Hot garlic sauce with tofu and vegetables

“In France, cooking is a serious art form and a national sport."

Julia Child

Some recipes are so complicated and require so much patience and practise to perfect. This is not the case for Chines recipes. They are very easy to prepare if you have all the ingredients in hand. You can vary the amount of sauces used based on your taste preference.

This recipe is adapted from Tarla Dalal's book "Chinese recipes".

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Ingredients

1 cup diagonally cut green, red and yellow capsicum (bell pepper)

1 cup cubed tofu

1 cup parboiled baby corn

2 tbsp oil

2 tsp finely chopped ginger

4 tsp finely chopped garlic 

2 tsp finely chopped green chillies

1/2 cup tomato puree

2 tbsp tomato ketchup

1 tsp soya sauce

1 tsp red chilli sauce or paste

2 tsp cornflour

1/2 tsp of sugar

2 tsp oil

salt to taste

Method

Combine the cornflour and ½ cup water in a deep bowl, mix well and keep aside.

Heat the oil in a wok or a broad non-stick pan, add the ginger, garlic and green chillies and sauté on a high flame for a few seconds. Then add capsicum and saute on a high flame for a few seconds.

Add the baby corn, mix well and cook on a medium flame for 1 minute.

Add the tomato puree, cornflour-water mixture, soya sauce, tomato ketchup, chilli sauce, sugar and salt, mix well and cook on a medium flame for 5 to 6 minutes, while stirring occasionally. Keep stirring till you get a thick sticky consistency. Add tofu at the end. You can even fry the tofu in a little oil before adding.

Serve hot.

Tips : You should get a thick, sticky consistency for Chinese gravies. If you feel your gravy is too watery, add some more cornflour mixed in water to the dish and bring to a boil. Adjust seasoning as per your taste.