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chicken angara in the pan after cooking and adding garnish
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5 from 5 votes

Chicken Angara (North Indian Smoky Creamy Sauce with Tofu)

This is a vegan version of rich, smoky Indian chicken angara. This restaurant-style curry has a fiery aromatic chili sauce! We smoke a cinnamon stick instead of charcoal to add a delicious smoky flavor! Serve with naan, flatbread, or rice or over baked potato for a delicious meal. gluten-free with nut-free and soy-free options
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time50 minutes
Total Time1 hour
Course: dinner, Main, Main Course
Cuisine: Indian, north indian
Keyword: chicken angara
Servings: 4
Author: Vegan Richa

Equipment

Ingredients

For the Angara Spice Mix

  • 1 tablespoon ground coriander
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
  • 2 tablespoons almond flour optional

For the Tofu

  • 14 ounces firm or extra firm tofu pressed for 15 minutes and then torn into 3/4” organic shapes
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons of the angara spice mix
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon Kashmiri chili powder
  • 1 tablespoon cornstarch or other starch
  • 1 teaspoon oil

For the Sauce

  • 2 teaspoons oil
  • 1 1/2 cup chopped red onion
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 black cardamom pod opened slightly
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 or 2 whole clove
  • 2 tablespoons ginger garlic paste or use 5 cloves garlic, minced, and 1” ginger, minced
  • 1 teaspoon dried fenugreek leaves
  • 1/2 cup chopped tomatoes
  • 1/2 cup tomato puree (canned) or unseasoned tomato sauce
  • 2 tablespoons Kashmiri chili powder
  • 1/2 cup non-dairy yogurt
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup water or stock or use non dairy milk for creamier

To Smoke the Curry

  • 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
  • 2 teaspoons oil
  • 2 inch cinnamon stick

Garnishes

  • cilantro, lemon juice
US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Make the angara spice mix and the tofu.

  • Add all of the spice mix ingredients in a small bowl, mix really well, and set aside. 
  • Press the tofu, if you haven't already, and then tear into pieces. Add the tofu to a bowl along with 1 1/2 to 2 teaspoons of the angara spice mix and the salt, Kashmiri chili powder, and cornstarch. Toss well to coat, then heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add a teaspoon of oil, then once the oil is hot, add the tofu and spread evenly. Continue to cook for 2 to 3 minutes, then flip the tofu and cook the other side for another 2 to 3 minutes. Remove the tofu from the skillet, and set aside.

Make the sauce.

  • Heat the same skillet over medium-high heat. Add 2 teaspoons oil, and once the oil is hot add the onion, salt, black cardamom pod, bay leaf and whole clove, mixing well. Continue to cook until the onion is golden brown, adding splashes the water in between to help the onion brown evenly. Stir frequently, so that the onion doesn't burn, about 5 to 8 minutes. Once the onion is golden brown, reduce the heat to medium, and mix in the remaining angara spice mix. If the onions have dried out a little bit, add a splash of water to mix in the spices. Then, add in the ginger garlic paste, fenugreek leaves and mix for 15 seconds. Then add in tomatoes, tomato puree, Kashmiri chili powder, yogurt, remaining salt, and water. Press and mix in all of the ingredients, then cover with the lid and let it cook for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring once in between, so that the sauce doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan. 
  • Fold in the tofu, tossing well to coat. If the sauce has thickened too much, mix in more water or stock. Cover with the lid, reduce the heat to medium-low, and let it simmer for 10 minutes or longer to infuse a lot of flavor into the tofu. Then, taste and adjust salt and flavor, adding more salt, if needed. You can add in more heat, if you like, by adding a little bit of cayenne or Indian chili powder. 

Smoke the curry.

  • Reduce the heat to low, and sprinkle the smoked paprika on top of the angara chicken, and let it simmer.
  • Nestle a heat safe ramekin that will fit your cinnamon stick into the pan where you're cooking the curry, and add the 1 teaspoon of oil to it. Then, hold the cinnamon stick with tongs over an open flame until at least 1/2 of the cinnamon stick is blackened and it catches fire. Put it into the ramekin with the oil, drizzle more oil quickly, so that the oil starts to smoke. Cover the pan with the lid. Let the smoke from the cinnamon stick infuse the sauce. Depending on how much you heated the cinnamon stick, it can smoke really quickly. If it doesn’t smoke enough the first time for your taste, you can redo the smoking step or use a small food safe charcoal instead of the cinnamon stick. If you use the cinnamon stick, you can also drizzle the smoked oil over the finished dish for an even deeper smoky flavor. If you’re using charcoal, don’t use that oil. After smoking it for 5 minutes, open the lid, switch off the heat, remove the bowl. garnish with some cilantro and lemon juice and serve with naan, flatbread, rice or quinoa or over baked potato

Video

Notes

To make this without soy, use chickpea tofu,  pumpkin seed tofu, seitan, chickpeas, veggies or your favorite soy-free vegan chicken substitute and also make sure to use soy-free non-dairy yogurt.
Nut-free, be sure to use nut-free non-dairy yogurt and omit the almond flour. This recipe is naturally gluten-free.

Nutrition

Calories: 243kcal | Carbohydrates: 22g | Protein: 13g | Fat: 13g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Sodium: 534mg | Potassium: 420mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 1749IU | Vitamin C: 17mg | Calcium: 242mg | Iron: 4mg