Tempeh & Cauliflower Pasanda

After eating lots of raw food and cold salads recently, I was in the mood for a rich, warming dish.

In the Western world we use the word “curry” to mean virtually anything in a sauce with spices but it does seem a shame to lump everything together and forget that there are actually so many different dishes with flavours unique to their respective cultures. I have a few “curries” on Coconut and Berries:

Sweet Potato, Spinach & Coconut Dahl

Lemony Lentil, Potato & Pea Curry

Thai Tempeh & Vegetable Red Curry

Ethiopian Yellow Split Pea Butternut Stew

spanning Indian-style dishes, Thai, and Ethiopian. And today I’ve got another, completely different one.

I tend to favour South Indian recipes as they’re usually vegetarian by default but Pasanda is a popular North Indian and Pakistani dish. Typically lamb or chicken, cooked in a thick sauce made from a blend of cream, almonds and spices.

I’ve of course veganized it, using chunks of meaty tempeh to replace the lamb and non-dairy yogurt instead of the cream. The result was a wonderfully mild curry with a deliciously nutty and creamy sauce. This one is perfect for families as it’s so lightly spiced, but if you’re not feeding children go ahead and kick up the heat to your liking.

Tempeh & Cauliflower Pasanda

(Adapted from Waitrose magazine)

For the Tempeh:

2T Apple cider vinegar
2T Tamari
2T Water
1t Minced fresh ginger
I 225g/8oz pkg Tempeh, cubed

For the Pasanda:
1T Coconut/Olive oil
1 Medium onion, roughly chopped
1 Small head of cauliflower, broken into small florets (3-4C)
1 Red Chili, minced
2 Cloves of garlic
2 Green Cardamom Pods, Bashed
2t Ground Turmeric
1t Ground Coriander
1/4t Cinnamon
1C Chopped Tomatoes (canned or fresh)
1C Ground Almonds
2C Unsweetened non-dairy yogurt (UK readers, I recommend Sojade organic soy yogurt rather than a thick coconut yogurt like Coyo which would make this too rich. OR, simply use less)
1C Vegetable Broth
Salt & Pepper, to taste
Juice of 1 lime
Handful of fresh coriander, roughly chopped

Whisk together the first four ingredients and toss the tempeh in this mixture. Leave for 30 minutes to marinade.

Heat the oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Add the tempeh and sauté for approx 5 minutes until lightly browned on all sides. Add the onion, cauliflower and chili and cook for another 5 minutes, until the onion has softened.

Add the garlic and spices and cook, stirring, for a minute. Add the tomatoes, yogurt, broth, salt and pepper and stir until everything is coated.

Cover and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring from time to time to ensure it’s not sticking. You may need to add more broth. The cauliflower should be tender and the sauce thickened. Remove the cardamom pods (if you can find them!), add the lime juice and scatter with fresh coriander and extra chili (if desired).

Serve with flatbread (I adapted this grain-free flatbread recipe) or brown rice

Serves 6

Do you have a favourite curry?

If you’re new to Coconut and Berries, Please sign up for email updates and join me elsewhere: I’m on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram (@coconutandberries), Google + and Twitter!

Leek, Sun-dried Tomato + White Bean “Risotto”

I’m back! Did you miss me?! I doubt anyone actually noticed I was away, it was only 2 days off blogging after all, but having got into the habit of posting every day it felt strange not to publish a post for a couple of days…

Most vegans, myself included, go vegetarian for a time before moving to vegan, and in that period, whenever I ate out, the typical restaurant menu offering was risotto (usually “wild mushroom” ! ).

This unfortunately wasn’t to my liking, not just because I would have liked to see a bit more creativity, but what came out of the kitchen was always a plate full of stodge. Pretty much just rice, lots of cream and butter and maybe the odd piece of vegetable if you were lucky. Too rich for my tastes and not heavy enough on the veg!

Maybe I shouldn’t complain, at least there was something vegetarian available, not usually the case with vegan meals….

I’m not against rice in any way and have made pleasant enough vegan risottos at home using it in the past, but wanted to try something a little different this time.

If you’ve been reading a while you may remember my Cauliflower Fried Rice with Grilled Asian Tofu. A dish I really enjoyed, so along the same lines, I decided on cauliflower as the rice component in my risotto!

I used a white bean purée to give the dish some creaminess and studded it with rich sun-dried tomatoes and sautéed leeks for a good punch of flavour.

I loved that this dish was substantial but not heavy and think it would be a great base for all sorts of flavour combinations. A Spanish paella with tomatoes, brightly coloured peppers and olives would be scrummy I’m sure, or how about adding chunks of sweet potato and spinach? You could also add some nutritional yeast for cheesiness.

Oh, and there’s none of that standing over the stove and stirring endlessly that traditional risotto involves here.

