This Vegan Coconut Curry with crispy tofu, sweet potato, and broccoli is quick and easy to make, filling, and the ideal weekday meal. It’s best served with basmati rice.
I’m a sucker for curries. Especially when there is broccoli, sweet potato, and tofu involved. There is something about this combination…the sweetness of the coconut milk and sweet potato, the crispiness of the tofu, the broccoli, and basmati rice soaking up all the flavors… I just love it.
I’ve had a very similar curry almost 10 years ago in Berlin, and whenever I make this curry, this reminds me of the trip. So the curry is comfort food for my belly and for my mind. And I hope you will enjoy it as much as I do.
Fun fact: I haven’t cooked rice in a pot for at least a year thanks to my Instant Pot but I just moved and I’ve left the Instant Pot at the old place, so I still have to get one for the new apartment. So this rice was cooked totally old-school in a pot. I was kind of nervous, I was afraid I would mess it up after such a long time but it turned out perfect. Lucky! This is such a stupid thing to worry. But yep, that’s me.
The Ingredients for the Coconut Curry
You will not need a ton of ingredients for this curry. They are pretty basic, actually!
all-purpose flour (or if you want to keep it gluten-free, use cornstarch)
salt
canola oil
For the curry itself you will need:
broccoli
sweet potato
fresh spinach
coconut milk
red curry paste
and salt
Sounds pretty simple, right? Well, it is!
Of course, you can mix and match the veggies! For variations, use potatoes instead of sweet potatoes. Cauliflower instead of broccoli. Add carrot slices. Green curry paste instead of red one. You see how this works. Anything goes!
More vegan curry recipes with tofu:
Tofu Cashew Curry (This curry consists of crispy tofu in homemade, creamy cashew sauce; so, so good, I make this one a lot!)
Vegan Palak Tofu Paneer (Tofu is the perfect alternative to the Indian cheese, paneer. The sauce is made out of blended spinach.)
Vegan Peanut Butter Curry (Tofu and veggies in a creamy sauce consisting of coconut milk and peanut butter.)
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This Vegan Coconut Curry with crispy tofu, sweet potato, and broccoli is quick and easy to make, filling and the ideal weekday meal. It’s best served with basmati rice.
4.10 from 21 votes
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 10 minutesmins
Cook Time 30 minutesmins
Total Time 40 minutesmins
Course Main Course
Cuisine Vegan
Servings 2people
Calories 632kcal
Ingredients
Ingredients for the curry
3cupsbroccoli florets
1 1/2cupssweet potato(cubed)
14ozfull-fat coconut milk
1teaspoonred curry paste(you can start with a smaller amount of curry paste and add more until you reach your preferred spiciness level)
1handfulfresh spinach
salt to taste
Crispy Tofu
12ozfirm tofu
3tablespoonsall-purpose flour(or cornstarch for a gf variation)
1/4teaspoonsalt
1tablespooncanola oil
Instructions
For the crispy tofu: Cut the tofu in cubes. Add the all-purpose flour and salt in a large bowl. Add the tofu to the bowl and toss carefully until all the tofu cubes are coated. Bring a large pan with canola oil to high heat, toss in the tofu. Let it cook on each side until browned and crispy. Remove the tofu from the pan and set aside.
Wash and cut the broccoli. Peel and cube the sweet potato.
In a small pot add water, cook the sweet potato until soft. Steam the broccoli on top.
Add the drained sweet potato, broccoli, and fresh spinach to a large pan on medium heat. Leave it to cook on medium heat until the spinach has wilted. Then lower the heat and add in the coconut milk and curry paste. Mix well so that the curry paste dissolves. Heat until all warmed up. Add salt to taste and the crispy tofu.
The curry is best served with a side of basmati rice.
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To begin with, first you will get rid of the excess moisture from the tofu and marinate it with spices and herbs for a short time until the curry is ready. It is then pan-fried and then added to the delicious curry sauce. So the Tofu in the Curry is full-flavored with a excellent texture!
