Ah, the Adventure begins!

This week I'm trying to be a little more adventurous in my own cooking. I'm trying more exotic foods or trying to add more exotic flavors to my everyday food. (Thank you, Aarti, for saying that! And congratulations, I can't wait to see what you bring to Food Network. My family and I were rooting for you all along!)

Last night, I made Butter Masala with Tofu for a co-worker who had asked for a mild vegetarian curry recipe. It came out ok. She loved it, but I wasn't completely thrilled. The flavor was great(!) but the tofu began to disintegrate slightly once I put it in the curry, even though I used "super firm" tofu. I later found out I should have lightly fried the tofu to give it more structure and keep it from falling apart once it was in the curry. So, that's one thing I know for the future. I'll have to do the same thing on Thursday when I make Paneer for another vegetarian masala recipe.

Paneer is a soft, fresh cheese used in many Indian dishes. An Indian friend of mine says "Paneer is chicken for vegetarians." You can buy paneer in ... well, just about any Indian/Pakistani grocery. But I've found several recipes for it and it looks like it would be super easy to make it, (you know, just to add to the whole experience!) So, I'm going to try to make it on Thursday (my next day off).

But for now, here is the super-simplified Mild Butter Masala recipe I used. It is written to use tofu, but you can use a different protein if you wish, or no protein at all. (It's also written more for American palates, so don't hate on it because it doesn't use authentic Indian spices.)

Ingredients:
2 8oz blocks of extra firm tofu, drained and cubed
1 finger of ginger (about 1 inch long), mashed
2 cloves of garlic, mashed
3 Tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp salt
oil (for frying)
14 oz can of crushed or pureed tomatoes
2 oz butter
1/4 tsp of chili powder
3-4 oz heavy whipping cream (you can use less, but it will change the flavor)
2 Tbsp chopped cilantro
Black pepper (a generous grinding)

Directions:
Combine the first 5 ingredients and let marinate for about 2 hours in the refrigerator (if you're using meat, you would use 1-1/2 lbs of chicken and you'd need to marinate it overnight)
Put 1/2 inch of oil in a pot and lightly fry the tofu, just enough to give it a "shell"
In a saucepan/wok, put the tomatoes, butter, chili powder and pepper, let it simmer for about 10 minutes
Turn the heat to Low and add the cream, stirring it in thoroughly. Let it continue to heat for another 10 minutes on Low. Warning: don't let the cream simmer! It will separate and change the texture of the sauce. (It won't change the flavor though.)
Add the fried tofu and let it simmer for another 10 minutes.
Transfer to to a serving dish and garnish with the chopped cilantro and some more pepper.
Serve with hot Basmati rice and enjoy!

This should serve 6 people as a main dish with sides