This saag tofu has a creamy sauce made of spinach, kale, aromatics, spices, and cashew cream, with soft cubes of tofu sitting in for the paneer that is usually used for Indian dishes like this one! Forever my favorite way to eat a lot of greens.
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What differentiates palak tofu from saag tofu is that saag tends to use more greens in addition to spinach. It may not even use spinach at all! Kale is the easiest for me to access where I live, but a number of leafy greens would be delightful in this dish, especially those more common in Indian cuisine like mustard greens, bathua, or methi.
I was probably 10 when I found out I couldn’t answer paneer when asked my favorite vegetable, so clearly I loved it a lot, but I’ve grown to love this version with tofu. Not because it’s just like paneer (it’s not), but because it’s great in its own way. The jury is still out about the best way to prepare tofu to get close to the soft, chewy texture of paneer, but I’d say try them all and see what you like. I like pressing for 15 minutes (you don’t want to press for too long), coating in a few spices, and lightly pan frying on each side for 4-5 minutes.
Once you have the tofu, greens, and if you want, cashew cream, the process is really simple. I think what I really love about this dish is the lush green sauce. Obviously the paneer or in this case, tofu, is necessary, but it’s kind of a sidekick to the real star: the greens!
How to make saag tofu
Press and spice the tofu. You’re going to want to press firm tofu for about 15 minutes and cut it into cubes. Pressing for longer than that may result in a crispier texture that I don’t find ideal to mimic paneer. Sometimes I coat the tofu in spices like garam masala and coriander, and sometimes I don’t.
Pan fry the tofu. Different people like to make it different ways, but I find pan frying to be the most convenient because you can keep your eyes on how crisp you want the tofu to be. You can also bake it (crisper) or boil it (softer). Do it in vegan butter for extra richness!
Blanch the greens. Blanching just means boiling the greens in water for a certain amount of time (2 minutes in this recipe) and then dunking it in ice cold water to prevent it from cooking any further. This recipe requires a lot of spinach, but it all shrinks with the blanching! You’ll probably need to blanch in two batches depending on how big your saucepan is. You will then blend the blanched greens with a few other ingredients.
Make cashew cream. Simply quick-soak about 20 cashews and process with water and lemon juice. It’s more neutral than coconut cream and does a great job making this gravy thick!
Whip up the green gravy. You’ll want to process cilantro and tomatoes with the blanched greens. Then in a pan, start with ginger, garlic, and green chilis, followed by some ground spices, the green sauce, cashew cream, and kasoori methi (dried fenugreek leaves). Right before it’s done, add the tofu!
You can make this without kasoori methi, but kasoori methi is important for the flavor profile, so I would recommend trying to find it if you can. It’s easy to find at your local Indian store or online! I linked the one I use here.
Saag Tofu
Ingredients
tofu
- 16 oz. block of firm tofu
- ½ tsp garam masala
- ½ tsp ground cumin
- salt
- 1 tbsp avocado oil, another neutral oil, or vegan butter
cashew cream
- ½ cup cashews
- ⅓ cup water
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- pinch of salt
saag tofu
- 8-10 oz. spinach
- 4 oz. lacinato kale or another leafy green of choice
- 1 cup water
- ¼ cup cilantro
- 1 medium tomato
- 1 tbsp avocado oil, another neutral oil, or vegan butter
- 1 inch ginger, grated or minced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 green chilis, minced
- salt to taste
- ½ tsp red chili powder
- ½ tsp ground coriander
- 2 tsp kasoori methi
Instructions
Prepare the tofu.
- Press tofu for about 15 minutes with a heavy object. This step might not be necessary if the tofu brand you’re using is already fairly firm! In that case, you can squeeze out excess moisture with your hands.
- Cut the tofu into 1/2-inch thick rectangles. Season the tofu with garam masala, cumin, and salt. Use your fingers to spread the spices evenly throughout the tofu.
- In a pan, heat oil over medium heat. Pan fry the tofu until slightly golden on both sides, so about 4-5 minutes per side. Set aside.
Make the cashew cream.
- Soak cashews in boiling water for an hour. If you have a very strong blender, you can do 20-30 minutes. Alternatively, soak for 2+ hours in room temperature water.
- Blend the cashews with water, lemon juice, and a pinch of salt until it forms a cream.
Blanch your greens.
- Set aside a large bowl or pot with ice cold water. Heat water in a saucepan or pot. Once it is boiling, put in as much spinach as will fit. 1-2 minutes later, or when the spinach is clearly wilted, take it out with a slotted spoon and place it in the bowl of ice cold water to prevent further cooking.
- Repeat until you’ve blanched all the spinach. Then do the same with kale, which may take a couple minutes longer to blanch.
- Take a handful of greens out of the ice cold water and squeeze out the water until you have a ball of greens bunched up together.
- Blend the greens with 1 cup of water, cilantro, and the tomato. Blend until it is mostly creamy, but I try not to blend for too long because I prefer mine a little less creamy.
Finish off the saag tofu.
- Heat oil in a pan or saucepan over medium heat. When it’s hot, add ginger, garlic, and green chilis. Stir for a couple of minutes.
- Add coriander and red chili powder. Combine well for a minute. Add the spinach gravy and simmer for a few minutes until it’s at the texture you like. Add water and salt to taste if necessary.
- Finish with garam masala, kasoori methi, and about half of the cashew cream. Add the tofu and take the pan off the heat. Garnish with cilantro and drizzle the remaining cashew cream! Serve with rotis or rice.
If you enjoy this recipe, you should check out…
Sarson ka Saag and Makki ki Roti
