Coconut Tofu with Mango Curry

I’ve been working on my coconut tofu game for a while now, but haven’t really found the right accompaniment until today! I’ve been mostly eating it with something kind of trashy like BBQ sauce. It’s still good, but this mango curry was a big breakthrough! It’s sweet. It’s spicy. The flavor is complex and your friends will tell tales about your genius for years to come! You’re welcome. There are lots of easy substitutes to be made here, so feel free to add your favorite veggies, use almond flour instead of coconut, or use and alternative noodle. It really doesn’t matter because mango is so good and tofu is the most delicious. The best part is, this meal is vegan, gluten free, refined sugar free, and oil free! This is how we made it:

Coconut Tofu with Mango Curry

Ingredients:

Coconut Tofu:

1 block medium tofu prepared Mary’s Test Kitchen Style OR 1 block extra firm tofu

1 lime juiced

Chili powder

½ cup water

¼ cup chickpea flour

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp paprika

¼ tsp garlic powder

1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

Curry:

1 ½ cups cut mango (fresh or frozen)

1” piece fresh ginger

3 garlic cloves

1 can coconut milk (or 15 oz other plant based milk)

½ cup water

½ lime, juiced

1 tsp garam masala

⅛-¼ tsp cayenne (to taste)

½ tsp salt

1 medium sweet potato, spiralized (you can also use zucchini or rice noodles)

Couple handfuls of green beans, cut and stems trimmed

½ package mushrooms

Directions:

I highly recommend trying Mary’s Test Kitchen method for processing tofu if you haven’t already. It yields a super flaky tofu with such a great texture! Basically, you freeze medium tofu in its package. Then thaw it in the fridge. Then freeze it. Then thaw it. Then gently squeeze all of the liquid out and reveal a beautiful, layered tofu! If you don’t have the time, then this will work really great with a firm or extra firm tofu as well.

Prep your air fryer by spraying it with a little oil, or lining it with parchment paper. If you don’t have an air fryer, boy are you missing out! You can also use a convection oven the same way, or a standard oven and cook for a bit longer at the same temperature.

Tear your tofu into bite sized pieces even if you’re using firm tofu. Tearing tofu vs cutting it gives more surface area and texture for breading to stick to. Place the tofu in a bowl, squeeze it with the juice of one lime, and sprinkle with a little chili powder and salt.

In a small bowl, mix together the water, chickpea flour, ½ tsp salt, paprika, and garlic powder.

In a separate small bowl, add the shredded coconut.

Set up your breading station so you can dip the tofu into the chickpea flour, then the shredded coconut, and then place it in the prepared air fryer pan. You’ll most likely have to work in 2-3 batches.

Cook the tofu in your air fryer at 370 F for 15 minutes, flipping halfway through the cook time. Set your tofu aside and let’s make this curry!

In a high powered blender, add the mango, ginger, garlic, coconut milk, water, garam masala, cayenne, and salt. Blend until smooth. Set aside.

Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add a little water or oil if you’re not avoiding. Add the green beans and cook for about 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms, and season with salt and pepper. Cook until the mushrooms are soft, or about 2-3 minutes, and then remove the mixture from the pan and set aside. So many bowls! Sorry!

Add a little more water or oil, and then add your spiralized sweet potato noodles or zucchini noodles. If you’re using zucchini noodles, they can cook for a minute or two, and you can even throw them in with the other veggies in the previous step. Sweet potato noodles are a bit fussier, but wow are they worth it! Cook the sweet potatoes for 5 minutes. Keep checking on them because you do not want them to stick or overcook or they will turn to mush. They should still be very firm at this point. Add back in the green beans and mushrooms and then also add in the mango curry sauce. Continue cooking until your sauce is heated and the noodles are cooked all the way through. This will likely take 2-5 minutes. Don’t mess it up! Honestly, they’ll still be delicious but will not be as pretty.

Plate that curry with the coconut tofu on top! Enjoy!