Noor’s Black Lime Tofu

From Ottolenghi’s Flavor cookbook, we really enjoyed this. We did have to order the dried black limes from amazon, but it was definitely worth it.

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1 small red onion, thinly sliced into rounds on a mandoline, if you have one, or by hand (¾ cup/60g)
• table salt
• 2½ cups/600ml vegetable oil
• 2 blocks extra-firm tofu (1 lb 4 oz/560g), patted dry and cut into ¾-inch/2cm cubes
• 2 tbsp cornstarch
• 2 yellow onions (10½ oz/300g), roughly chopped
• 6 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
• ⅓ cup/60ml olive oil
• 2 tsp cumin seeds, roughly crushed in a mortar and pestle
• 1-3 dried black limes (see page 18), blitzed in a spice grinder to get 2 tbsp (use a food processor if you don't have a grinder, and pass through a sieve), or 1 tbsp regular fresh lime zest and 1 tbsp lime juice
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 1½ cups/400ml water
• black pepper
• 1 cup/20g parsley, roughly chopped
• scant 2 cups/250g baby spinach

Instructions

1. Put the vinegar, 1 tsp of the sugar, the red onion, and ⅛ tsp salt into a small bowl and mix well to combine. Set aside to pickle.
2. Line a plate with a double layer of paper towel. Heat the sunflower oil in a medium, high-sided sauté pan on medium-high heat. Once hot, toss the tofu in a bowl with the cornstarch until well coated. In two batches, fry the tofu until crispy and lightly browned, about 6 minutes per batch, then transfer to the prepared plate and set aside.
3. While the tofu is frying, put the yellow onions and garlic into a food processor and pulse a few times until very finely minced but not puréed. Put the olive oil into a large sauté pan on medium-high heat. Add the onion mixture and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Add the cumin seeds, black limes or fresh lime zest and juice, and tomato paste and cook for 1 minute more. Add the water, salt, remaining 1 tsp sugar, 1½ tsp salt, and a generous grind of pepper. Bring to a simmer and cook for 6 minutes, stirring occasionally, until thick and rich. Add the crispy tofu, parsley, and another grind of pepper and stir to coat. Add the spinach in increments, stirring until just wilted, about 3 minutes.
4. Transfer the mixture to a shallow serving platter and top with the pickled red onion, or serve straight from the pan.