Vegan Butter Chicken is a dish made with no butter or chicken. But it tastes as delectable and delicious as any home style butter chicken! This dish has Tofu instead of chicken and is made with coconut cream instead of butter. Tofu is also high in protein so it’s an excellent vegan source for proteins. The tofu used has to be extra firm for this recipe.
A few years back we went to this Indonesian vegan restaurant in Edmonton called Padmanadi. Many of the items on the menu were named ‘spicy chicken’, ‘teriyaki chicken’, ‘sweet and sour chicken’ and so on but the strange part of it is that they were all vegan based. At the time vegan diet was still gaining popularity. I was intrigued by these dishes most of it which were made with soy proteins but tasted like meat. Since then I have many times attempted making such plant based meat dishes at home. And this one here is one of my personal favourites. My daughter who turned vegetarian from past 3 years and who was earlier a butter chicken addict, swears by this recipe.
According to an article which was published in today’s dietician, there are many plant based meat alternatives. These can be tofu, tempeh, seiten, pulses or even portobello mushrooms https://www.todaysdietitian.com/newarchives/1021p42.shtml#:~:text=And%20many%20of%20these%20foods,their%20similar%20texture%20to%20meats
Vegan Butter Chicken is a must try for all the newly turned vegans and vegetarians who want a taste of butter chicken.
Ingredients
- Spices for Vegan Butter Chicken
Instructions
- Mix all the spice ingredients together and keep aside.
- Take the extra firm tofu out of packaging and discarding all water, gently press it between kitchen towel to remove excess moisture. Then cut the tofu into medium cubes.
- Sprinkle a little of the spice mix onto the tofu cubes along with 3 tsp. of cornstarch. Keep aside for about 15 minutes.
- Preheat Air fryer to 400 degrees F. Drizzle a little oil on the tofu pieces and place them all in the Air Fryer. Fry for about 12 to 15 minutes, shaking the contents once in between. Remove and keep aside.
- For the gravy, place roughly chopped onions, garlic, ginger, tomatoes into a saucepan with 1 cup water and bring it to a fine boil, and simmer on low for about 15 minutes.
- Let the onion-tomato mix cool and then grind it into a fine puree in a blender.
- Pour blended ingredients along with the coconut milk into a pan, Bring to a boil, add in the rest of the spice mix. Add in a little water if necessary. Simmer on low for 15 minutes until the sauce thickens.
- Finally, gently add in the fried tofu pieces and the green peppers (if using) and mix gently.
- Serve with nan bread or steamed Basmati rice.