Sweet And Sour Tofu
Tofu and vegetable cooked with the tamarind sauce makes a very unique flavorful dish. This Sweet and Sour Tofu dish is vegan-friendly and it is enjoyable for just about anyone's taste palette.
Ingredients
- 1-1/2 oz of seedless tamarind, available in Indian and Asian grocery stores
- 1 tbsp roasted cumin seeds powder (jeera)
- 1 tbsp salt
- ¼ tbsp turmeric (haldi)
- ¼ tbsp black pepper
- ¼ tbsp red chili powder
- 1 tbsp finely shredded ginger
- ¼ cup brown sugar
Instructions
- Soak tamarind in 1/4 cup of warm water for 15 minutes. Squeeze the tamarind mixture well, then discard tamarind pieces leaving a nice thick pulp.
- Add the remaining sauce ingredients to the tamarind pulp mix well and set aside.
- Squeeze the Tofu gently keeping between your both palm.
- Cut tofu into ¾ inch thick slices then and pat dry between paper towels. Then cut slices into ¾ inch cubes.
- Remove seeds from bell pepper and slice 1/4 inch thick lengthwise.
- Heat oil in a wide pan over medium heat. Stir fry tofu pieces until golden brown in color, approximately 2-3 minutes. Remove from pan and place on a paper towel.
- In the remaining oil, first stir-fry bell pepper for a minute and add cabbage continue to stir fry for approx. 2 more minutes over medium heat. Vegetables should still be crunchy.
- Add tofu and tamarind sauce to the vegetables in the pan, stir well and let simmer over low heat for 4-5 minutes.
- Sweet and Sour Tofu tastes great served over plain rice.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
Didina
February 11, 2017 at 5:41 pmHello Manjula,
I made this dish and it tasted very good. I would be interested in turning this dish into a sort of spaghetti stir fry, but I wonder if it’s a good idea because there was still a lot of gravy in the dish. Maybe I should try cooking it longer to make the water evaporate?
Manjula Jain
February 13, 2017 at 12:50 amDidina, try, I will be interested to know the result.
Marcia
February 12, 2020 at 8:21 amI made it with rice noodles as a stir fry and it was terrific! Thank you, Manjula!
Manjula Jain
February 12, 2020 at 12:07 pmMarcia, sounds good, cooking is fun when we make the changes and make our own recipe.
Maelui
January 4, 2017 at 3:48 amThis looks so delicious! I will be making this soon, but I was curious if this would be good with onions added as well? Would the onions be overpowering, or would it be okay, if I cook them really well beforehand? Thank you for all the amazing Indian recipes. I am a vegetarian, and I love Indian food. So, when I first became vegetarian, I was eating a lot of Indian food, because a lot of the foods there are vegetarian already. Thank you for making these recipes readily available to us! I don’t know if I could have transitioned to vegetarian without your recipes!
rupam
February 16, 2016 at 5:01 pmManjula Aunty,
My paneer and vegetables turned out very oily…..any tips on this
Manjula Jain
February 18, 2016 at 3:43 pmmay be heat was too low
jahnu
October 16, 2015 at 3:36 pmMataji, as always your recipe is perfect. I used to cook for a take-out dinner program at the local Krishna temple, and your recipes were always so well received. Thank you.
sandy
February 3, 2015 at 1:32 amIs there any alternative for cabbage? Im allergetic to cabbage.
Manjula Jain
February 9, 2015 at 10:50 pmSandy, just use Bell peppers
Ajitha
February 2, 2015 at 4:13 pmcan we use paneer instead of tofu
Manjula Jain
February 9, 2015 at 10:51 pmAjitha, sound good to me.
Violet
December 30, 2013 at 4:30 amAll I can say is once again….so yummy! I didn’t have the red pepper so I omitted and used Chinese cabbage I had on hand sliced thinly. So easy and delicious! Served with some basmati and even had a small left over portion for lunch which I couldn’t wait to eat! I also have the block of seedless tamarind and agree its a little messy to work with. I tried using a sieve and then scraping the pulp off to use it which was okay. Any other suggestions on how to do this easier?
Thank you once again on another definetly do over meal.
Ravi
May 7, 2014 at 4:11 pmViolet,
You could use tamarind paste which you would get in any Indian store. The quantity indicated here would be equal to roughly 1.5 tablespoons of this paste. We used ‘Joy’ tamarind paste.
