Tag Archives: Bean curd

Bean Curd Kottu

In this month’s Kottu series of my mother, I am sharing her bean curd kottu at both the Virtual Vegan Linky Potluck and Fiesta Friday.
DSC01280For the third week of the A.R.Rahman month, I wish to share three beautiful Hindi songs from movies. The first two movies are among my all-time favourites.

The first clip is from Deepa Mehta’s acclaimed movie Water (2005) starring Sarala Kariyawasam, Lisa Ray and John Abraham. The movie was filmed in Sri Lanka and the cast includes Sri Lankan child actress Sarala.

The second song is from Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra’s movie Rang De Basanti (translation: Colour it saffron, 2006) starring Aamir Khan, Siddharth Narayan, Soha Ali Khan, Kunal Kapoor, Madhavan, Sharman Joshi, Atul Kulkarni and Alice Patten. This song is sung by Naresh Iyer (who won the national award for best male playback singer that year for this song) and A.R.Rahman.

The last song clip is from the movie Rockstar (2011) starring Ranbir Kapoor. This clip is a lovely qawwali song filmed at Hazrat Nizamuddin Dargah, one of the most venerated Sufi shrines in Delhi. The singers are A.R.Rahman, Javed Ali, Mohit Chauhan and the Nizami brothers (whose family traditionally has sung at the Dargah for centuries).

Hope you enjoyed today’s music choice of A.R.Rahman and the bean curd kottu!
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Bean Curd Kottu

  • Servings: 2
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Print

Ingredients:

  • Coconut Roti – 1 cup, chopped
  • Bean curd – ½ cup, lightly fried cubes
  • Onion – ¼ cup, chopped
  • Ginger – ½ tsp, finely chopped
  • Garlic – 1 tsp, chopped, finely chopped
  • Fennel – pinch
  • Curry leaves – 1 sprig
  • Oil – 1 tbsp
  • Soya sauce – 1 tbsp
  • Tomato sauce – 1 tbsp
  • Crushed chillies – 1 tsp or Pepper – ¼ tsp
  • Sliced tomato and chopped coriander, for garnish (optional)

Method:

  1. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan. Fry the onion, ginger, fennel and curry leaves.
  2. Mix in chopped bean curd.
  3. Add the soya and tomato sauce to the pan as well as the crushed chillies or pepper. Stir-fry for about 2 mins.
  4. Add the chopped roti and salt to taste and continue to stir-fry for a couple of minutes.
  5. Transfer to serving plate and garnish with sliced tomato and chopped coriander.

Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan.

Fried bean curd

This is the most common way my mother makes bean curd at home.

Fried bean curd

Cooking time: 15 – 20 minutes

Serves 4

Fried bean curd

Ingredients:

  • Bean curd – 150 g
  • Onion – 1
  • Ginger – 1 inch
  • Garlic – 2 or 3 cloves
  • Capsicum – 1 or green chillies – 3
  • Soya sauce – 1 tbsp
  • Tomato sauce – 2 tbsp
  • Low fat oil (sunflower or canola) – 2 tsp

Method:

  1. Cut the bean curd into 1 inch pieces and deep fry the pieces until browned.
  2. Chop onion, ginger, garlic and chillies.
  3. Heat the oil in the pan and sauté the chopped onion, ginger, garlic and chillies.
  4. Add the soya sauce and tomato sauce and sauté for 1 minute.
  5. Add the fried bean curd pieces and fry for another 3 to 5 minutes.
  6. Serve hot with rice or soup noodles.

Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan.

Spicy bean curd curry

My mother is quite fond of tofu ever since she first came across it while living in Jakarta in the 80s. A regular dish at our home for many years, my mother enjoys cooking it in different styles. This bean curd curry is my mother’s creation and what I call fusion cooking.

Spicy bean curd curry

Cooking time: 20 – 25 mins

Serves 4

Ingredients:

  • Bean curd – 150g, cut into 1 inch pieces
  • Tomatoes – 2, chopped
  • Fenugreek seeds – 1 tsp
  • Fennel seeds – 1 tsp
  • Cumin powder – ½ tsp
  • Coriander powder – ½ tsp
  • Cinnamon, cardamom, clove powder mix – ½ tsp
  • Onion, chopped
  • Curry leaves – 2 sprig
  • Rampe leaf/ pandan
  • Crushed chillies – 1 tsp
  • Salt, to taste
  • Oil – 1 tbsp + deep fry
  • Water – 1 ½ cups

Method:

  1. Deep fry the bean curd pieces.
  2. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan. Add the fenugreek and fennel seeds and fry for a few seconds. Add the spice powder mix (cumin, coriander, cinnamon, cardamom, clove).
  3. Then, add the chopped onion, curry leaves and rampe leaf and fry lightly.
  4. Add the chopped tomato pieces, crushed chillies and salt and mix well.
  5. Adding 1 ½ cups of water to the pan, cook the curry for around 10 to 15 minutes.
  6. Add the bean curd pieces and simmer for another 5 minutes, before removing from heat.
  7. Garnish with fresh curry leaves and serve hot with rice.

Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan.