Tofu Korma

Ok, so I took the Korma challenge.  Korma seems to be a traditionally meat dish, but I prefer, for various reasons, to keep primarily vegetarian.  There were plenty of vegetarian variations to be found on the internet.  Nevertheless, the most interesting korma recipe I found was in Gordon Ramsay's Great Escape and it was for lamb korma.  I liked the spicing of the recipe, so I just decided to make it with tofu and some veggies.  I had my garden fresh butternut squash sitting on the counter.  I purchased some green beans and got to work.  The results can be seen at left.  I made it kind of dry (don't really like soupy stuff) and it was so rich and redolent of cinnamon, cardamom, and cloves.  I also decided to skip the extra cream that the recipe calls for and just use 2% yoghurt, which is plenty rich for me, and keeps the dish healthy and easy to digest.  I used extra firm tofu (which has a consistency like paneer) and is loaded with protein.   This dish was so filling, but, as I said, not heavy.  So here is my recipe.  The proportions are approximate and you can vary the veggies and proportions as desired.  I made only a small amount, but the recipe scales up.

Tofu Korma
adapted from Lamb Korma in Gordon Ramsay's Great Escape.

1/2 package of extra firm tofu, cubed
1 cup of butternut squash, cubes and steamed lightly until just tender
1/2 cup of green beans, steamed lightly until just tender
2 green chilis,
2T almond meal
6 cashews
1 inch of ginger peeled and chopped
1/2 cup water to blend
2T vegetable oil
1 cinnamon stick
4 cloves
2 cardamom pods
1/2 onion, chopped
1/2 cup yoghurt
1/2 cup water to blend
salt and pepper to taste
lemon wedges to serve

Toast the cashews a bit and set aside.  Then toast the almond meal and set aside to cool with the cashews (you can also use whole almonds, they will get ground up in the next step).  Place the cashews and almond in a blender with the chilis, ginger and 1/2 cup water and blend to a paste.  Mix in the yoghurt and 1/2 cup water and set aside.  In a large saute pan, heat the oil and saute the onions until they start to wilt.  Add the tofu and saute until the tofu just starts to turn golden.  Add the dry spices and toss for a minute, then add the yoghurt/nut mix and the steamed veggies and salt and pepper to taste.  Simmer lightly until the veggies are cooked tender (5 minutes or so).

Enjoy with some chapati and a squeeze of lemon.