Vegan Palak Paneer with Chickpea Tofu
This vegan palak paneer uses chickpea tofu, replicating the texture and flavor of a soft cheese. This vegan saag paneer, a spinach curry, is made creamy with coconut milk.
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 lb. baby spinach leaves about 12 cups loosely packed*
- ½ large onion or 1 small onion diced
- ½ cup cilantro leaves tightly packed (chopped)
- 3-4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon fresh ginger minced (or ½ teaspoon ginger powder)
- ½ teaspoon turmeric
- ½ teaspoon coriander
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 2 teaspoon garam masala
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup coconut milk full fat
- 2 tablespoon vegetable or avocado oil
Chickpea Tofu
- 1 cup chickpea flour
- 2 cups water
- 2 tablespoon nutritional yeast
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- pinch of turmeric for color
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil optional, holds tofu together better
Instructions
- Begin by preparing the chickpea tofu. Whisk all the ingredients for the chickpea tofu together in a bowl, until smooth and no lumps remain. Grease a 9 in. loaf pan or line with parchment paper.
- Heat a saucepan over medium heat and spray with cooking oil. Pour the chickpea tofu batter into the pan, whisking constantly. After a few mins, it should thicken, similar to a porridge or polenta consistency, that is thick and sticks to the whisk without dripping. This should take 5-7 mins total. Once it has thickened, remove it from the heat and immediately pour it while it's still hot into the loaf pan to take shape. Smooth it out as best you can into a rectangular shape and cool in the fridge for 30 mins.
- While the chickpea tofu cools, I like to take this time to dice my veggies and prepare the spinach curry. We will begin by blanching the spinach to preserve its color. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, with enough water to cover all the spinach. At the same time, prepare a large bowl of ice water.
- Boil the spinach leaves for 2 mins, until bright green, and then immediately drain the spinach and transfer it to the ice water, to stop the cooking process. One cooled, drain all the liquid and set aside.
- Once the chickpea tofu loaf is cooled and firm, slice it into cubes. Fry the chickpea tofu cubes in a saucepan with 1 tablespoon of oil over medium high heat, until crispy and browned on all sides, then set aside. This should take 10-15 mins, and you can multitask.
- Meanwhile in a large pot, sauté onion in the 2 tablespoon of oil, until they are translucent, about 5 mins. Add in chopped cilantro and minced garlic, and sauté until fragrant, about 2 more mins. Add in all the spices except for salt and stir to coat. Then, add in the blanched spinach and salt. Sauté for a few more mins, and then add in the coconut milk and stir everything together.
- Pulse the mixture in the pot with an immersion blender until everything is smooth. Alternatively, you can transfer the spinach mixture to a blender and then return it to the pot.
- Add in the crispy chickpea tofu cubes to the spinach mixture and heat through. Serve over rice or with flatbread. Enjoy!
Video
Notes
*You can sub 1 10-12 oz. package of frozen spinach for 1 lb. of fresh spinach. In this case, you can skip the blanching and go straight to sautéing the frozen spinach with the rest of the ingredients.
Nutrition
Serving: 1servingCalories: 332kcalCarbohydrates: 27gProtein: 13gFat: 22gSaturated Fat: 12gPolyunsaturated Fat: 8gSodium: 1133mgFiber: 8gSugar: 5g
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