Chilli Tofu – Vegan/GlutenFree

Marinated tofu sautéed in chilli ginger garlic along with baby corn, charred peppers and onions, scallions and cilantro with sriracha sauce and low sodium soy sauce!! It is perfect vegan and gluten free meal!

This dish is inspired by one of the most selling street foods in India, Chilli Paneer. Indochinese is very popular most celling street foods in India. The original recipe calls for paneer as the original dish is Chilli Panner. But I wanted to make it dairy free and gluten free so decided to use Tofu instead of paneer!

The key is to use extra firm tofu so it does not crumbled up while cooking. You can marinate tofu anywhere from 30 minutes to 6-8 hours. You can even keep it marinating in the fridge over night. The longer you marinate it, the better it tastes!

I love using all colorful and crunchy veggies in this dish. Specially colorful peppers and onions along with baby corn. One thing is to keep the veggies crunchy while you cook it. You can do that by cooking all these veggies on high flame for short time. That way the veggies get charred yet still crunchy!

When you cook the tofu to make it crispy, make sure you are gently turn them frequently making sure it does not get crumbled.

The authentic flavor of this dish is completely dependent on sautéed fresh chilli/serrano pepper, ginger and garlic paste. I also like to use corn starch for this recipe to thickened the sauce. You can make this dish with paneer also. Paneer is firmer than tofu so it is easier to cook and make it crispy.

You can make this dish dry also. If so, use less corn starch and less water for the sauce, Just enough to coat all ingredients with the sauce. Serve Chilli Tofu with steamed white to brown rice. IT goes well with steamed quinoa too!

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Chilli Tofu – Vegan/GlutenFree

Course Main Course

Cuisine Chinese

Ingredients

• 14 oz Extra Firm Tofu
• 10 Baby Corn canned or boiled if fresh

Charred Vegetables

• 1 cup Cubed Green Bell Pepper
• 1 cup Cubed Red Bell Pepper
• 1 cup Cubed Yellow/Orange Bell Pepper
• 1 cup Cubed Sweet Yellow Onions
• 2 tbsp Peanut Oil or any other cooking oil

Sauce

• 2 tbsp Peanut Oil or any other cooking oil
• 1 tsp Chopped Serrano Pepper
• 1 tsp Minced Garlic
• 1 tsp Grated Ginger
• 2 tbsp Tomato Ketchup
• 1 tbsp Sriracha Sauce
• 2 tbsp Low Sodium Soy Sauce
• 1 tbsp Corn Starch
• 1 tsp Salt optional
• 1 tsp Black Pepper
• 2 cup water

Tofu Marinate

• 1 tsp Minced Garlic
• 1 tsp Grated Ginger
• 1 tsp Sriracha Sauce
• 1 tsp Low Sodium Soy Sauce
• ¼ tsp Salt
• ¼ tsp Black Pepper
• 1 tbsp Peanut Oil

Garnish

• ¼ cup Chopped Cilantro
• ¼ cup Chopped Scallions

Instructions

How to squeeze tofu?

• Wrap tofu in couple of paper towels. Place a Weight on the wrapped tofu. Your weight should be heavy enough to press down evenly across the top of the tofu, but not so heavy so as to cause the tofu block to crumble.

Marinate Tofu

• Mix 1 tsp of each – grated ginger, minced garlic, sriracha sauce, low sodium soy sauce. Add 2 tbsp of peanut oil. ¼ tsp of salt and ¼ tsp pepper. Mix it all together. Add big cubed tofu to the marinate and mix it very gently making sure to not break the tofu.
• Let tofu marinate for anywhere from 30 min to 6-8 hours. Even keeping it in the fridge to marinate over night if fine too if you want to prepare ahead of time! The longer it marinates, the batter it taste!

Saute vegetables and tofu

• Heat 2 tbsp of peanut oil in the wok or a big wide pan. Cook all the cubed peppers and onions on high flame for 5-7 minutes until they are charred yet still crunchy. Do not over cook it. Keep them aside in a bowl once they are cooked.
• Heat 1 tbsp of peanut oil in the same wok/pan and crisp marinated tofu, flipping each cube frequently and very gently making sure you don't break it. Keep it aside in a bowl once tofu is crispy and somewhat brown.

Make sauce

• Heat 1 tbsp oil in a same wok/pan. Saute chopped serrano pepper, grated ginger and minced garlic for 1 minute. Add all the charred veggies and boiled baby corn to it and give it a good stir. Let it cook for 2-3 minutes. Add 1½ cups of water to the veggies and cook it for another 2 minutes on high.
• While water is heating up in with veggies, make corn starch paste. Mix 1 tbsp of corn starch, ¼ cup of water, 1 tbsp sriracha sauce, 2 tbsp of tomato ketchup and 2 tbsp of low sodium soy sauce. Mix it very well making sure there are no lumps.
• Add cornstarch paste to the veggie/water mix stirring frequently. Bring it to boil, stirring frequently. Once the sauce gets thickened, add crispy tofu, chopped cilantro and chopped scallions to it, Give it a good stir making sure tofu does not break. Add black pepper, stir and taste. Add salt if needed.
• Serve hot with steamed white rice, brown rice or quinoa!