Hi there, it's Veronika!

Believe it or not, this recipe was on my blog waiting list for about a year. Or more. I can't remember. And last Friday (or so - I also can't remember...) I got in touch with some friendly folks from zero-waste vegan Facebook group - the talk was about washing hair without shampoo. And because I use rye flour instead of shampoo, the talk turned into flour discussion. I was told that chickpea flour is also possible to use as shampoo... I said the only thing I can do with chickpea flour is tofu... and here we go, as I got (obviously! =) asked for the recipe, I just had to do it. So here it is.

And just to warn you - as you may know, I'm not a cook, nor a photographer. So by no means, I'm attempting here any posh recipe show off. I'm just not-good-at-that. I'm better at maths.

So... Constantina, thank you for asking me about the recipe - you actually pushed me to finally do it =)

More photos coming soon!

This is not my own recipe, I found it around the time when I became vegan (a good couple of years ago in my mid-twenties) and surprise surprise, of course, I don't remember where I got it from. I just wrote down the recipe and started changing it to my taste (I practically always alternate everything in order to simplify it... it's got nothing to do with being a mathematician and simplifying fractions, I just like things simple and easy and quick to be done.)

The original version says something about garlic but you do what you want to do with it, really. The basics I'd say is the turmeric and salt, that's about it when it comes to seasoning. Go wild and make your own amazing version of chickpea tofu =)

Vegan chickpea tofu

100 g chickpea/besan flour
1 l water
1 tsp (coconut) oil
1 tsp salt
1 tsp turmeric
Optional: any seasoning - such as garlic, seaweed, herbs,... all come together with turmeric so wait in the recipe for turmeric going in - that's when you want to add all your own seasoning as well.
This time, I've added smoked paprika - hence the reddish colour (though turmeric beats everything and makes it all rather yellow).

The recipe itself is very easy, the active cooking is quite short but it needs to sit for 12 and 8 hours before and after cooking... so plan your tofu making well in advance.

First part:
For 100 g of flour, you need 1 litre of water. Mix it all well together, cover the bowl with a cloth or a lid and let sit for 12 hrs in room temperature. Do not stir! Let the flour sit on the bottom of the bowl.

Mix together, let sit for 12 hrs - pour partially top watery part away, boil the rest of the watery part - leave the thicker part sit for now

The cooking:
After 12 hrs, pour 400 ml of water from the top away. (Maybe it can be used for something else - yet I'm not sure about the nutrition value or if it's perhaps even not good for digestion - so I just discard it each time as it was advised in the original recipe.)
Then melt the oil in a pan and pour the top, more watery part of the mixture in the pan and boil for 20-30 mins.
After that, add all spices, including turmeric and salt, and add the rest of the flour mixture, while stirring all well in the pan.
Keep stirring and let it boil on medium to lower heat for next 10-15 minutes until the mixture is very thick and without any lumps.
When done, pour the mixture in a bowl padded with a clean cloth (I use a tea towel) and cover it with it on the top as well. The cloth will go yellow (turmeric is the trouble maker), so use either yellow cloth or some that you won't mind getting coloured by the tofu =) The cloth helps to strain extra moisture from the tofu.

Add spices to the boiling water - add the rest of the mixture and stir until thick - pour the mixture into the tray padded with a cloth

Second part:
Let sit for the next 8 hrs in room temperature, then it's ready to be prepared as any other tofu. Can be stored in the fridge for about 5 days. Could go into the freezer but the texture can be a bit funny after defrosting - the taste will be still ok though.

Cover the tofu and let sit for 8 hrs - when cooled down, the final product is firm... - ...yet flexible =)

Our best chickpea tofu afterwards recipe:
My partner and I like this tofu the most when just plainly fried on a pan and used as very smooth, almost like melting, "cheese" alternative.

Ready to be stored in the fridge or made into a delicious meal: Homemade chickpea tofu can be eaten as is or prepared as regular tofu

Quick tofu bites recipe: lightly oil-coated, gently salted and sprinkled with herbs - oven-baked at 180 degree Celsius until crisp

I bet you'll find it easy to do this tofu at home and very tasty. It's a great easy recipe to broaden your range of tofu-like meals =) When you make it, tell me how it went.