10 July 2009

Recipe for Tofu in Peanut Butter Sauce

This is probably the easiest dish I have tried out in the recent past. It requires no grinding, no chopping (unless you count cubing tofus as 'chopping'), no frying, its ultra super simple and you end up with a creamy side dish for your roti or rice in no time.

I made this for dinner a couple of weeks back, which explains the extra 'warm' pictures under artificial lighting. I wasn't sure if TH would like it since he doesn't like peanut sauces and gravies like they use in gado-gado much (but loves peanut butter, yeah, men are weird no?).

He ended up saying "this is not bad at all" so I guess if you like peanuts then this one will be a winner for you too.

Tofu in Peanut Butter Sauce
Nags' Original Recipe
Serves: 2

What I Used:

1 block firm or silken tofu - cubed
3 tbsp peanut butter
2 tbsp soya sauce
1 tbsp vinegar
2 tsp minced garlic
2 tsp minced ginger
1 tbsp oil
1/2 tsp sugar (optional)
Salt and pepper
Water
Fresh parsley/coriander/spring onions

How I Made It:

1. Make a loose paste with the peanut butter, soya sauce, vinegar, sugar, and some water.

2. In a pan, heat the oil and add the cubed tofu. Fry lightly (if using firm tofu, otherwise go on to the next step).

3. Add the minced ginger and garlic and fry until the flavour comes out and the kitchen smells really good.

4. Add the peanut butter sauce and mix well, coating the tofu pieces completely. Add about 1 cup water and cook covered for 5 mins on very low fire.

5. The dish will keep getting dry because of the peanut butter so keep adding required water to keep it saucy.

6. After 5 minutes, make sure consistency is right for you by adding enough water and bring to boil. Remove from fire, add salt and pepper to taste and garnish with chopped fresh cilantro/parsley or spring onions. Be careful when you add salt since the peanut butter will already have some.

I served this with some simple vegetable rice. I am sure it will go great with roti too.

Variations:

Try replacing tofu with paneer or soya chunks/meal maker. Anything that soaks up the flavours should be a good addition. I am even thinking cubed potatoes. Hmmm.. :)

I am sending this to Culinarty's Original Recipes Event.

41 Comments:

My Experiments with Cooking said...

Yeyy! I have all those things at home. Could I be replacing tofu with paneer. What do ya think?
It looks singapore-ish ;)(I guess because of curry over rice look!)

Nags said...

hb - yeah :D I served it like that, all Singapore-ish and fancy-ish. You can replace with paneer. Or even soya chunks. Anything that will soak up the flavours should word.

Sonu said...

Sound interesting recipe. I love Tofu. I have all the ingre. at home. Shud I give it try today? :)

Nags said...

Sonu - do you have to ask? do try and let me know :D

Arch said...

Nice..same peanut story with my husband too...doesnt like it except in peanut butter !! I did something like this for a satay once...very nice...love the bowl too...

Parita said...

New dish to me, use of peanut butter in a sauce sounds really tempting, will give it a try but probably with paneer as m not fond of tofu much

Lena Rashmin Raj said...

Nags..this is awesome..i loved all snaps..and i loved those white serving plates.. :)

SJ said...

Yo! The snaps look beautiful esp. the 1st one! I have an idea for this one...I think I shall modify it and post it on my blog :D

Nags said...

SJ - and link to mine as your recipe inspiration. otherwise i will start a plagiariser movement against you! *evil laugh*

RAKS KITCHEN said...

Recipe sounds so simple! Then its right for me:)
The first picture looks stunning,better than natural light!! Or may be it looks like for me,coz its a nice change from ur usual pictures!!

Meira said...

Will try it out some. Lil domestic catastrophe happening currently :D
And oh..I made sambhar after going through your chow-chow recipe. Only I substituted chow chow with potatoes as none of us like the former too much. It came out heavenly.
Thanks :)
Will try out some other recipes and tell you how great they are :P

chakhlere said...

Hey this is a amazing sauce recipe!!
Just very simple. I have never tried anything with peanut butter. Will surly try this weekend.

Ann said...

Awesome adn drool worthy pics:) I love the way you presented.

