Hubby dishes out Chilli Tofu

“The only real stumbling block is fear of failure. In cooking you've got to have a what-the-hell attitude.”

(Julia Child)

My hubby dearest personifies this quote. He loves his time in the kitchen and dishes out finger licking yummies quite often. What I love about his donning the apron is that he cooks with gay abandon; he doesn't think twice before mixing sambhar with the pasta - Remember Fusili marries Sambhar ? or how about the baked Tri Colour Strips. I yearn for the what-the -hell attitude in cooking that he so effortlessly portrays. My early marriage days are famous for the burnt cabbage and uncooked rice lores. And it was hubby who patiently made me cultivate the love for spending the time in the kitchen.Of course, I owe my culinary skills (?) to his patience and motivation. It is time I tell my man that my love and respect for the people behind the dishes in general and food in particular has grown spectacularly because of him.

Having said so much about his cooking, I have to let you guys drool over this sumptuous and droolicious Chilli Tofu that he dished out the other day. After a long day out , owing to my daughter's extra curricular activities, I was contemplating ordering the dinner from my favourite Chinese restaurant. Sreeram had other plans and decided to don the apron to whip us some rustic chinese flavors. The hearth was soon abuzz with steaming rice, chilli tofu and a veg gravy. Needless to say the dinner was heavenly :D

Tofu is cheese made from soy milk; it is also known as bean curd.High in protein and iron content it is a healthier option to the cottage cheese or the paneer

What's in it ;-
(Serves:4,Prep Time :30 mins,Cooking Time: 10 mins)

Here's How :-

Wash the tofu well and cut in to large cubes. In a mixing bowl, tip in the egg and whisk it well. Add the other ingredients along with water as required for the batter and combine to a thick consistency.

Dunk the tofu cubes in batter and coat all the cubes evenly. Deep fry the cubes coated in the batter and set it aside.

In a separate wok, add oil and saute onions with sliced garlic and green chillies.

As the onions starts turning translucent add the green bell peppers and cook for a few minutes till they are tender.

Add soy sauce, green chilli sauce, tomato sauce, pepper,sugar and adjust salt according to taste. Mix them well.

Add the fried tofu cubes and stir well till everything blends in together.

Add chopped spring onion leaves for garnishing and serve hot!

Verdict &  Useful Pointers :-

Deep fried cubes of succulent tofu sauteed with bell pepper and dunked in rustic chinese flavours tastes divine.You can enjoy this as a side dish or an entree /appetizer too !

• I have used an egg for the batter. It binds the mix better and ensures the cubes are fried to a crisp outer and soft inner. The batter can be sans egg too !
• I have deep fried the tofu cubes. If you are averse to deep frying you can shallow fry the same.
• You can use cottage cheese instead of tofu.

Month 2: Week 3 of Avant Garde cookies is on. Click to see what Anusha, Kavitha, Jayanthi, Radhika, Roshni, Priya Mahadevan, Veena are dishing out  for the Chinese/Indo Chinese theme