When the man and I were gobbling down gobi pakoras a couple of weeks ago, we decided it was time for us to host another curry night with his family. It was a great excuse to eat some more pakoras and spread their deliciousness around. This time I decided to experiment with some other vegetables and used some broccoli and sweet potato as well as cauliflower.
Terry's coriander chutney was perfect with the pakoras last time so I had to make it again. I also wanted to try a second dipping sauce this time, something cooler and not as spicy for people with lower heat preferences. After searching for vegan raita recipes, I settled on using a tofu based one from Vegetarian Times. It was very simple to put together and after an initial taste test I was concerned that there was still a slight taste of soy present so I added a bit of garlic just in case. I have found in the past that blended tofu sauces and dips develop more flavour after sitting in the fridge for a short period. The garlic may not have been entirely necessary in this recipe although no-one seemed to mind it either.
I made a small portion without cucumber as one of the dipping sauces for the pakoras and added cucumber to the remainder which was used as a cooling condiment on the dinner table to have with our curries. The pakoras were a huge success, particularly the broccoli and cauliflower ones even though the batter didn't work out quite as well as it had previously. Perhaps it wasn't a wise idea to mix it up too far in advance prior to using it.
Stay tuned for another post about our curry night soon!
Tofu raita with mint and cucumber (Adapted from Vegetarian Times)
224g silken tofu
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons brown rice vinegar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 clove garlic, minced (optional)
1 thai green chilli, seeded and minced
1/2 lebanese cucumber, diced
1 tablespoon fresh mint, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon cumin
Place the tofu, olive oil, lemon juice, brown rice vinegar and salt in a blender and process until smooth. Transfer the contents to a bowl and stir through the garlic, chilli, cucumber, mint and cumin. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before serving.
sounds great, I love raita!
ReplyDeleteThanks K!
DeleteI love the sound of this - and of the seperate serving without the cucumber because I know someone who is allergic to cucumbers (is nothing sacred these days!)
ReplyDeleteMy main reason for the serving without cucumber was so that it would smoother and more suitable for dipping the pakoras in. I've never heard of a cucumber allergy before, what an unusual allergy to have.
Deleteoooo yummo! this sounds really spectacular! i'll have to give it a try! thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by Caralyn, hope you enjoy this!
DeleteI love the sound of this night - and am already looking forward to the second installment! I have never encountered tofu in raita but then we know I'm not an expert in this form of cuisione :P Great idea though.
ReplyDeleteA plain soy yoghurt would work fine in raita but they are pretty much non-existent around here. The silken tofu+olive oil+lemon+salt combination does a pretty good job in replicating a yoghurt flavour as long as you let it sit for a while after blending.
DeleteYou can never have enough curry nights! More please!
ReplyDeleteHe he, our curry nights aren't nearly as frequent as they were a few years ago but I still do make a fair bit of Indian food. I'll definitely keep these sorts of recipes coming!
DeleteI'll never turn down extra garlic! I look forward to making this raita. One thing that I've missed being vegan is having a cool creamy counterpart when tucking into a spicy curry. It sounds like it'd also work as a vegan tzatziki!
ReplyDeleteI adore garlic and put loads of it in our meals but I'm a bit more cautious when cooking for others. I have made a similar tzatziki style sauce to have with gyros and put a lot more garlic in that one.
ReplyDeleteI made this tonight. I added tomato to it though and it was a hit. It allowed my 11 year old to enjoy the other dishes which were beyond her usual spicy tolerance. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteThanks for your lovely comment Stephanie, I'm so glad that the raita worked out for you and your child. I haven't made this for quite a while but I might follow your lead and add some tomato next time too... :)
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