More food!

I know that I have already posted some recipes, but this one is just too good to go unshared. On the last night of our service trip to NYC, we went to an authentic Indian restaurant in walking distance from our hostel in Manhattan. Before this I hadn't ever had Indian food before, but I was still excited to try it. Let me tell you, it was absolutely delicious. I didn't even know half the stuff I was eating but I didn't care because it was so good. One thing that I remember eating is a chickpea masala; masala is a mixture of any number of spices that is ground into a paste or powder and then used in South Asian cuisine. That restaurant then inspired a trip to Tandoor with Jack. Tandoor is an authentic Indian place on Reynolds Road in Toledo. This place also had an amazing chickpea masala, among other delicious items.

Finally, I decided to try cooking an Indian dish myself; what better to try than my favorite?! Instead of a masala, though, I found a recipe for coconut tofu keema. This recipe is very vegetarian friendly (I'm not strictly vegetarian, though I do try to eat more veggie meats and other foods) and extremely simple to make, especially once you are able to make it without following a recipe. The above link will take you to the original recipe, and I will share my amended version.

•  1/4 cup olive oil
• 4 cloves garlic, pressed
• 1 14 oz package extra firm tofu, cubed (I use Nasoya)
• 1 16 oz can coconut milk (found in the international food aisle)
• 6 cups tomato sauce
• 1 15 oz can chickpeas 
• 2 whole carrots, chopped 
• 1 tbsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp curry powder
• 1.5 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp salt 
• 1 tbsp red pepper paste (I just sprinkled red pepper flakes)

1) Heat olive oil in a large wok over medium heat. Stir in garlic, tofu and carrots (adding the carrots now will allow them to become softer, if you want them to be crunchier, then add with the chickpeas). Cover and cook for 5-10 minutes or until tofu browns to desired level, stirring occasionally.
2) Stir in coconut milk, all spices, salt, and chickpeas (adding the chickpeas at this time will allow them to become softer and soak up all the flavors). Bring to a simmer.
3) Stir in tomato sauce. Six cups is a lot of tomato sauce, so be careful as this step could get messy.
4) Cover and simmer about 30 minutes, stirring frequently to prevent burning.
5) Serve over hot rice, and you can even cut tortillas into triangles and brown until crispy to dip in the juice (SO GOOD!)

As you may have assumed, cumin is the dominant taste in this dish. The tomato sauce added to the coconut milk is what gives the milky orange color. Since I've made this dish like 4 times now, I don't even need to follow the recipe in regards to when to add ingredients. Now, this recipe yields an entire wok of keema. If you or another person are the only ones eating it, then I highly suggest cutting the recipe in half; I was eating keema for 3 days even after cutting down the recipe.

Tastes and looks just like the masala I ate at Tandoor.