Vegan Butter Chicken

This vegan butter chicken, or tofu makhani is a creamy curry dream. You could mix it up by adding cauliflower, broccoli or any other vegetables of your choice!

Course Dinner

Cuisine Indian

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 20

Total Time 30

Servings

Calories 212kcal

Author Jess & Dan

Ingredients

1 onion - roughly chopped
3 cloves garlic - minced
1 inch piece of ginger - finely diced
1 teaspoon garam masala
1 teaspoon cumin powder
¼ teaspoon chilli powder
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 bay leaf
300 ml tomato passata
250 ml oat cream or other non-dairy cream
1 tablespoon non-dairy butter
¼ cup ground almonds
350 g firm tofu - chopped into cubes
½ cup peas
1 tablespoon lime juice optional
1 teaspoon groundnut oil optional
¼ teaspoon salt or to taste

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

Put your oil in a large pan and bring up to a medium-high heat.
1 teaspoon groundnut oil
Fry the onion until it starts to soften and turn translucent.
1 onion
Add the garlic, ginger, spices, bay leaf and cook for a couple of minutes until fragrant.
3 cloves garlic, 1 inch piece of ginger, 1 teaspoon garam masala, 1 teaspoon cumin powder, ¼ teaspoon chilli powder, 1 bay leaf, ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
Pour in the passata, give it a stir and bring up to a simmer.
300 ml tomato passata
Stir in the cream, butter and ground almonds - if the curry starts to look too thick at this point, just add some water, as the almonds can cause it to thicken up.
250 ml oat cream, 1 tablespoon non-dairy butter, ¼ cup ground almonds
Add the tofu and simmer for 5 minutes.
350 g firm tofu
Put the peas and lime juice in (if using), give it a good stir and season to taste, around ¼ teaspoon of salt should be enough.
½ cup peas, 1 tablespoon lime juice, ¼ teaspoon salt
Serve up with rice and some of our delicious naan bread.

Video

Notes

If you don’t have oat cream, you can use coconut milk, cashew cream or plant based single cream.
If you don’t have tomato passata, you can substitute blended tinned tomatoes or blended fresh tomatoes. If using fresh tomatoes, consider adding an extra two tablespoons of ground almonds to thicken the sauce.
Almond flour can be substituted for ground almonds.
Try coating the tofu in cornflour and frying off in two tablespoons of oil before adding it to the curry. It creates a lovely crispy coating on the tofu.
Tofu can be switched out for any other vegan chicken alternative.
This curry freezes well for up to 3 months in the freezer.

Nutrition