INGREDIENTS
- 1 x 400g block of tofu, well-pressed
- 400g baby potatoes
- 200g mushrooms
- 3 cloves of garlic
- 4 shallots (or a large yellow onion)
- 2 dried chillies
- 1 x 400g can coconut milk
- Salt and pepper
Spices
You can either use ready-made spice mixes; a shop bought curry powder and Chinese Five Spice or, if you have the time and ambition, make up your own blend of spices using the below list. This will give the dish a more authentic taste to the dish and allows you to play around with your flavour preferences. Here are both versions:
Quick Version
- 2 tsp curry powder
- 2 tsp Chinese five spice
DIY Spices
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground star anise
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- Pinch ground fennel seed
- Pinch ground coriander seed
- Pinch ground cumin seed
- Pinch garlic powder
- Pinch each of white and black pepper
- Pinch Chili powder
- Pinch Cardamom
METHOD
Cube the pressed tofu and dice the shallots. Finely dice the garlic and the chillies. Boil the new potatoes for 5-10 minutes until they are starting to lose their hardness. Don’t over cook them as they will continue to soften in the rest of the cooking process.
Fry the shallots on a medium heat in a wok or large frying pan to soften them and then add the garlic and dried chillies. Fry for a minute longer and add the cubed tofu followed by the curry powder and Chinese five spice or your home-spun spice mix. Turn up the heat to high. Next, add the potatoes and mushrooms and stir. Cook on high until the tofu is starting to brown, tossing it in the wok so it doesn’t catch.
Continue cooking for about 10 minutes. Once the potatoes and tofu are browned and crispy and the mushrooms have softened, add the coconut milk and stir well to combine. You can add more or less coconut milk depending on how much sauce you like, we use ¾ of a can as we like it spicy, you can also add water to thin the sauce out as desired. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Continue to cook until the sauce starts to reduce, keep tasting the sauce as it gets spicier as it reduces. When you are happy with the consistency and level of heat, remove from heat and serve with noodles or on a bed of rice.
