Meera Sodha’s vegan recipe for tofu-stuffed romano peppers

The original recipe for these, which is in my book Fresh India, featured peppers stuffed with grated paneer, but I recently resurrected and tweaked it using tofu in place of the paneer as a “vegan option” for my menu at the Wilderness festival this summer. I’d previously never used tofu this way – grated, flavoured and roasted – but it worked so beautifully that it was just too good not to share with you here.
These work well as a light meal with simply dressed leaves, or bolster them into a more substantial dish with naan, raita or a pilau.
Prep 10 min
Cook 1 hr
Serves 4
4 large romano peppers
4 tbsp rapeseed oil, plus extra for brushing1¼ tsp crushed cumin seeds (do this in a mortar)1 large brown onion, peeled and finely diced1 green finger chilli, finely chopped2½cm piece ginger, peeled and finely grated 280g firm tofu, drained and grated1 large or 2 small ripe tomatoes (160g), finely chopped1¼ tsp fine sea salt
¾ tsp kashmiri chilli powder
20g fresh coriander, leaves and tender stems, finely chopped
Heat the oven to 200C (180C fan)/390F/gas 6, and line an oven tray with baking paper.
Cut open the top of each pepper about 1cm below the stem, but don’t slice it off completely – keep the peppers intact. Slice lengthways down the middle of the pepper, open it up with your hands, then gently pull out and discard the pith and seeds. Put the peppers on the lined tray, brush with oil and roast for 20 minutes.
In the meantime, put a large frying pan on a medium heat. Once it’s hot, add the four tablespoons of oil and the crushed cumin, and stir-fry for 30 seconds. Add the onion and fry, stirring, for about eight minutes, until soft.
Add the green chilli and ginger, cook for two minutes, then add the tofu and tomato, and cook for a further five minutes, or until soft. Stir in the salt, chilli powder and all but a small handful of the fresh coriander, take off the heat and leave to cool.
Divide the tomato mixture into four, then stuff into each pepper using a spoon or clean fingers. Press the peppers closed, brush with oil again, return to the tray, and bake for another 15-20 minutes, until soft and charred in places. Serve sprinkled with the remaining chopped coriander.