Butter Paneer {Vegan option}

Butter Paneer {Vegan option}

It’s the end of January, and let’s be real; comfort food is on the menu 24/7.

For breakfast most days I have warm maple oatmeal, and lunches are often rice bowls with tofu and veggies, or a hearty soup. I am craving warming, comforting foods pretty hardcore these days.

And that includes food that’s spicy. Ginger, garlic, chili; as well as cinnamon, cardamom, and cumin are all warming spices that make you feel cosy. Like a hug for your insides.

So a great deal of what I’ve been craving lately are things like laksa, curries, dosas. Warm, comforting, and satisfying.

Just before Christmas, I had a work lunch with a bunch of my colleagues and we ended up meeting at an Indian restaurant. It was perfect: fluffy white basmati rice and pillowy warm naan bread, along with generous spoonfuls of warm, spicy curry.

I love Aloo Gobi (which is potatoes and cauliflower), and I’m also a huge fan of chana masala (chickpea curry), but at this particular lunch, I couldn’t get enough of the Butter Paneer. It’s basically the vegetarian version of butter chicken; the sauce is spicy, but also rich and creamy.

Indian Food

Traditionally, this sauce is made with tons of butter and whipping cream, but coconut milk makes a great vegan whipping cream substitute.

So I played around with cashews and coconut cream, and came up with a nice, satisfying vegan version of the sauce. Paneer is an Indian cheese, but you can easily sub it out for tofu to get a very similar effect.

Serve this Butter Paneer over basmati rice with a side of naan bread. You’ll want the bread to sop up every last drop of this warming and satisfying sauce.

Vegan Butter Tofu

Butter Paneer

A vegetarian version of butter chicken using paneer, a kind of cheese.
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Course Main Course
Cuisine Indian
Servings 4

Ingredients
  

  • 2 tbsp vegan butter substitute
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 " thumb of fresh ginger peeled
  • 1 bird's eye or Thai red chili chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic chopped
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 tsp cumin
  • 2 tsp coriander
  • 1 can tomato sauce 156 ml
  • 1 can coconut milk 400 ml
  • 1/4 cup cashews
  • 200 g half a package of either paneer or tofu, cut into 3/4" cubes

Instructions
 

  • Place the cashews in your blender container, and cover with 1/2 cup of water. Set aside to soak.
  • In a large, heavy pot, heat the vegan butter and olive oil over medium-high heat until melted together. Add the ginger, garlic, chilies and cumin and coriander and stir well. Allow to cook in the oils for a couple of minutes until fragrant. Be careful not to burn (especially garlic, it burns quickly).
  • Add the tomato paste and stir well together, allow to cook down for about 5 minutes, until it is starting to caramelize.
  • Place the masala (spice & tomato mixture) along with the can of coconut milk in the blender with the cashews that have been soaking, and blend well on high for at least a minute, until smooth. You can run it through a sieve if you are concerned about particulate.
  • Pour the sauce back into the pan, and bring it up to just under a boil, and the sauce thickens. Add the cubed tofu or paneer, and stir, allowing them to heat up in the sauce. When everything is heated through, serve atop a bed of basmati rice, garnished with chopped cilantro if you like.
Keyword vegetarian



Leave a Reply