Tofu Pasanda (Tofu with Velvety Pepita Poppy Seed Sauce)

Tofu Pasanda – tofu in a creamy, velvety smooth North Indian curry sauce – is delicious served over rice, naan, or flatbread. This delicious nut-free sauce gets its creaminess from pumpkin seeds, poppyseeds, and coconut milk! This recipe was originally published on April 23 2014

Pasanda literally means “favorite,” and is a popular sauce that you find in some North Indian restaurants. It has its own variations depending on the region and what protein it is paired with, whether it’s a meat Pasanda, chicken Pasanda, or paneer Pasanda. The paneer (cheese) Pasanda usually involves paneer stuffed with a flavorful mixture of nuts and spices. The combination of the spices cumin, coriander, fennel, cinnamon, poppy seeds is such a complex and fantastic flavor profile.

Today, we are making a vegan version of the chicken Pasanda, and this tofu Pasanda doesn’t use any nuts. I wanted to create a nut-free variation, so we are using pumpkin seeds in it. If you don’t want to use pumpkin seeds, you can use a mixture of almonds and cashews instead.

When I was writing my first cookbook, I had to come up with English names for all of these sauces, and not all of them could be called “luxurious,” “decadent,” and “creamy,” right? So, this one is named Velvety Pepita Poppy Seed Sauce, because it contains poppy seeds and pumpkin seeds (aka pepitas). Once you blend these together, they create a really smooth, velvety mixture.

Like most of the Indian sauces that use a lot of whole spices, the flavor of this tofu Pasanda sauce gets better with time. You can easily make this ahead and store it for over three days in the fridge, and it will just taste better and better with every passing hour. This recipe was originally written with hemp seed tofu. That isn’t available anymore, so I updated it with regular soy tofu. Use chickpea tofu or pumpkin seed tofu for soyfree option.

Why do vegans eat vegan versions of meat?

I developed this recipe in the early years our transition to eating vegan, and was faced with this question. We grew up vegetarian with plenty of veg bean and other options and not really any options that were vegetarian-ized versions of non-veg dishes. I realized that the Vegan movement is quite different than the Indian Vegetarian-ism, which often is something you are born into and just happen to be because of family or community, religion etc. With Veganism, there is usually a conscious reason to choose the Vegan diet, ethics, health, environment. That means many people choose to not eat meat for certain reasons, not because they don’t like the flavor. There are several ways to do a plant based diet, with meat subs or without, with or without cheese subs, with or without some veg or beans or soy, raw, cooked, different cuisines, and on and on, depending on where(food wise) you come from. 

Why You’ll Love Tofu Pasanda

• crispy spiced tofu
• creamy complex flavor sauce with cumin, coriander, fennel and poppy seeds
• tofu and sauce all cook in one pan
• naturally gluten-free and nut-free with easy soy-free option

Ingredients and Substitutions

• oil – To crisp up the tofu and to sauté.
• tofu – This is your “chicken.” You can use chickpea tofu or hemp seed tofu for soy-free.
• ground spices – You season the tofu with garam masala and cinnamon. For the sauce, you need sweet paprika and cayenne.
• whole spices – The first flavor layer in the sauce is toasted cumin, coriander, fennel seeds and whole cloves.
• aromatics – Sautéed onion, garlic, and ginger give this sauce so much flavor!
• seeds – This sauce gets its creaminess from pumpkin seeds and poppyseeds which also add a complex flavor to the sauce. Ideally you want to use white poppy seeds, but black will work too
• tomato – Adds moisture, umami, and color to the sauce.
• coconut milk – Or use your favorite non-dairy milk. Choose soy-free and/or nut-free, if needed.
• sugar – A little sweet balances the heat. You can use maple syrup for refined sugar-free.

How to Make Tofu Pasanda

If it hasn’t been pressed, press the tofu for at least 15 minutes, then tear it into bite-sized pieces. Heat the teaspoon of oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Once the oil is hot, add the tofu, garam masala, and cinnamon. Mix everything really well, so the tofu is evenly coated with the spices and oil.

Continue to cook, until the tofu is golden on most edges, about 4 to 6 minutes. Remove the tofu from the skillet and set it aside.

In the same skillet, heat another teaspoon of oil over medium heat. Add the cumin seeds, coriander seeds and fennel seeds.

Cook for a few seconds, then add the onion and a good pinch of salt. Cook the onion until it starts to turn translucent.

Add the ginger and garlic, mix well, and continue cooking until the onion becomes golden, about 7 to 9 minutes total.

Mix the pumpkin seeds, poppy seeds, tomato, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt into the skillet. Cook until the tomatoes turn jammy, pressing any larger pieces to help them break down, about 5 minutes.

Cool this mixture, then transfer it to a blender. Add the coconut milk to the blender and blend until the mixture becomes smooth. To fully incorporate the poppy seeds, let the mixture sit for 5 minutes between blending cycles(of half a minute). Repeat the blending process 2 to 3 times until the mixture is somewhat smooth and you don’t see too many whole poppyseeds. An immersion blender might work as well, but you’ll need to blend longer.

Pour the blended mixture back into the skillet over medium heat and bring it to a boil. Add the crisped tofu, water, paprika, cayenne, the remaining salt, and the sugar. Mix well, then reduce the heat to medium-low.

Cook, stirring occasionally, until the sauce thickens and the tofu picks up some of the color of the sauce, about 15 to 20 minutes.

Switch off the heat, and let it sit for a few minutes before garnishing with non-dairy cream, cilantro, or a squeeze of lemon juice. Serve the dish with naan, flatbread, rice, quinoa, or use it as a filling for wraps or pizza.

What to Serve with Tofu Pasanda

Serve the dish with naan, flatbread, rice, or quinoa. It also makes a great a filling for wraps! You can also put it on top of my no-yeast pizza crust to make a tofu Pasanda pizza or use my gluten-free pizza crust for a gluten-free pizza.