Well guys, the ‘Veggie on a Budget’ vibe continues! I am so excited to share this lovely dish with you – a homemade Tikka Masala is a recipe I’ve been meaning to try my hand at for some time now, and the title ‘Tofu Tikka Masala’ was far too alliterative not to share! I always try to make sure my recipes are relatively adaptable for you guys – meaning that if you’re a vegetarian/vegan, these recipes will suit you, and if you’re not, or you’re a person who’s reducing their meat intake a little, you can use this recipe as an option either way! I actually made this recipe TWICE in one day to test it out – using tofu for my ‘meal prep’, and then using chicken for a Sunday dinner for my family! And guess what? It was  DOUBLE hit. So it’s a no-brainer guys – you’ve gotta try it too! So let’s get to the recipe! I wanna give a big shout-out here to a great little company called Spiced Purpose here, who’s gorgeous spice mixes I coated my tofu in for roasting for this recipe. I got to take home some great packs of their product from the Health Blog Awards and I’ve been using them since! Check out my photo below of my roasted tofu to see!

(Served with brown basmati rice & greens!)

Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tsp garam masala
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp ground sweet paprika (for roasting tofu only)
• 1/2 tsp ground turmeric
• 3 tbsp tomato puree
• 1 red onion, finely chopped
• 2 bell peppers
• 2 handfuls of spinach
• 250g of tofu – either fresh for roasting below or smoked (See note below re: substituting for meat e.g. chicken)
• 1 400g tin of chopped tomatoes
• 1 400ml tin of coconut milk
• 300ml water or vegetable stock
• 1 400g tin of chickpeas, drained
• NOTE:I made this as a vegetarian recipe initially for work lunches – but I’ve also made it for my family as a Chicken Tikka Masala too! So just check out the recipe method below to see how to suit it to your style of eating/who you’re cooking for!

Method

1. Step for roasting tofu: Pre-heat the oven to 200C, and line a baking tray with tinfoil greased with a little olive oil. Chop the tofu into 1-2 inch chunks, and drizzle with extra virgin olive oil. Add the sweet paprika, and toss the tofu chunks in the oil and spice. Tip them onto the baking tray, and when the oven is ready, place the tray in the oven to roast for 20-25 minutes, tossing halfway.
2. Chop up your garlic clove, red onion and bell peppers, and set aside.
3. Heat the olive oil in a large pot on medium heat, add the onions and garlic, and cook for 3-4 minutes until the onions are translucent.
4. Next, add the spices – garam masala, cumin, coriander, ginger, and turmeric, and cook for another 3-4 minutes until the onions are coated.
5. If you’re using meat (e.g. chicken breast) instead of tofu, then chop the chicken breasts (5-6) into small chunks, and add them at this stage, cooking until browned.
6. Add the chopped peppers, followed by the tinned tomatoes, water/stock and tomato puree, and mix well.
7. Add the coconut milk and stir everything up again.
8. If you’ve been roasting the tofu, remove it from the oven after 20-25 minutes, and taking care with the hot tray, add the tofu into the pot. If not roasting (e.g. using smoked or more solid tofu), then just add your chopped pieces now.
9. Finally, add the spinach leaves, season the masala with salt and pepper, and give everything one final stir. Feel free to add a little extra water/stock at this stage if you think it needs it!
10. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to the lowest setting, cover the pot and leave to simmer for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
11. After that time, you’re good to go! I love serving this with a side of wholegrains – brown basmati rice is my favourite, but I also scooped some into roasted sweet potatoes when I made the masala for my work lunches!

Enjoy guys! I really hope you like this one – another win in my ‘Veggie on a Budget Series!’ But as I’ve said above, this recipe is absolutely great with meat too – I’ve made it for my family using chopped chicken breast, and it was just as delicious! Tag me if you try this one out – @theirishbalance on Instagram/Twitter/Facebook!

Ciara 🙂 x