Fermented soy foods include tempeh, miso, and naturally brewed soy sauces, like tamari. I for one have been eating fermented soy foods exclusively for the past few years just because I feel better eating that way. I also choose non-GMO and organic soy because I support those agricultural practices.
The downside of Chickpea Tofu is that it doesn’t do all the things that tofu can do. It doesn’t fry very well (deep fried however, I’m sure would be ah-mazing), nor can you really bake it to crisp up as I had hoped. But, I am pretty new at this game and looking forward to trying out more recipes with it. If anyone out there really knows how else to work with Chickpea Tofu, please clue me in down below in the comments section! I am so curious to learn more.
Some thoughts on the recipe… You can purchase chickpea flour at most health food stores, but it is also available (and tends to be much cheaper) at ethnic grocery stores. Chickpea four is also called garbanzo bean flour, gram flour, and cici flour. It also falls under the name besan, an Indian flour made from both chickpeas and yellow split peas. This will work just fine for the recipe.
I think making a half batch of this would be a good idea.
I used turmeric in my recipe, which is a traditional ingredient for colour. This is optional but gives the tofu a lovely golden hue
The salad in the top photo was a very quick dish I threw together to enjoy the tofu with, and it turned out so well I thought I should share it with you. I took the dressing from this recipe and combined it with shredded purple cabbage, spring onion, and plenty of cilantro. Later in the evening for dinner, I tossed the leftovers together with brown rice pad thai noodles, and it went over very well with the husband. He said it tasted better than junk food, which, coming from him, is the biggest compliment ever.
Genius Chickpea Tofu Makes more tofu than you could ever eat
Ingredients:
- 3 cups / 350g chickpea flour
- 15 cups / 3 ½ liters water
- ½ Tbsp. coconut oil or ghee
- 2 ½ tsp. fine grain sea salt
- 1 Tbsp. ground turmeric (optional)
Directions:
1. In a very large stockpot (make sure that is has capacity to hold over 20 cups / 4 ½ liters), combine the chickpea flour and water. Place somewhere to sit where it will not be disturbed. Let sit overnight, for about 12 hours.
2. In the morning, without moving the pot, carefully remove 6 cups of water from the top of the mixture with a ladle, and discard.
3. In a medium stockpot, melt the oil over medium heat. Carefully pour in the remaining liquid, without disturbing the bottom too much (what you’ll be left with is a thick chickpea sludge, which will be used as the thickening agent). Add the salt, and turmeric if using, and whisk well to combine. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently for 20-30 minutes, until the mixture begins to simmer and thicken.
4. Add the chickpea sludge. Like magic, you will notice almost immediately that the mixture thickens. To avoid the bottom burning, whisk vigorously and continuously for 10 minutes.
5. Line a 7×10” (18x25cm) baking pan with a clean cotton tea towel or cheesecloth (something you don’t mind being stained with turmeric!). This is important because the fabric will help absorb excess liquid. Pour the thickened chickpea mixture into the pan and smooth out the top. Fold the edges of the cloth over the top and let sit at room temperature until the evening, when it is ready to eat (about 8 hours).
6. To remove tofu from the pan, place a cutting board on top and flip over, pull cloth away. Store leftovers in the fridge for up to five days.