Leek, Sundried Tomato & White Bean “Risotto”:

(Adapted from Fork and Beans)

1/2 Medium head of cauliflower (to yield approx 3C when chopped fine)
1/2T Olive oil + 1t (divided)
1/2 Onion, thinly sliced
2 Cloves of garlic, minced
3/4t Dried thyme or 1 sprig fresh thyme
1 1/2C/1 Can Cooked white beans
1C Vegetable broth
1 Large leek, trimmed and sliced into half-moons
1/3C Chopped sun-dried tomatoes (soft or rehydrated)
2T Pine nuts, toasted
Salt + Pepper
Squeeze of lemon (optional)

Place the cauliflower florets in a food processor and pulse until you get a coarse “rice” like texture. Be careful not to overprocess as you want some texture.

Heat 1/2T olive oil in a medium-size pan and sauté onion for a few minutes until soft. Add garlic and thyme and continue to cook for a minute, stirring. Add half the white beans and the vegetable broth. Cover and simmer for 5 minutes. Blend this mixture using an immersion blender  until a smooth purée.

Meanwhile, in another pan, sauté leeks for 10 minutes in remaining oil with a pinch of salt, for 10 minutes, or until soft.

Add the leeks, sun-dried tomatoes, remaining white beans and cauliflower rice to the white bean purée, season well with salt and pepper and stir. Cover and let simmer for 5 minutes until everything is warmed through. Add a squeeze of lemon if you like.

Divide between 2 bowls, top with a few grinds of black pepper and toasted pine nuts.

Serves 2

PRINT RECIPE HERE

I’m submitting this recipe to the weekly link party, Wellness Weekends, and Comfort Food Potluck Party over at Pure Ella.

http://pureella.com/potluck-party-comfort-food-recipes/

What’s your experience of the typical veg meal on the menu?

Are you a risotto fan?

Cauliflower Fried “Rice” with Grilled Asian Tofu

There are so many food ideas I want to try that inevitably it takes me longer to get to certain things than others. Case in point: Cauliflower “rice” arrived on the scene, at least on my radar, several months ago. It got added to the queue and was only finally made by me a week or so ago. I’ve said this before but if only there were more meals in the day (and time to make them…) so I could get to making all the creative recipes out there , as well as my own recipe ideas, faster!

Before anyone thinks I’m going on some carb-eliminating diet or something, I better just stop and say that I’m in no way cutting grains from my diet. Rice features in a good many of my meals and I have no problem with it at all- Make mine brown basmati though please .  Sometimes, however, I’m simply in the mood for a more vegetable-centric meal.

To the cauiflower “rice” base I added plenty of other vegetables, including edamame, a favourite of mine, and also a great source of protein, so even without the grilled tofu on top you’ve got a fairly substantial dish. Simply seasoned with lots of ginger and garlic and a couple of splashes of tamari it’s a snap to put together too.

Cauliflower Fried “Rice” with Grilled Asian Tofu:

For the Tofu (Optional):
(From Veganomicon)

1/2 400g/8oz Block Tofu, Drained, Pressed and cut into thin slices (I got 4 rectangles)
1/4C Mirin
1 1/2T Tamari
1T Brown rice vinegar
1/2T Sesame oil
1/2t Sriracha chili sauce
1/2” Pc fresh ginger, chopped into large chunks (for flavouring the marinade)
1 Clove garlic, smashed (for flavouring the marinade)

 For the Cauliflower “Rice”

1 Small head cauliflower
1 T Coconut OR Olive OR Sesame (not the toasted kind) oil
2 Lg cloves garlic
1T Minced fresh ginger
1 Red pepper, diced
3/4 C Frozen edamame
1/2 C Corn
2T Tamari
3 Spring/Green Onions, thinly sliced
Fresh coriander, for garnish

If making the tofu, prepare marinade first. Mix all listed ingredients except tofu in a large, shallow dish. Lay slices of tofu in the marinade, spoon over liquid, cover and set to marinade for 30 minutes, flipping tofu halfway through.

While marinating prepare the vegetables. Using a food processor pulse cauliflower florets until a coarse, rice-like (!) texture, or alternatively chop finely. I got 4 cups of rice. Set aside.

Heat a stove-top grill pan lightly brushed with oil for about 3 minutes. Remove tofu from marinade and place on pan. Using tongs gently press tofu into the grill ridges, to get nice dark lines. Cook for 3 minutes on 1 side before lifting, then flip over and cook for another 2 minutes. Move to a chopping board and cut each piece diagonally into 2 triangles.

While tofu is cooking,  heat oil in a wok or large pan until very hot but not smoking,  toss in ginger and garlic and cook for a couple of minutes, stirring all the while, until aromatic.
Add red pepper and edamame and continue to cook a further 2 minutes until pepper is beginning to soften, then add corn and cauliflower and mix together well.
After another 2 minutes, drizzle the tamari over and stir through the spring onion (reserving a small amount for garnish). Continue to cook for another minute until everything is heated through, then turn off the heat. It will continue cooking in the hot pan so remove to a serving dish straight away. Sprinkle over reserved spring onions and fresh coriander.

Spoon onto individual plates or bowls and top with a few triangles of the grilled tofu.

Serves 3

There have been lots of internet food trends which haven’t been hits in my kitchen but I’ll definitely do the cauliflower rice thing again.

Are there any food trends which have stuck with you?