Vegan Tikka Masala

 

Written by McDonald, T.  |  Date 4th of January 2022

If you thought that making curry from scratch was difficult, think again.  In addition, perhaps one of the most famous curries in the UK is easily made vegan: Tikka Masala.  After much reading around, I found a combination of ideas that suited my needs for this recipe.  It doesn't lose any of the flavour and is completely vegan.  Subsequently, this is my interpretation of this timeless classic. It has the spices that give it the flavour you would expect, but has extra nutrition.  I used cashew cream instead of dairy cream and added a few extra vegetables.  This is one you really have to try for veganuary. 

Serves 2

Marinade Ingredients: 

• 200g Extra firm tofu
• 1 tsp tandoori masala powder 
• 0.5 tsp coriander powder 
• 0.5 tsp garam masala powder
• 2 cloves grated garlic 
• 0.25 tsp turmeric 
• 0.5 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp coconut oil 
• 2 tsp gram flour 
• 50g chopped tomatoes 
  

Curry: 

• 0.25 cup of cashew cream (How to make cashew cream)
  
• 1 tbsp coconut oil 
• 1 tbsp cumin seeds 
• 2 cloves of chopped garlic 
• 1 small onion
• 1 tsp coriander powder 
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 50g chopped tomatoes
  
• 2-3 tbsp  tomato paste 
• 0.5 tsp salt 
• 0.5 cup  water

Apparatus

• 2 Skewers
• Oven dish for the skewers
  
• Small mixing bowl
• Large frying pan with a lid 
• Saucepan for the rice
  

Method

Step 1 - make the vegetable paste

1. Fry the onion, garlic and aubergine in a little oil until the onion goes a golden colour and the aubergine is soft. Note, i have used aubergine, but you can use any veg you want as long as you still use the onion and garlic.  For instance, kale would add a lot more nutrition.
   
2. Put the continents of the frying pan in a blender and blend to a thick paste, see figure 1 and 2. 

Figure 1, Veg frying in a pan

Figure 1, Vegetable paste

 

Step 2 - make the marinade

1. Chop the tofu in to large chunks.
2. Put the marinade ingredients in a mixing bowl and mix into a paste, see figure 3.
3. Add the tofu and gentility cover with the marinade.
4. Gently skewer the tofu pieces and add more marinade if needed, see figure 4.
   

Figure 3, the marinade paste

 

Figure 4, tofu kebabs in marinade paste

Step 3 - make the cashew cream

• Fry some extra mushrooms, aborigine and onion in the frying pan.
• Add the vegetable paste to the frying pan and any leftover marinade.
• Make the cashew cream in the blender and add to the frying pan.  (How to make cashew cream)
  

 

Step 4 - add the tofu kebabs

1. Once the kebabs are done cooking, add them to the carry and stir in. 
2. Leave to cook on a low heat for about 5 minutes. 
3. Serve with some rice and homemade bread. 

Results

Although this is not as reddish orange is I would like, but the taste was fantastic!  I also found out that it keeps in the fridge well for 2 days.  For extra nutrition, I added nutritional yeast with B12.

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