Jan 24, 20223 min read

Tofu Jalfrezi - Vegan Indian Recipe

Updated: Oct 9, 2022

Tofu Jalfrezi is a quick stir fry recipe which is popular throughout India and has a lot of British Influence. It is a tangy, mild and semi dry curry cooked with a mix of vegetables, savory herbs and spices.

Jalfrezi recipes appeared in cookbooks of British India as a way of using up leftovers by frying them with chili and onion.

Ingredients

Tofu - 500 grams

Oil - 2 Teaspoon

Cumin Seeds - 1 Teaspoon

Onion finely chopped - half small

Garlic - 4 Cloves

Ginger - 1 Inch

Dry Red Chilies - 2

Green chili - 1

Onion thinly sliced - half small

Bell Pepper Green & Red - Half Medium

Tomato - Half Medium

Tomato Sauce - 4 Tablespoons

Cumin Powder- 1 tsp

Coriander Powder - half Teaspoon

Red Chili Powder - half Teaspoon

Turmeric Powder - 1/3rd Teaspoon

Garam Masala - half Teaspoon

Black pepper - half Teaspoon

Salt - 1 tsp or per taste

Vinegar - 1 Tablespoons

Coriander for garnish

Steps

1) Take 500 grams of Tofu, and slice it into battens.

Fry the tofu a little, we don't need to crisp the tofu just cook it a little so it holds its shape and doesn’t break while mixing with the sauce

2) To season the tofu add half teaspoon of salt followed by half teaspoon of black pepper powder. Make sure to coat the tofu well and then air fry it over 180 C for 10 mins

3) To prepare the sauce, heat a pan and add 1 tablespoon of oil. Once the oil is hot, add 1 teaspoon of cumin seeds. Add half finely chopped onion, stir fry it over high heat for 3-4 minutes

4) Add 1 inch of ginger julians, and 5 medium cloves of finely chopped garlic cloves. Cook for 2 mins over low heat else the garlic will burn

5) Add 2 dry red chilis and then add 1 finely chopped green chili and cook for a min. You can always reduce the quantity of chili but jalfrezi is usually a little spicy

6) Add 3-4 tablespoons of tomato sauce, cook over low heat for 2 minutes

Add 1 tablespoon of water. Mix it well

7) Time to add the spices. Half teaspoon of coriander powder, 1 teaspoon of cumin powder, one third teaspoon of turmeric powder, half teaspoon of black pepper powder, half teaspoon of garam masala powder, 1 teaspoon of salt, half teaspoon of red chili powder, mix everything and cook for 2-3 mins

8) Then add half thinly sliced onion, sliced bell peppers, and mix well with the sauce till they are entirely coated. We are adding these towards the end as we need the crunch of these vegetables in the recipe, so don’t overcook the vegetables

9) Add 1 tablespoon of vinegar directly on to the pan followed by the tofu

Toss the tofu gently without breaking it. Add the finely chopped coriander leaves, and switch off the heat

And that’s it, so easy and quick and a perfect mid week recipe. This goes perfectly with some chapati, naan or even just like that.