of the curry and the tofu is light crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. Since we marinated and cooked the tofu separately it tastes amazing on its own too.
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You can watch the recipe video below