Regards,
Ravi
Manjula Jain
May 7, 2014 at 6:14 pmThank you Ravi
Tom
October 20, 2013 at 6:43 pmI’ve eaten tofu several times, but this is the first I’ve prepared it myself – and your sweet and sour recipe was simple and delicious. I will be making this – or similar dishes regularly – the sweet tamarind spice mixture was just right for my taste – I was a little intimidated by the blocks of curd – but no more. Thanks for this delicious recipe.
ranjanansolanki
September 23, 2013 at 1:36 pmnice food..
zoombabe
April 3, 2013 at 8:55 amDear Manjula Auntie,
Can we use tamarind paste? If so, what amount?
Thanks!
Jasoswini dasi .
August 26, 2012 at 12:34 pmI love all your recipes and videos.thankyou Manjula.
Can tamarind paste be used if time is short?
Uma
July 22, 2012 at 1:48 pmYour videos are so resourceful. I tried this curry with roti few days back and my whole family loved it. Thanks for sharing -:)
J2
April 11, 2012 at 2:59 pmI have to say this looks yummy! I am from North India -from Uttar Pradesh -and while all of our traditional, handed down the generations party recipes -the biryanis, chicken and lamb dishes, paneer dishes,etc have this out of this world taste, they take forever to make and take up enough oil to give a person a heart attack!
I love your recipes because everything tastes totally awesome and can be cooked so very easily…I remember how my mother had to call professional cooks to help out with party dishes because they cooked over 2-3 hours of care with careful attention to all masalas. I can throw a party for 8 and easily cook up a whole party meal (with around at least 2 main course and 1 appetizer recipe straight off your website) by myself in just 3-4 hours 🙂
Shannon Domski
February 2, 2012 at 1:59 pmBeginning last month my husband and I decided to eat more healthfully. We needed to cut down on our meat intake and instead get more protein from beans and such. We have been trying many traditional indian dishes and LOVING them all! So much flavor and color! It is wonderful! This dish was quick, easy and so yummy!
Chandrani
January 25, 2012 at 12:53 amIt looks mouthwatering and awesome..
Neena
December 26, 2011 at 4:58 pmThe recipe looks yummy. Thanks Aunty.
SJ
October 22, 2011 at 2:09 pmI made this last night for my family. It was very quick and easy to make. It’s a very tasty dish!
WB
September 5, 2011 at 8:28 pmJust made this for dinner tonight, could barely keep from eating both servings myself (saving the rest for my girlfriend). Amazingly delicious.
I used a little bit of cilantro and jalapeno in the sauce, and replaced the cabbage with mushrooms and tomatoes (its what I had in my fridge), absolutely amazing. Squeezing the tamarind for the sauce was a bit of messy work, I’ll admit, but it was sooo worth it. Thanks for the recipe!
N
August 29, 2011 at 4:07 pmHi Aunty,
I already have the Tamarind pulp, how much of that should I use?? I can’t wait to try this recipe!
R
August 15, 2011 at 10:01 amwow! What a twist! It looks amazing! I have 2 questions – a) can we use jaggery instead of brown sugar? b) would adding other vegetables like green beans, carrot, etc spoil this dish?
Thank you.
Manjula Jain
August 15, 2011 at 11:00 amR,
Yes, jaggery will be good and why not try the vegetables you like.
Lori
June 29, 2011 at 9:10 pmAh! I am fasting right now, but as soon as it’s over I want to make this! Looks delish! 🙂 Thank you, Manjula. Love to see your smiling beautiful face.
Harpreet
June 25, 2011 at 1:02 amLove you aunty for such a wonderful receipe….
parshottam mathur
June 24, 2011 at 9:07 amI like the tofu recipes,thank you for this recipes
swann2b
June 21, 2011 at 10:28 pmThis is wonderful ! You are such a creative cook auntie !! Thank you !
asha
June 19, 2011 at 1:38 pmGreat recipe I just made it. Looks good too.
Archana
June 18, 2011 at 4:39 amWonderful dish. just the other day I was wondering if soya sauce can be substituted with something else. This is definitely the answer.
Hari Chandana
June 17, 2011 at 10:33 pmWonderful and innovative recipe.. looks yummy !!
Indian Cuisine
sanyukta
June 17, 2011 at 9:18 pmwow thts a flavorful, protein rich,guilt free n healthy tofu dish…absolute mothwatering….love the addition of tamarind….yummo
Angel
June 17, 2011 at 6:25 pmI love this recipe! I make something similar the difference being I do not add cumin, add little brown sugar and add scallions (sping onion) at the end. I would love to try your recipe. I can see this being a great addition to any vegan meal! Thank you.
Adelina
June 17, 2011 at 12:55 pmIt looks really delicious and innovative- with tofu one cannot go wrong, since it is like a sponge- absorbing whatever you give it!