Tofu in Spinach Gravy / Palak Tofu

When we were in grad school, we did not have an Indian store nearby and depended on a generic Asian food mart. Which meant no ready made 'paneer' (un-fermented cottage cheese). So we substituted it with firm tofu. I guess it was an existing secret we just rediscovered. This was constantly on our menu as our roomie was a vegan. Inspired from the Rocker on road episode, where he showcases Tofu turkey, and explains that tofu is like a sponge and can take any flavor whatsoever, I marinated the tofu in a yogurt,garlic, spices mix. If you are vegan you can absolutely skip this step. Enjoy

Preparation time : 15 mins + optional 3 hour marinade time
Cooking time: 35 mins
Serves: 3-4 people

450 gm of extra firm tofu
300 gm of cut frozen spinach (~10 oz)
1.5 cups of finely diced onion
1 cup of finely diced tomato
3 small cloves of garlic
0.5 inch ginger root
5 thai green chillies
pinch of turmeric
0.5 teaspoon of coriander seed powder
0.5 teaspoon of cumin powder
0.5 teaspoon of red chili powder
0.5 teaspoon of cumin seeds
0.5 teaspoon of garam masala
4 tablespoons of oil
4 cups of water

For the Marinade:
2 tablespoons of yogurt
4 tablespoons of water
pinch of turmeric
pinch of red chili powder
2 pinches of salt
2 cloves of garlic
a little bit of ginger

• Pound the garlic and ginger in a mortar pestle with salt to get a smooth paste
• In a mixing bowl whisk together the yogurt, water, ginger garlic paste, cumin powder, turmeric and chili powder.
  
• Cube the tofu into one inch pieces and marinade it in the mixture for about 3 hours. Stirring it around after an hour just to make sure every piece of tofu gets its marinade.

Again if you are vegan you can totally skip this step

• Drain the marinade and set the tofu pieces aside
  
• In a flat saute pan, heat 2 tablespoons of oil and gently put in the tofu pieces. and sear them for about 15 mins stirring every 4 mins. This is to get a golden brown crispy texture. Its a little extra work but totally worth it
• Meanwhile dice the onion, green chillies, tomatoes. Mince garlic and ginger together in mortar and pestle.
  
• In a 3 quart sauce pan heat 2 tablespoon of oil on med heat, add the cumin seeds and green chillies and saute for a min. Add the garlic and onion, turmeric, red chili powder, salt and saute for about 6 mins
• While the onions are cooking, thaw the frozen spinach n microwave for about 4 mins
• Add the tomatoes , pinch of salt and saute for another 4 mins, add coriander and cumin powders
  
• Add in the spinach, pinch of salt and cook for another 5 mins. Add 4 cups of water and let it boil for another 5 mins
• Turn off the heat and use an immersion blender and blend this into a smooth mixture. If you are using a regular blender wait for all of this to cool to room temperature otherwise your kitchen walls will end up eating the palak instead of you!
• once this is blended , taste adjust the salt and spice levels. Add the seared tofu cubes, garam masala and simmer for 5 mins

Serve with roti, naan.