This is a recipe I first made one evening when I felt like eating a mild, creamy curry. Coconut milk came to mind, and I rummaged in the kitchen cupboard to see if I had any. Luckily I did! I decided that coconut milk and chopped tomatoes would make a nice base for my curry. Then, I looked in the fridge to see what I could add. I found mushrooms and tofu, and decided to use these as my main ingredients. With the flavoursome additions of onion, garlic, curry powder and ginger, the curry turned out really delicious! I made it again several weeks later to perfect the recipe, ready to share with you.
The curry is mild and creamy (although you can make it hotter if you prefer) and the taste is dominated by the mushrooms, although you get a juicy burst of contrasting flavour from the chunks of chopped tomato. The tofu soaks up the juices and adds texture, as well as providing a source of protein. The overall look and flavour is different from any curry I have had before, and my family who shared it with me agreed.
The ingredients are easy to measure out because there is no weighing involved – you just use one of each thing (and use a cup to measure the rice). Even if you are only cooking for 1 or 2 people, I recommend keeping it easy by making the whole recipe, and storing the leftovers in the fridge or freezer to eat another time. You may however wish to make less rice if you are cooking for less people, because cooked rice doesn’t store so well.
The recipe is vegan and gluten free (but check the packaging of your ingredients to make sure).
Ingredients
Serves 4
- 1 onion
- 1 garlic clove
- 1 whole punnet of mushrooms
- 1 block of tofu
- 1 can chopped tomatoes
- 1 can coconut milk
- 1 tbsp mild curry powder
- 1 tsp dried ginger
- Sesame oil (or another oil) for frying
- Himalayan pink salt (or any salt)
- 2 cups (uncooked) white rice (in 3 cups water)
- Sesame seeds (optional)
Method
- Wash the mushrooms.
- Put the rice and water in a pan and bring to the boil, then simmer for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, remove from the heat but leave with the lid on.
- Meanwhile, chop the onion and garlic, and fry them in sesame oil in a large saucepan.
- Chop the mushrooms and add them to fry with the onion and garlic.
- Chop the tofu into cubes and fry it in sesame oil in a separate pan (I used a non-stick frying pan).
- When the onion, garlic and mushrooms are cooked, drain if needed and add the coconut milk, chopped tomatoes, curry powder, ginger and salt. Heat gently.
- When the tofu is browned, add it to the rest.
- Stir sesame seeds into the rice.
- Serve the curry with the rice.
Cook the rice. 
Fry the onions and garlic in sesame oil. 
Add the mushrooms. 
Fry the tofu in sesame oil. 
When the onions, garlic and mushrooms are cooked, drain if needed. 
Add the rest of the ingredients. 
It makes a nice pink colour! Stir and heat gently. 
When the tofu is cooked… 
… add it to the rest. 
Stir sesame seeds into the rice. 
Serve!
Notes
Mushroom punnet size can vary! The exact amount of mushrooms in this recipe doesn’t matter, so it’s easiest just to use the whole punnet, but you can of course use more or less mushrooms if you want to. The same goes for the tofu, as blocks can come in different sizes.
I used 1tbsp (not heaped) of mild curry powder in this recipe, and it tasted very mild. The curry powder just gave it a hint of spice. If you want a stronger curry, you could try adding more curry powder, or a stronger one.
You can add a little soya sauce for extra flavour, if you desire. Alternatively, this curry goes well with mango chutney.
Let me know if you try it!
I really hope you enjoy this recipe if you make it, because I think it’s quite different from the average curry. I would love to hear your opinions! Let me know in the comments.
