Five Spiced Tofu with Cardamon Passata and Cardamon and Clove Rice

This is actually two recipe entries for the price of one. In the Book the Five-Spiced Tofu is coupled with Steamed Aubergine, which I didn't have and didn't want. I seem to have let go my original plan to make everything as published! The cardamon and Clove Rice is a separate dish but is one of the accompaniments recommended in the notes (where they do actually give permission to use any combination of the three parts of the dish as written) So the tofu and the passata it is, no aubergine.

There's a paragraph about mise en place so I did that and then got to work on the Cardamon and Clove Rice (Page 81) which was exactly what it says on the label. Heat some oil, warm up the cloves and cardamon pods, add well-washed Basmati rice, cover and cook. And onto preparing the rest.

The cardamon passata was the most work as it involved finely slicing or grating the shallots, garlic, ginger and lemongrass. But then it was just a matter of sauteing them in a little oil, adding the rest of the ingredients and cooking for a bit to meld flavours. A nice spicy variation on the usual passata and one that would work with lots of things.

The tofu was super easy. Blend flour, cornflour, pepper salt and Chinese five spice. Cut up tofu, coat in the flour mix and fry.

I used a very firm tofu which made the handling easy but I prefer the taste of a softer tofu. Will try that next time. Lots of passata and seasoned flour left over. As with so many of these dishes, there's some yummy sauce or spice blend left over to jazz up less ambitious meals.