Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Kerau Ra Tofu Tarkari - Nepali Tofu & Peas Curry

Nepali cuisine is a mix of mostly Chinese and Northern Indian cuisine.There are several varieties as per region and ethnicity and climate.I found a simple Tofu and peas curry or tarkari as the vegetable dishes are known in dear Zlamuska's blog. I find the dish a bit similar to the matar paneer or peas and paneer gravy that we make in India though this one is with tofu which makes it vegan.Do check her original recipe for ingredient estimates as I have adjusted these.

Ingredients:
Tofu: 1 pkt firm tofu (1 cup or more)
Peas: 1/2 cup +

Bayleaf:1-2 medium
Onion: 1 chopped
Cardamom: 2 pods

Ginger: 1 inch piece
Garlic: 1-2 cloves
Turmeric: a pinch
Cumin powder:1 tsp +

Fresh red chilli:1 (Green chilli works fine )
Tomatoes: 1-2 big chopped
Chilli powder
Coriander powder
Garam masala powder


Water /Veg broth: for cooking

Cilantro: for garnish (optional)

Preparation:
Squeeze the tofu between paper towels and drain it.Avoid this if it is already firm.Cube the tofu into bite size pieces.Heat oil in a wok or pan and brown/shallow fry the tofu.You can also deep fry or grill them as how you like.Remove the tofu pieces and drain on paper towels.In the same wok,add bayleaf,onion and cardamom.Saute till the onion starts to brown.

Meanwhile,paste together ginger,garlic,turmeric and cumin powder.When the onion starts browning,add the paste and saute until the raw smell goes.Then add chopped tomatoes,chilli-coriander and garam masala powder and salt and cook till the tomatoes start cooking.

Add water/broth and boil down to a thick gravy/paste adjusting the salt and spices.Serve with rice,bread or as per choice garnishing with chopped cilantro.

Obviously it is similar to matar paneer and was spicy tasty and hearty with roti.My pics are not as good as Zu's though.This dish is my entry to T&T:Zlamuska's Spicy kitchen,hosted this time by Lakshmi of Kitchen Chronicles,an event originally by Zlamushka and currently handled by Lakshmi.

9 Comments:

Padmajha said...

Lil angel and me love Tofu and it seems for the past few days u are preparing all our fav dishes.We are going to drop in one of these days ;)
This dish lookes soooo delish

Shama Nagarajan said...

yummy different one..thanks for sharing

FH said...

Looks mouthwatering, love chunks of Tofu.

Unknown said...

Looks lovely dear. I have seen few Nepali tarkari and they look so similar. After all, once upon a time we all were the same country, so similar cuisine :)

Kiran said...

Wow nice and delicious looking tofu dish.Love the way you try various cuisines.

Sailaja Damodaran said...

Picture is making me hungry..........

Priya Suresh said...

Thats an interesting and droolworthy curry, looks delicious..

Usha said...

It does sound similar to matar paneer, but I love that it uses tofu instead. Looks delicious...

zlamushka said...

Heya,
I am so flattered and humbled to read abt you trying out my tofu curry. It is one of my favorites. Your picture is stuning, thanks again :-)

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