Mahimaa's kitchen said...

so easy to make.. it will go great with brown rice too.

Shri said...

Personally, not a big fan of Peanut butter but the dish looks quite tempting.I wish I could ask if I could replace peanut butter...I know:( it looks like the main ingredient..

Bong Mom said...

This is indeed lovely, shall try

Shama Nagarajan said...

different tasty recipe..looks yummy

Lore said...

Sounds delish! Some of the greatest (culinary) ideas are ever so simple and ingenious. Thank you for sharing your recipe with the Original Recipes Round-Up!

Pooja said...

Looks so creamy n delicious! I love peanut butter and you know what..I used to snack on it often and needed no time to finish up a jar! But have never used in curries..wow what a great idea!

Nags said...

Shri - yes, this is a peanut butter sauce so if you want to replace it, then you are looking at another base for your gravy, like maybe pureed onions and tomatoes?

Madhuram said...

I sort of like the peanut sauce and my husband says that he doesn't like it. So I have not made it at all. But he is a tofu FAN, maybe he will like it.

Sig said...

No spice at all...hmm... but I love the idea!How do you think it will taste with chicken?

Nags said...

Sig - a colleague tried it with chicken and said it was yummy! :)

Priti said...

Looks simple and delicious...very different indeed

Anonymous said...

nags , thanks a lot for this innovative, quick, high protein dish , i read it 15 minutes ago n here I am my tofu in peanut sauce in the stove . I just added a few baby corns too as I had only one cube tofu .
Deepa

Nags said...

Deepa - people like you make me do this blog thing and love it in the process :)

Manasi said...

I used to hate peanut butter, but now, I love it!

Anh said...

What a neat recipe. Peanut butter and tofu, yum~

Aparna said...

Looks good and I'm always happy to see a recipe which means spending lesser time in the kitchen.

Guess what? My husband doesn't really like peanut butter but likes peanut sauces and gravies!

Rajitha said...

i love anything in a peanut sauce..not so much with jeeves tho...he loves peanuts..not in a sauce however....like that is going to stop me from making stuff :D

sangeeta said...

came here through SJ's link....your recipe is the mother recipe for sure....the photo is awesome n i am going to try this very soon...and i'll give a link to this post too.....he he...

the sauce is really new to me n i am sure it is going to be a regular at my place...

Nags said...

sangeeta - hehe.. mother recipe is like mother ship :D yes, if you try do drop in a line :)

jayasri said...

hi, nags, missed out lots of recipes.., laptop crashed.., going one by one now !, this sounds interesting, was it not very buttery, hubby likes peanut butter, this is new, can i add some veggies with it !, only Tofu i doubt if my children would like it ! lovely presentation too...

Sakshi said...

Ok am dropping in a line coz I have no intentions of putting my poor crockery pics on my blog...and so can't link to ur mother recipe..But yeah I made it and am licking my fingers and using the same fingers to type this..I think the credit for making me try this recipe goes half to SJ also...sigh!! I made this your way but added a little hot sauce..tweaked did I??

Oops it was not a line afterall that I dropped....but the dish deserved a para u see...

Soma said...

That sauce sounds awesome! very versatile too.. with chicken.

Nags said...

sakshi - hehe.. i wud have liked to see a pic but its fine since you dropped a "line" anyway. even i wud spice it up next time so adding some chilli sauce or hot sauce as u put it, is a great idea!

sangeeta said...

see this..http://healthfooddesivideshi.blogspot.com/2009/11/tofu-n-veggies-in-hot-peanut-sauce.html

andria said...

tasted this for the 1st time at a restuarant near my place..they use alot more garlic and chopped peanuts...fell in love with it....cos i loved it so much my mom would make it at home for me....studyign away from home this recipe gave me a chance to get a feel of those flavours again...sighhhhhhhh!!!
p.s.: it turned out real nice too...added a bit of dried red chilli paste for that lil bit extra kick

Nags said...

So glad you liked it Andria :)

Anonymous said...

finally an edible tofu recipe!!!!

chakhlere said...

Hey this is a amazing sauce recipe!!
Just very simple. I have never tried anything with peanut butter. Will surly try this weekend.

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