My Oven Blackened Tandoori Tofu will become your favorite way to eat tofu. The tangy, spicy, brilliantly red tandoori sauce infuses the tofu with gorgeous flavor, and the blackened, charred bits add even more deliciousness. A vegan, gluten-free recipe.
A tandoori marinade might be synonymous with the food it is usually slathered on and cooked with -- tandoori chicken -- but there are delicious, and vegan, ways to have your tandoori dish and eat it too. And I can't think of any dish more delicious than this Oven Blackened Tandoori Tofu.
There's something so flavorful about the brilliantly orange-red, tangy, salty and spicy sauce, it's a shame, really, to waste it on a poor chicken who, after six miserable weeks on earth spent inside a crowded cage never knowing what it is like to be a bird, was then shackled, hung upside down, and beheaded in an assembly line before she was dunked in boiling water and feathered and skinned -- all by someone else -- so you could waltz into the supermarket, buy her breasts and her thighs in neat packages, and eat her.
(Sorry, carnivores reading this, but the truth needs to be slipped in sometimes so we don't stay in the habit of ignoring it.)
Getting back to the vegan stuff, while no one in Punjab, I am pretty sure, has slapped tofu into a tandoor, I am sure they would want to if they had a taste of this recipe.
I don't have a tandoor, but in my oven the tofu bakes up wonderfully firm and yet tender and juicy, with the bright flavors of the marinade complementing it beautifully. I love turning up the broiler at the end of baking for just a little bit to make the tofu blacken up in parts, making it even more crispy, smoky, and amazing. Just like you would with chicken, only better.
The Oven Baked Tandoori Tofu is amazingly simple to make. And if you love crispy, toothsome tofu recipes, like this air fryer tofu or this chilli tofu, you will love this tandoori tofu for sure.
It's also so easy to make. All you need to do is press the tofu, slice it, marinate it once, marinate it once more, and then bake it. And no, the marinades are not complicated at all, they are in fact super simple. So simple that they'll make you go, wow!
Tandoori foods are usually served with tandoori breads, so serve with a vegan naan or aloo kulcha or roti. Or serve with basmati rice with a vegan cucumber raita on the side.
Or go wild -- cube this tofu, nestle it in a bed of greens, put it in a taco or a pita bread, and drizzle on some vegan yogurt. You can even layer it onto a pizza. The possibilities are endless.
Here's the recipe for my Oven Blackened Tandoori Tofu. Eat up!
More tasty tofu recipes
- Glazed Lemon Tofu
- Tofu Tikka Masala
- Tofu "Paneer" Kali Mirch
- Instant Pot Vegan Butter "Chicken" with Tofu
- Tofu Makhani
- Sheet Pan Tofu with Chickpeas
Tandoori Tofu Recipe:
Tandoori Tofu
Equipment
- Baking dish or any deep dish for marinating tofu
Ingredients
- 14 oz extra firm tofu (pressed and drained for an hour at least, then cut into six slices)
For the first marinade:
- ½ teaspoon paprika (or Kashmiri chili powder, whichever you have available. You want one of these two for the brilliant color.)
- 2 teaspoon ginger garlic paste
- Salt to taste
For the second marinade:
- ½ teaspoon paprika ( or Kashmiri chili powde. For just color add more paprika. Paprika doesn't have much heat, so you won't end up making your tofu too spicy. In India, food colors are often used to give tandoori chicken its bright color, but we're staying natural here)
- ½ cup vegan yogurt
- 1 teaspoon ginger garlic paste
- 1 teaspoon garam masala
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Place the tofu in a baking dish or a dish large enough to hold all six slices, then slather on the first marinade, spreading it evenly. Let the tofu stand for an hour in the marinade.
- Make the second marinade by mixing all the ingredients together. Slather the second marinade on to the tofu slices, again making sure you spread it evenly. Let the tofu stand for at least 15 more minutes.
- While the tofu is marinating for the second time, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Place the tofu on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper or tinfoil and bake 40 minutes, turning over once halfway through baking.
- Once the tofu has baked 40 minutes, turn the broiler on to 500 degrees. Broil the tofu for another 3-5 minutes or until some black spots appear on it.
- Remove from the oven, let the tofu stand for five minutes, then serve.
Amanda
Can I make this in an air fryer ?
Vaishali
Yes, absolutely. Arrange in a single layer in the air fryer basket with some room between each slab. I'd do 350 degrees for 10 minutes, flip and do the next side, but see how it goes and tweak.
Mir Oldham
Love this recipe! Turned out great. I did use regular yogourt: did you know that the culture of cashews has atrocious repercussions on the women workers of the industry? I now avoid cashews at all cost...
Thanks for the great recipe - the double marinade idea is pretty brilliant!
francesca giammichele
hi, the first marinade has no "liquid" ingredients, is that correct? As I have no paste but I can grind garlic and ginger adn add paprika, how do I blend them? thanks 🙂
Vaishali
Not sure I understand the question, but the ginger and garlic paste should have enough moisture to form the marinade.
Carol
By the time the garlic and ginger is mashed out in a paste enough liquid will be there to do the marinade. I had the issue of not having ready made paste
Joe Caine
I have a ready made tandoori masal powder mix. How do I make it on to a paste for marinating tofu and what quantity of mix do I need?
Vaishali
Hi Joe, I don't know what ingredients are in your tandoori masala powder, but usually they already have ginger, garlic, garam masala and paprika added. If that's the case, I'd recommend using just the tandoori masala powder for the first marinade, and then mixing more powder with yogurt and salt for the second marinade, and leave out the other ingredients.
janaki
Awesome and I particularly loved what u said about the miserable lives of chicken and why we should all stop eating meat ..
It's important that they listen and hear the truth.
Even if u want to eat meat ..The. meat eaters should all insist on humanity to treat animals humanely.
Melanie Davis
Ooh, I can't wait to try this. It's on the schedule for Friday night!
Vaishali
Awesome, hope you like it!
Janet
So *this* is what you do with tofu!
Lee
Do I remove the first marinade before applying the 2nd marinade?
I intend to try this for tonight’s dinner. Thanks so much.
Vaishali
Hi Lee, no! Leave on the first marinade. You want all that flavor in there.