We’ve made this vegetable Bhuna recipe medium spicy, but you can tailor it based on what you like. If you don’t like it too hot, then you can use less chillies or try removing the seeds from your chillies. Traditionally Bhuna is a spicy dish, but we’ve toned it down a little for this one.

Where does Bhuna come from?

Bhuna is believed to originate in Bangladesh and Bengal, but it’s become really popular in Europe in recent years. It’s actually the name of the cooking style used to create the curry, which centres around cooking spices in hot oil until they form a paste. The paste is then used to flavour the curry. Traditionally meat would be cooked in the paste to form a kind of gravy. Obviously in this version we’re using vegetables!

Can I make this ahead of time?

Absolutely! You can make this vegetable Bhuna a few hours or a day ahead of time and it will be perfect at dinner time. Just be sure to keep it in the fridge until you need it. If you are planning to make this dish to be reheated later, then you can leave out the spinach until you are warming it up to eat. This will mean that the spinach will be fresher, and taste better.

It does! You can keep this vegetable Bhuna in the freezer for up to three months. You will find that the texture of the tofu changes from being frozen and defrosted, and becomes more ‘meaty.’ We deliberately freeze and then defrost a lot of our tofu to achieve this effect.

Easy Vegetable Bhuna in 45 Minutes

Name: Easy Vegetable Bhuna
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 35 min
Total time: 45 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Indian
Ingredients: 2 onions - chopped into medium slices; 2 tbsp fresh ginger; 4 cloves garlic; 3 green chillies; 1 tsp turmeric; 2 tsp cumin; 2 tsp ground coriander; 1 tsp garam masala; 450g tofu - chopped into small chunks; 6 tomatoes (~500g) - chopped into quarters; 2 tbsp tomato purée; 2 peppers - chopped into chunks; 100g spinach; 100ml water

Easy Vegetable Bhuna

Author: Jess Saunders
Prep Time: 10
Cook Time: 35
Total Time: 45 minutes
Yield: 4 1x
Diet: Vegan

Description

Vegetable Bhuna is a delicious and comforting dish. The addition of tofu makes it a bit more substantial, and it's super healthy as it features peppers, spinach and onions too!

Ingredients

Scale

2 onions - chopped into medium slices
2 tbsp fresh ginger
4 cloves garlic
3 green chillies
1 tsp turmeric
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp garam masala
450g tofu - chopped into small chunks
6 tomatoes (~500g) - chopped into quarters
2 tbsp tomato purée
2 peppers - chopped into chunks
100g spinach
100ml water

Instructions

Fry the onion and chillies off in 1-2 tbsp vegetable oil for 15-20 minutes, continually stirring them. The onions should brown quite nicely, but don’t let them burn. Start on a high heat then reduce down to medium.
Next, blend the tomatoes with the tomato puree until smooth, it should be a thick mixture. Like a smoothie.
Pop in the garlic, ginger and chillies with the onion, still over a medium heat. Stir well.
Then add all of the spices and the chopped tofu, and make sure everything is nicely coated. Cook for 1 minute, to allow for the spices to become fragrant.
Pour in the tomato mixture and 100ml water.
Simmer for 10 mins (uncovered), to allow the sauce to thicken and reduce.
Pop in the chopped pepper and cook for 5 minutes more.
Wilt in the spinach and then season with a generous amount of salt. Serve and enjoy!