Peanut butter is a fantastic ingredient, lending itself to both sweet and savoury dishes. I’m a huge fan of peanut butter not only because of how it tastes but also because of its nutritional profile. Just 2 tbsps of peanut butter has 8g of protein and 10% of your daily fibre needs. While I’ve made a ton of sweet recipes with peanut butter, I haven’t forayed much into the land of savoury peanut butter dishes. Save for this curry which I’ve been developing for years. It would turn out differently every time I cooked it mainly because I never bothered to measure the ingredients! Sometimes it would turn out amazing and sometimes it would turn out just good, but no matter what measurements I always enjoyed the end result. Despite it being particularly difficult to pen this one down, I can say that I’m extremely happy with the final recipe!
I’ve chosen to use tofu and spinach in the curry. We grow fresh spinach in our garden and I’m always trying to sneak a little extra green into my recipes! Tofu is a great source of protein but you could substitute it with chickpeas, chicken or paneer. You could honestly add whatever vegetables you like but I find that the cauliflower, broccoli, spinach and aubergines work best.
EQUIPMENT
This recipe comes together perfectly in the Wonderchef Granite Wok. I use these non-stick pots and pans every. single. day. I’ll bet it’s also the most used cookware in your house too! So it’s only natural that you want one that you can rely on. The Granite Set has been wonderfully reliable. I’ll admit that what caught my eye initially was how great it looked; hey, what can I say, I like pretty things! A few uses in though, I can say it has the goods to back it up. The set comes with a frying pan, wok and dosa tawa. You could also get it as a larger set with the Wonderchef Die-Cast Casserole Set. All non-stick cookware is best used with silicone spatulas and I would highly recommend the Wonderchef Waterstone Silicone Spatula to go with your granite set.
One thing I noted especially in my trials of this recipe was how easy the pan was to clean. If you’ve made a ton of curry then you know exactly how important that is! Curries with turmeric are especially the bane of my existence since they tend to stain your cookware. I’ve been using this set for a few weeks now and our extra-strength fresh-from-the-farm turmeric that we like to use in everything is yet to leave a stain on it! Since you can’t use anything abrasive to clean non-stick cookware, I’d say this is a big win.
This curry is sweet, spicy, tangy and completely addictive! What’s more, it goes really well with rice, noodles, quinoa or even millets! You can thin out the curry to suit your preference. A thinner curry works well with rice. If you’d like to have it with noodles I’d suggest leaving the curry slightly thick and simply adding your cooked noodles directly to the pan and coating it well. Don’t skip out on the toasted peanuts because they add a lovely crunch to the final dish. A little extra chilli oil adds a kick to the dish along with a delightful pop of colour!
RECIPE CARD
Serves 2
Time: 30-40 minutes
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp coconut oil
- 3-4 garlic pods
- ½ Tbsp freshly grated ginger
- 1 medium onion
- 1 medium tomato
- ½ tsp coriander powder
- ½ tsp chilli powder
- ¼ tsp turmeric powder
- 2 Tbsp peanut butter
- ¾ cup coconut cream (about 200ml)
- 1 cube of veg stock in 1 cup of water (or 1 cup of stock)
- 110g tofu
- ½ cup chopped spinach
- 2 Tbsp peanuts
- ¼ lime
- 1 tbsp coriander leaves
- Chop your tofu into 1 inch cubes and boil for 4 minutes until soft. Set aside.
- Begin by preparing the vegetables. Roughly chop onions and tomatoes. Cut spinach into thin strips. Grate your ginger and use a garlic crusher to crush your garlic cloves.
- Add 1 tbsp of coconut oil to a wok on medium heat.
- Add the chopped onions and fry for 1 minute.
- Add the grated ginger and garlic and fry till fragrant and onions start to brown.
- Add the tomatoes and sauté for 2 minutes.
- Add your spices – coriander, chilli and turmeric. You can lightly salt your vegetables at this stage if your stock is not too salty.
- If you’re using coconut milk from a can or a box be sure to shake it really well! Add the coconut milk and the peanut butter to the pan and mix really well.
- If you’re using a stock cube like I am, mix it in 1 cup of water and add it to the pan.
- Add your tofu cubes and let the curry simmer for about 5 minutes.
- Meanwhile in a separate pan, toast your peanuts till they get little brown spots on them. Set aside.
- Once the curry has thickened, taste and adjust seasoning if required.
- Add your spinach to the curry and let it wilt.
- Turn off the heat, squeeze 1/4th of a lime and add your toasted peanuts and coriander.
- Garnish with chilli oil and serve with rice or noodles.
Author: Sneha Sundar is the creator of You Dim Sum, You Lose Some; a philosophy she adopts both in and out of the kitchen.
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