Vegetarian Nihari (Spicy Tofu Recipe)

One of my most favorite Indian dishes is nihari. It's a goat (or any other meat) stew dish. It's spicy, flavorful and the meat is extremely tender. I love dipping naans (flat Indian bread) in the sauce. But I always end up feeling so bad when I see my husband Lulu, who is a vegetarian, staring at me. So this time, I also made a tofu version using the same gravy sauce.

I chose medium-firm tofu and Japanese eggplants and deep-fried them. The texture is perfect once they are soaked in the spicy sauce. I also added broccoli for a balanced meal. The advantage of the veggie version is it's just as tasty, much healthier (I omitted the bhaghar, a typical final layer of red oil in a lot of Indian dishes) and it cooks a lot faster than the meat version.

Green Jackfruit with Tofu

Mít & tàu hũ kho tương is a fairly common vegetarian dish in the Buddhist community. Mít ("jackfruit" in Vietnamese) is picked when it's still green. First, the young fruit is boiled to soften it. Then it's braised in soy sauce and used as a vegetable to accompany tofu. Like tofu, unseasoned green jackfruit is fairly bland but acts as a sponge and absorbs the flavors of the sauce.

The cooking procedure helps to give the jackfruit a soft texture that resembles the pork fat in thịt kho (braised meat), and the stringy texture of the jackfruit simulates the stringy texture of the meat. The result is quite pleasant and surprising. Next time you're in an Asian market, look for fresh young jackfruit; it's delicious!

Braised Tofu with Hoisin Sauce

Braising is one of the best cooking methods to increase the flavor of tofu. In this particular dish, I braised the tofu in a hoisin sauce-based mixture for its caramel color and subtle sweetness. To this, I added several vegetables such as wood ear mushrooms, button mushrooms, carrots and Japanese eggplants.

If you've been following my culinary adventures, you know I married a vegetarian. I'm not saying it as though it's a flaw, but I have to admit that when we first got married, I was a little nervous about what I was going to feed my sweetie. I really didn't have any familiarity with vegetarian cuisine. I love Lulu so much that I was determined to learn how to prepare flavorful vegetarian meals. Since then, I've tried boiling tofu, pan-searing it, grilling it, braising it and deep-frying it. I think I've gone through every possibility, but If you have any other methods you like for cooking tofu, please drop me a message.