This easy vegan tofu curry is loaded with flavor and comes together in a flash! Made with pan-fried tofu and sweet peas in a mildly spiced tomato sauce, it's sure to become your new favorite weeknight dinner.
I'm a sucker for an easy vegan curry recipe. Curries are often pretty easy to make, and since they're loaded with spices and aromatics, they tend to be pretty delicious as well.
Just recently I set out to create such a curry recipe where tofu is the star, and I'm pretty sure I struck gold. This was one of the easiest and tastiest curries I've made. It's going right into my weeknight rotation.
This tofu curry has a sauce that's pretty similar to the one I used in my vegan Japanese curry, so if you were a fan of that, I'm pretty sure you'll enjoy this as well!
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What You'll Need
- Peanut oil. Feel free to substitute another high-heat oil, such as canola or coconut oil.
- Tofu. Preferably use super-firm tofu. Extra firm tofu could also be used, but you'll need to press it for about 20 minutes before cooking it.
- Onion.
- Garlic.
- Ginger.
- Curry powder. Use a mild curry powder. I used McCormick's brand.
- Garam masala.
- Tomato paste.
- Vegetable broth. I used Better Than Bouillon in seasoned vegetable flavor.
- Water. We're using this to make a cornstarch slurry — make sure it's cold so that the cornstarch dissolves completely.
- Cornstarch.
- Frozen peas. Thaw them out before using them.
- Salt & pepper.
- Rice. Serve the curry with your favorite variety of cooked rice. I really like using basmati for this recipe.
- Cilantro. You can substitute scallions if you're not a fan of cilantro.
- Roasted cashews. These are for topping your curry. Peanuts work as a substitute.
How to Make Tofu Curry
Below is a detailed photo tutorial on how to make this dish. Scroll all the way down if you'd like to skip right to the recipe!
- Pan fry your tofu first. Do this by heating a bit of oil on a nonstick surface, adding diced tofu, and cooking it for a few minutes on each side until it begins to crisp up and brown.
- Start making the curry while your tofu cooks. Heat some oil in a pot and add diced onion. Sweat the onion until it starts to soften up, then add garlic, ginger, curry powder and garam masala. Once the mixture becomes very fragrant, stir in your tomato paste. Fry the tomato paste for about a minute.
- Stir in your broth, and add your tofu once it's done cooking. Bring the mixture up to a simmer and let it cook until it thickens a bit.
- Make a slurry by stirring your cornstarch and cold water together in a small container, then add the mixture to your curry.
- Let your curry simmer for just about a minute more, until the cornstarch causes it to thicken.
- Take the pot off of the burner and stir in your peas. Season the curry with salt and pepper to taste.
- Serve your curry over rice with some cashews and cilantro on top.
Leftovers & Storage
Leftover tofu curry will keep in a sealed container in the fridge for about 3 days.
Frequently Asked Questions
It is!
Yup! Just sauté your aromatics and spices in some broth or water, and throw your tofu into the curry raw, skipping the step of pan-frying it.
Sure! Obviously it won't be tofu curry, but this recipe would be great with seitan or tempeh.
It's pretty mild. If you'd like your curry to have more heat, try adding some cayenne pepper or your favorite hot sauce.
More Easy Tofu Main Dishes
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📖 Recipe
Cozy Weeknight Tofu Curry
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons peanut oil (or another high-heat oil), divided
- 1 (15 ounce or 400 gram) package super-firm tofu*, drained and cut into ½ to 1-inch cubes
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger
- 1 teaspoon mild curry powder
- 1 teaspoon garam masala
- ¼ cup tomato paste
- 2 cups vegetable broth
- 2 tablespoons cold water
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- Salt & pepper, to taste
- ½ cup frozen peas, thawed
- Cooked rice, for serving
- ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro
- ¼ cup roasted and salted cashews
Instructions
- Coat the bottom of a large nonstick skillet with 1 tablespoon of the oil and place it over medium heat.
- Give the oil a minute to heat up, then add the tofu in an even layer.
- Cook the tofu for about 10 minutes, flipping it once or twice, until browned and crispy on multiple sides.
- While the tofu cooks, coat the bottom of a medium pot with the remaining tablespoon of oil.
- Give the oil a minute to heat up, then add the onion. Sweat the onion, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes, until it begins to soften.
- Stir in the garlic, ginger, curry powder, and garam masala. Cook the mixture for about 1 minute, stirring constantly, until it becomes very fragrant.
- Stir in the tomato paste and cook it with the aromatics, stirring constantly, for about 1 minute.
- Stir in the broth, and stir in the tofu once it has finished frying. Raise the heat and bring the liquid to a boil.
- Lower the heat and allow the curry to simmer for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until thickened slightly.
- Stir the water and cornstarch together in a small container, then pour the mixture into the pot with the curry. Give it a stir to combine.
- Let the curry simmer for about 1 minute more, until thickened.
- Remove the pot from heat, stir in the peas, and season the curry with salt and pepper to taste.
- Serve the curry over rice with cilantro and cashews on top.
Notes
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Wow - What a delicious recipe ! I have never used garam masala before, but my local coop market had it in their bulk spices section. Both my son and I loved the meal, and this will definitely go into our rotation schedule. I will do some experimenting for other ways to use garam masala. Many thanks!
Love this! Simple and delicious - going in the weekly rotation.
I made this last night and it was absolutely delicious. This will definitely
go on my regular list.
This recipe looks like it will be very tasty...but I have one question....how much peas do we add? This ingredient is in the picture and it the instructions but is not listed as an ingredient.
Oops! Thank you for catching that! It's 1/2 cup. I just corrected the recipe!