I was inspired by the recipe of “aachari paneer” from the ashirwaad aata page on facebook and decided to add my two cents to their recipe by making it with tofu AND trying to make it with less oil. This is the result as you can see.. a light sauce thats not floating in oil or butter, so ideal for daily intake! We cannot eat oily, spicy food floating in ghee/butter/oil on a daily basis right?
Tofu is bean curd and is so versatile..it can be pan fried, cooked, sauteed, curried, deep fried and i can go on and on. Its lighter than paneer (home made cottage cheese) and a good source of protein.
This recipe contains no tomato paste, no strong spices
INGREDIENTS:
300 grams of tofu, cubed
1 cup of chopped fresh red tomatoes
3 cloves of garlic
1 cm piece ginger
1 red chilli  (fresh or dry)
1/2 teaspoon of nigella seeds (kalonji)
1/2 teaspoon of fennel seeds (saunf)
1 tablespoon of cooking oil
1 tablespoon of the oil from any pickle you have
a pinch of Nitu Didi pure turmeric powder
1/2 cup of water
2 tablespoons of chopped coriander leaves
salt to taste
METHOD:
If your tofu is packed in liquid please remove it from its packaging and wrap it in a cloth kitchen towel for about 6-8 hours so that all the moisture is removed from it. You will actually have a damp kitchen towel!! Cube the tofu and keep aside.
Lets make this lovely sauce with natural ingredients.
In a blender ( i used my amazing bullet)  put the tomatoes, ginger garlic and red chilli and grind to a smooth paste.
Heat the cooking oil in a non stick pan and sautee this paste with a pinch of salt on medium heat till it shrinks in volume and you can see a bit of the oil… this ensures the paste is well cooked. Add the oil from the pickle.  Add the spices and give it a toss. Add the tofu and the coriander leaves and the water and let it all come to a boil till you have the consistency you desire.
Serve hot.
NITU DIDI TIP: If you want more gravy add some more water.
For Jain recipe please omit the ginger garlic
If you dont like tofu you can make this with paneer, or mixed vegetables or even mushrooms, seitan, mockduck etc.
If you want it more spicy add some hot red chilli powder
If you want a more restaurant type look please add some butter or ghee to this recipe.
Serve this with rotis or parathas
HEALTH BENEFITS OF TOFU:
Studies suggest that high intake of soy-based products also prevents breast cancer, osteoporosis and cardiovascular diseases.