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Tofu in Spiced Coconut Sauce

A tofu dish simmered in a spiced coconut sauce with currants, yogurt, and optional butter.

From the Wikibooks Cookbook · 15 ingredients
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Why it works: Coriander and cumin match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,866 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

Tofu in Spiced Coconut Sauce

6–8
Time5–8 minutes for tofu browning

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the spices

  1. Crack open the cardamom pods.

  2. Reserve the seeds and discard the shells.

Make the sauce base

  1. Heat oil to quite hot but not smoking in a pan.

  2. Add spices and bay leaf.

  3. Cook until seeds crack (1–2 minutes).

  4. Reduce heat to medium.

  5. Add onion and garlic.

  6. Cook until tender and translucent.

  7. Reserve onion, garlic, spices to a side dish.

Cook the tofu and finish

  1. Season tofu with salt and pepper.

  2. Fry, adding oil if needed.

  3. When tofu is heated through, sauté until lightly brown (5–8 minutes).

  4. Add reserved onion/spice mixture.

  5. Add currants and sauté for 3–5 minutes.

  6. Add sour cream, yogurt, coconut milk, and butter.

  7. Simmer until sauce has cooked down a little.

  8. Add toasted almonds and toasted coconut.

  9. Serve hot with Saffron Sweet Rice.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

813Calories
31 gProtein
59 gFat
48 gCarbs

Counts 12 of 14 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 12 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Coconut1/2 cup shredded (40g)283
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Yogurt170g plain Greek100
Tofu100g firm76
Grape1/2 cup (76g)62
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Cumin1 tsp ground (2.1g)8
Almond1 almond (1.2g)7
Cardamom1 tsp ground (2g)6
Garlic1 clove (3g)4
Bay Leaf1 leaf (0.6g)2
Coriandernot in our table0
Seednot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Wikibooks Cookbook.

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Coriander + cumintop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,866 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  2. Cardamom + coriandertop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together872 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  3. Cardamom + clovetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,114 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  4. Cardamom + cumintop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together582 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  5. Garlic + oniontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together29,058 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Tofu
Forms the main body of the dish and browns to a firmer, chewier texture when fried.
Sour cream
Adds richness and a tangy creaminess that thickens the sauce as it simmers.
Yogurt
Adds tang and body to the sauce, though it can split if boiled hard.
Onion
Softens and sweetens as it cooks, forming the flavour base of the curry.
Currants
Add concentrated sweetness that balances the spices and tang of the sauce.
Oil
Carries the whole spices' aroma and helps the spices bloom and crack.

The step that matters

Cooking the sour cream and yogurt. Dairy proteins can curdle or separate when boiled hard. Keep the heat low and simmer gently so the sauce stays smooth and creamy.

Swap the currant

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cardamom, coriander, cumin, garlic, clove, onion, tofu):

  1. Limefits better
  2. Avocadofits better
  3. Lemonfits better
  4. Currantthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against cardamom, coriander, cumin, garlic, clove, onion, tofu. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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