Easy Date Tamarind Tofu Curry Recipe - Savory Spin (2024)

FAQs

Should you fry tofu before adding to curry? ›

About Tofu Curry

To begin with, first you will get rid of the excess moisture from the tofu and marinate it with spices and herbs for a short time until the curry is ready. It is then pan-fried and then added to the delicious curry sauce. So the Tofu in the Curry is full-flavored with a excellent texture!

Tanginess : Usually sambar gets it tanginess from tamarind but it is totally ok to skip it and go with tomato. Tamarind has a sharp sourness that can induce acid reflux in people prone to it. Tomato has a more fruity taste and lighter tartness depending on the variety used.

Here's the thing: even though tofu might be labeled firm or extra-firm, it contains a lot of water. This excess water can cause the tofu to crumble when you cook it, and it will also have a hard time crisping up. But when you press tofu, you remove the excess moisture.

Marinate it: Tofu can be marinated in a variety of flavorful sauces or spices. You can use soy sauce, garlic, ginger, sesame oil, and other seasonings to make a simple marinade. Let the tofu marinate for at least 30 minutes (or up to a few hours) before cooking or grilling.

Indian tamarind concentrate is a true concentrate and much more potent than Thai or Vietnamese tamarind. It comes in a tub and is a black, sticky, very sour paste that cannot be used in the same way as Thai tamarind paste.

Dried fruit and lemon juice: Creating a paste with dried fruits (like apricots or prunes) and lemon juice is a good substitute for tamarind paste. Depending on the dried fruit you use, you can achieve a very similar flavor to tamarind.

Consistency: Change the consistency of your sambar by adding less or more water. Balancing sourness: In case if you find the taste of sambar more sour, then you can always balance the sour taste by adding a bit of jaggery. Variations: A few crushed garlic cloves can also be added to the tempering.

Technically, tofu does not need to be cooked. It is ready to eat straight out of the package. The most common tofu to eat raw is silken tofu. It's often used in vegan desserts to achieve a creamy texture.

Tofu can be eaten raw, and so cooking it is completely optional and is mostly done for texture or to bind the sauce to the tofu. You can pan-sear the sides and add it to a colorful stir-fry or deep-fry it and coat it in a savory and sweet sauce.

If you want the flavor to get all the way inside, you have to get heat involved somehow, whether that's in the form of a dip in boiling salty water, or by pan-frying, baking, or my new favorite pre-marinade technique: Air-frying. Cold, raw tofu rejects marinades because of its high water content and low porosity.

Should tofu be cooked before adding to soup? ›

You can put raw tofu in the soup and let it simmer for 10 to 15 minutes to warm and flavor it. Tofu can be eaten raw, so it's no problem to add it raw to soups.