The Indian spiced tofu scramble is a protein-packed breakfast dish, loaded with healthy spices and can be made within just 30 minutes!
When I visited India, I was truly taken aback by the number of vegan restaurants just in my neighbourhood. I swear there were more than 10 of them! How times have changed. While that was fascinating to see, I also noticed that many vegetarian restaurants always added some component of dairy in their items e.g, like ghee, yoghurt or butter that made it almost impossible to try the signature dishes. Customization also meant that the key flavour profile would be disrupted.
Paneer Bhurji was one of those dishes that were heavily ordered by customers when I visited Yogisthaan, an Ayurvedhic Café in Bangalore, India. Paneer is also known as soft cottage cheese and is used in many Indian dishes like Paneer Butter Masala, Palak Paneer, Kadai Paneer and more. Paneer Bhurji however, is prepared slightly differently because it’s scrambled paneer tossed in spices and served with crispy buttered bread.
It has a slightly gravy like consistency and the paneer is supposed to be super soft in this dish, so I used firm tofu that was crumbled. I do not recommend using frozen and thawed tofu for this recipe as the texture will be more firm. It makes the perfect breakfast dish.
Ingredients You Need
This recipe is naturally gluten free and is loaded with spices like cumin, turmeric, garam masala, black pepper and salt. Not forgetting the juicy tomatoes that are mixed in with the scramble, like most Indian dishes.
- Type of tofu – firm tofu that is also soft (not frozen and thawed tofu)
- Spices – cumin, turmeric, garam masala, black pepper, black salt (for eggy flavour), coriander powder, chili powder, ginger paste
- Vegetables – this is pretty flexible. I added finely chopped tomatoes but you could also add in red bell peppers.
- Garnish – freshly chopped coriander and lemon wedge
Vegan Masala Tofu Bhurji (Scramble)
Equipment
- 1 Large Pan
Ingredients
- 300 g firm tofu
- 1 tbsp olive oil (sub vegan butter)
- 1 tsp ginger paste
- 1 green chili
- 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
- 1/2 tsp fennel seeds
- 1 tomato
- 1/4 tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp garam masala
- 1 tsp coriander powder
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- black salt
- black pepper
- 1/3 cup oat milk
- coriander (garnish)
- lemon wedge (garnish)
Instructions
- Crumble up your firm tofu.
- Fry cumin and fennel seeds in olive oil until it crackles.
- Add ginger paste and saute until fragrant. Add in tomatoes and these spices – turmeric, garam masala, coriander powder, chili powder, onion and garlic powder. This would take 5-10 minutes. Add more oil or olive oil if the mixture sticks to the pan.
- When they are done (you will see some oil floating at the sides and the tomatoes must be mushed), add in your firm tofu and coat well in the mixture.
- Add your oat milk, black salt and black pepper. Taste test to see if all the spices are well balanced.
- Serve with coriander, lemon wedge and a crispy buttered toasted bread.
Notes
- If you want your scramble to be more spicy, chop up 1 more green chili finely and add it in after adding in your ginger paste.
- You can substitute the onion and garlic powder with 1 finely chopped red onion and 1 tsp minced garlic. Add this after the cumin powder and sauté until caramelized.
