Pan-Fried Tofu With Peanut Dipping Sauce

This is a recipe from Laavanya's Cookery Corner that I have made many, many times since I first came across it nearly 2 years back. I'm not too crazy about tofu but I do buy it very often. I would usually make a tofu scramble, a stir-fry with vegetables or a smoothie depending on the kind of tofu I'd purchased. Ever since Laavanya posted this recipe, I have been making this regularly and this is now my favorite way to eat tofu.

For preparing the tofu, first drain the water out of the tub. Next, wrap the tofu up in a clean kitchen towel or a few paper towels. Place the wrapped tofu in a colander and put a weight (I used my pressure cooker) on top of the tofu. Let this sit for at least 30 minutes, or until the paper towels are soaked through. This makes the tofu easier to cut; it is less watery, and more receptive to absorbing the flavors added in the next step.

Pan-fried tofu
Ingredients:
15.5 oz firm tofu (I used Soga's twin-pack)
Red chilli powder
Garlic powder (optional)
Salt
2-3 Tbsp oil for pan-frying

Method:
Cut the tofu into relatively thick strips (see picture for size). Heat oil in a large pan. When the oil is hot, place the tofu pieces in the pan.

Sprinkle salt and red chilli powder all over the pieces and shallow fry. Cook till golden brown on the bottom (takes about 4-5 minutes). Flip over, sprinkle salt and chilli powder on the other side, and cook similarly.

Serve with peanut dipping sauce.



Peanut Dipping Sauce
For the sauce, I have only listed the ingredients I used. I do not have exact measurements since I was just adding the ingredients till it tasted right. I did not use many of the ingredients mentioned in the original recipe and the sauce still tasted great. You can find Laavanya's version of the sauce here.

Here's what went into my dipping sauce-
Creamy peanut butter
Soy sauce
Honey
Garlic powder
Red pepper flakes
Lemon juice
Hot water to thin out the sauce
Sesame seeds

Mix all the ingredients well. Add hot water as required to get a thick sauce-like consistency.

I've also put the tofu and peanut sauce together to form a nice dish that goes well with white rice. For this, I just thinned out the sauce a bit, added the tofu pieces and mixed everything together. I let that simmer for a couple of minutes to allow the tofu pieces to get nicely coated with the peanut sauce.