大象传媒

East: 120 Vegetarian and Vegan recipes from Bangalore to Beijing by Meera Soda (Publisher: Fig Tree) Photograpy: David Loftus

Something happens to me when I get within 10 miles of Leicester. I crave chilli paneer: I swear I can smell it the closer I get to the city. This Pavlovian response was forged over years travelling with my parents from Lincolnshire to Leicester to shop for spices and saris. At 10 years old, these trips bored me, so my parents regularly employed bribes to keep my sister and me from getting up to no good. Top of the list was a chilli paneer washed down with a carton of neon-orange Rubicon mango juice. Chilli paneer is Indo-Chinese in origin (the first Indo-Chinese restaurant opened in Kolkata just 85 years ago), a fairly new cuisine that has found its way into the hearts and bellies of all Indians. In this vegan version, I’ve used tofu instead of paneer, fried it until crisp, then doused it in garlic, chillies, tomato, soy and sugar until sticky, hot, sweet and sour. There is nothing not to like: it is brazenly addictive stuff.

Serves 4

800g firm tofu, drained and cut into 3cm cubes
cornflour
rapeseed oil
2 tsp cumin seeds, coarsely ground
1 brown onion, diced
6 cloves of garlic, crushed
3cm ginger, peeled and grated
4 green finger chillies: 2 very finely chopped, 2 slit down their length
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
2 tbsp tomato puree
2 tbsp light soy sauce
2 tsp caster sugar
3/4 tsp salt
2 peppers (1 red and 1 green, ideally), cut into 1cm slices

Spread the tofu cubes on a large plate and dust with the cornflour, turning them to coat. Take a deep frying pan with a lid, add enough oil to come 0.5cm up the sides, and heat over a medium flame. Line a plate with kitchen towel, to place the fried tofu on.

Shake any excess cornflour off the tofu, then put half the tofu into the hot oil. Fry for 3 minutes, turning regularly with tongs, until golden, then transfer to the paper-lined plate and repeat with the remaining tofu.

Drain all but 2 tablespoons of oil from the pan, then fry the cumin and onion for 10 to 12 minutes, until soft and sweet. Add the garlic, ginger and chillies, fry for 5 minutes, then add the pepper, tomato puree, soy sauce, sugar and salt. Stir to mix, cook for 5 minutes, then add the pepper strips and 100ml of water. Cover and leave to cook for 8 minutes, stirring every now and then, and adding more water if need be: there should be just enough ‘sauce’ to coat the tofu.

When the peppers are soft, return the tofu to the pan, turn the heat up, and stir to coat the tofu in sauce. Stir-fry for 5 minutes, then take off the heat.

Serve by itself if you’re Indian, or with chapatis, greens or a leafy salad if you’re not.