Refrigerator: Store leftovers in the fridge for up to 4 days, best in an airtight container. Reheat in a pot on the stovetop, adding a dash of water, or in the microwave. Freezer: Tofu curry is also suitable for freezing. The texture of the tofu will change slightly, becoming chewier, but that's normal.
Heat vegetable oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high. Add the tofu to the pan, making sure not to overcrowd the pan (otherwise it'll steam). Cook the tofu until golden brown, 3 to 4 minutes per side.
Texturized Vegetable Protein (TVP) TVP is a dried protein-rich substitute for tofu that can be hydrated and cooked for your meals. It is low in fat, nutritious, and retains flavor very well.
Here's the thing: even though tofu might be labeled firm or extra-firm, it contains a lot of water. This excess water can cause the tofu to crumble when you cook it, and it will also have a hard time crisping up. But when you press tofu, you remove the excess moisture.
Yes, it's safe to eat raw firm tofu. It has a mild taste and a somewhat spongy texture. To enhance its flavor, you can marinate or season it. Try slicing it into cubes or strips, then marinate in a mixture of soy sauce, sesame oil, and your choice of herbs or spices.
So, the big question: “Can tofu be frozen?” Yes, you can freeze tofu. More specifically, you can freeze tofu that is uncooked, removed from the package and drained of liquid. Tofu is made from a simple ingredient — soybeans — that can be safely frozen when uncooked, so it's actually a really safe food for freezing.
A common mistake made by beginners is to either undercook or overcook spices. If you overcook and burn your spices your curries will taste bitter; if you undercook them then they will taste raw and gritty. To cook spices properly you need enough oil in the pan and for it to be at the right temperature.
Tofu (Japanese: 豆腐, Hepburn: Tōfu, Korean: 두부; RR: dubu, Chinese: 豆腐; pinyin: dòufu) is a food prepared by coagulating soy milk and then pressing the resulting curds into solid white blocks of varying softness: silken, soft, firm, extra (or super) firm. Tofu is also known as bean curd in English.
Marinate it: Tofu can be marinated in a variety of flavorful sauces or spices. You can use soy sauce, garlic, ginger, sesame oil, and other seasonings to make a simple marinade. Let the tofu marinate for at least 30 minutes (or up to a few hours) before cooking or grilling.
Tempeh is like tofu that's been hitting the gym – hard. Like tofu, tempeh is still made from soy but the whole bean is used in a fermentation process. Using the whole bean gives tempeh it's chunkier texture which holds its shape better, making it ideal for crispy cubes or 'bacon' rashers.
Tofu is categorized as silken, regular, firm, extra-firm and super-firm. Silken, the softest type of tofu, can be compared to a young white cheese. Firm tofu, the most common, has the same consistency as feta, while the texture of super-firm can be compared to that of meat.
If you want the flavor to get all the way inside, you have to get heat involved somehow, whether that's in the form of a dip in boiling salty water, or by pan-frying, baking, or my new favorite pre-marinade technique: Air-frying. Cold, raw tofu rejects marinades because of its high water content and low porosity.
You can put raw tofu in the soup and let it simmer for 10 to 15 minutes to warm and flavor it. Tofu can be eaten raw, so it's no problem to add it raw to soups.
So it's not essential that you cook it prior to adding to curry. Some people like a golden brown colour on the outside. If you like, you can shallow fry, deep fry, or grill paneer before adding it to a curry. This will create a golden crust on the outside.
Yes, it's safe to eat raw firm tofu. It has a mild taste and a somewhat spongy texture. To enhance its flavor, you can marinate or season it. Try slicing it into cubes or strips, then marinate in a mixture of soy sauce, sesame oil, and your choice of herbs or spices.
Introduction: My name is Gregorio Kreiger, I am a tender, brainy, enthusiastic, combative, agreeable, gentle, gentle person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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