Oh yes, we both love indian food and this dish has become my absolute favorite indian. Just after that one comes tofu butter no-chicken masala (weird name I know) and dahl. We once had Pauls coworker from India over for dinner and as I remember it he said it tasted perfectly indian. It was even a bit too spicy for him, haha. So I feel very confident, that this recipe is a good one.

This time I’ve actually made two different versions of my recipe. They can both be made vegan by substituting dairy cream with coconut cream. I have tried both of them and they both work. If you’re out camping or you just want to make a nice, EASY meal, then you should go for the camp food recipe and if you’re having a bit more time to cook and loving it, then try the home cooking one.

The ingredients for the sauce are exactly the same, so the only difference is that the camp food recipe uses silken tofu (makes paneer masala) and the home-cooking recipe uses firm tofu (makes tikka masala) and you’ll have to spend a bit more time on the tofu.

Tofu Tikka Masala or Tofu-Paneer Masala?

First you have to make a choice whether you want your tofu to be smooth like paneer (for paneer masala) and make the dish easier to make (PERFECT FOR CAMPING) or more firm and tasty like chicken (for tikka masala) and more time consuming to make. Regardless which one you choose, you need 500 g. of Tofu. I usually buy Macros slightly firm tofu (which is basically silken) for the paneer-version or Macros firm tofu for the Tikka-version.

Ingredients:

Ingredients for tofu marinade (only for home cooking recipe):

1 tbsp of vegetable oil
Garam masala
Turmeric powder
Ground cumin
Pepper
2 garlic cloves
Just a little ginger

Ingredients for sauce:

Vegetable oil
400 g of tomato paste
1 large onion
3 garlic cloves
2 cm of ginger* (optional: I honestly don’t really think it makes a different)
Garam masala
Ground Cumin
Turmeric powder
Ground coriander
Chili flakes
1 red chili* (optional: Chili flakes or chili powder can do the trick)
300 ml of cream OR 270 ml of Coconut Cream
500 g. of silken tofu (camp food and paneer masala) or firm tofu (home cooking and tikka masala)

Recipes:

– Make it camp food and easy like paneer masala!

1. Pour 2,5 dl of rice and 2,5 dl of water into a pot and make it boil. Once it boils, your turn off the stove and let it rest under a lid.
2. Drain and cut silken tofu into small cubes
3. Finely cut onion, garlic, ginger* and chili*. Fry in vegetable oil.
4. Add all the spices
5. Add tomato paste, let it simmer for a while. Then add cream/coconut cream.
6. Add silken tofu and serve.

– Make it at home like chicken tikka masala!

1. Pour 2,5 dl of rice and 2,5 dl of water into a pot and make it boil. Once it boils, your turn off the stove and let it rest under a lid.
2. Mix all the ingredients for the tofu marinade
3. Drain and cut the firm tofu into small cubes
4. Toss the tofu with the marinade, so all pieces are fully covered. If they aren’t, make more marinade!
5. Either let the tofu marinate for hours before baking or spread on a piece of baking sheet and bake it right away on 200°
6. Finely cut onion, garlic, ginger and chili. Fry in vegetable oil.
7. Add all the spices
8. Then add tomato paste, let it simmer for a while. Add cream/coconut cream.
9. Once firm tofu is baked add to the sauce and serve!