The world is getting smaller and smaller by the minute. Globalization is bringing palette-pleasing menus from all across the globe. We know that not everyone wants to have a plate of chicken, fish or beef in front of them, so we specifically looked into finding a way to work with a hated ingredient among adults, tofu. What came from our efforts was an Indian recipe called “Tofu Tikka Marsala” found on Cooking with Manali. Breaking down the name, it means “Roasted tofu in curry sauce”. I remembered having a sample of this at Karavalli with our friends, Lianna and Dan. I only have a medium tolerance to spice, so this was a great way for me to enjoy some of India’s famous flavors while not having to gobble down everyone’s share of naan bread as compensation. Let’s get to cooking!
The texture of the rice can be a major point in the overall rating of a dish. We played it smart and used a rice-cooker I bought back when I was in China. There they sell some of the best quality rice cookers for the lowest prices I’ve ever seen. Firstly, we can’t stress enough the point that the water has to be cold. When rice hits warm water, it starts to cook very quickly, if not too quickly. With just a small drizzle of olive oil, salt and some vinegar, (Not too much, we don’t want vinegar flavored rice!) We were able to let the machine do the work for us. Brown needs more water than white, but let’s not drown it, shall we? A little over the ratio of two cups rice to three cups water will be satisfactory. For this, we stuck with brown rice. Brown rice is a whole grain, containing the bran, germ, and endosperm. Rice bran, according to Wikipedia, is the hard shell surrounding the rice kernel and contains a lot of nutrients, including antioxidants, vitamins, and fiber. The germ is the “seed” of the rice, if you will. The endosperm is what both white rice and brown rice have in common and is mostly just starch. For all its nutritional worth however, brown rice may contain some arsenic, so user beware.
The smell of the curry sauce is spiked with ginger, sweet BBQ and molded into the tomato. In fact, most of the spices were very potent in smell. It all became a symphony, one unified aroma made from what I’m calling “The 5 C’s” Curry, Coriander, Cumin, Cilantro and much to my surprise, Cinnamon. (But of course you know the greatest C food of all…sing it with me!) We’re so use to seeing it in autumn with our chai lattes and powdered our pumpkin pies. This reminds me of the way some Italians always put sugar in their tomato sauces, but others (Like my family) forbid it. More or less, a few shakes of cinnamon proved to be both aromatic and able to blend in smoothly.
The sauce really brought me back home to my mother over the stove. Onions, peppers, tomato paste (in lieu of tomato chunks) pureed with our own add-in, mushrooms. This was one of our impulse buys in the vegetable section.
We began by marinating the tofu which had been drained of all its water. I like to think of the stuff like a big edible sponge. This is why most people say they don’t like it. It’s so soft and squishy to the touch and has a taste like cold wet macaroni dough without any flour. A little garlic, (We LOVE this stuff like it was our godmother) ginger, a melody of spices, and Greek yogurt (we didn’t have any of the yogurt demanded, but the tang added an extra dimension to the overall flavor profile). The tofu was then thrown into the refrigerator for an hour to absorb all those flavors. Next came the sauce. We forgot to buy the tomatoes, so we improvised with some tomato paste. This came through very distinctly in the final product. Next time, let’s not forget them. In addition to the mushrooms, we also added in a sweet pepper. The original recipe called for sugar. Since I’m trying to cut down on the stuff, we figured the pepper would contribute some sweetness (I still added some raw honey, just to be on the safe side). We let the onions, peppers, and tomato paste stew for 10 minutes, then into the blender to puree. At this point, it was like we were swimming in the aromas.
The sauce had a really rich deep orange-red color, accentuated when we added the heavy cream. It reminded me of going to a cafe and ordering a latte, the way how the barista would sculpt the steamed cream in an artistic way. The rich red contrasted with the creamy white, while all congealed together to form one harmonious dish. Once we let that settle down, we sauteed the tofu and mushrooms. This was where I was a little unsure of myself. The original recipe called to “roast” the tofu until browned, but no specific instructions. I have never cooked with the stuff, Me neither and as a result it came out not as firm as we would have wished. It started to break apart as we stirred it. Oh well, you live and learn. The mushrooms though came out beautifully. They really stood out with the heavy sauce. Next time, I think it should be called “Mushroom Tikka Masala”.
All-in-all, I would give this recipe a 4.5/5 stars. Next time, we definitely need tomatoes and we need to cook the tofu longer. I on the other hand was very engulfed in the Indian spice blend. Despite this however, I found myself voraciously devouring this. Definitely a must revisit in the future and who knows, maybe we can find other was to spin this dish.
