Vegan Butter “Chicken”
I have to confess - I’ve never tried butter chicken. But it for some reason looks like perfect comfort food so I decided to make it vegan and it exceeded my expectations! Honestly, first time I made it, I just ate the whole bowl with no rice or naan.. It is a bit spicy but not that much so feel free to adjust the amount of chili powder however you feel it, some chili powders can be bit spicier than others.
Ingredients
400g tofu
2 shallots (minced)
vegetable oil 2tsp + 1tsp vegan butter (or just 3tsp oil)
4cm ginger (minced or even better - grated)
4cloves garlic (minced or grated)
1/2 green chili pepper (minced)
2tsp garam masala
1/4tsp turmeric
1/2tsp cumin
1/2tsp ground coriander
1tbsp tomato puree
1 tin of chopped tomatoes (400g)
200ml oat cream OR homemade cashew cream*
to serve: rice or naan (or both), coriander
Marinade
140g non-dairy yogurt
1tsp lemon juice
1/2tsp cumin
1/2tsp chili powder
1tsp salt
Method
First things first - you need to get rid of water in tofu. Cut it into cubes (around 2cm), place them on a flat surface lined with a clean towel (or paper towels). Cover them with another layer of towels and place something heavy on top - I usually use a cookbook. Press it for around 15 mins.
Meanwhile make the marinade - mix all the ingredients, then add tofu to it, mix again and let it marinate for at least 20mins but the longer the better.
Preheat oven to 200C/180 (fan), line a baking sheet with baking paper and spread tofu around - leave some space for every piece. Bake for about 20mins and turn the pieces around halfway through.
Heat up oil and butter in a large saucepan. Add shallots, cook for about 5mins, then add garlic, ginger and green chili pepper. Cook for 1-2mins, until fragrant.
Now add all the spices and tomato puree and cook for about 1min.
Add tined tomatoes and salt and simmer for 15mins. Blend it well with a hand blender, add tofu pieces to it (and if you have any leftover marinade, add it too) and serve with rice or naan. And some coriander over it!
Notes:
How to make homemade cashew cream: soak 1/3 cup of cashew nuts over night in 1/3cup water and next day just blend it until smooth.