Weirdly enough, in Denmark, this is quite a “traditional” dish. “Boller I Karry”, is literally just translating to “Balls in Curry”. Normally this is made with meatballs, but this is my vegan take on this dish.
How Danish this actually is – I am not sure – but every one I know in Denmark have made this at some point in their life, and it´s something every Danish 80´s and 90´s child grew up with, and even my grandma make it quite often. You can even find this dish as a ready-made-dinner to heat up next to all the other traditional Danish dinners in the supermarkets.
This dish is suppose to be a mild curry dish, maybe that´s where the Danish influence comes from, as Danish food can be quite a dull affair at times, haha ! But feel free to curry it up even more, and depending on what curry powder you use and how strong it is, you might use more or less.. add to taste really !
Soooo.. this is tofu balls with white beans and onion baked in the oven served with rice and a creamy curry sauce, here made with potatoes, carrot and plant milk.
I pimped it a bit with adding steamed peas which would fit with the traditional Danish theme, but then I added fresh cilantro and some Green Tomato Chutney. This is totally optional, but sure makes for a great meal. The chutney and cilantro might be too risque for the Danes, so to make it even more traditional, this could be substituted with freshly chopped parsley for greens and pickled cucumber for the cold and refreshing side instead if the chutney.
Like curries in general? Then Check out these recipes:
- Mango Tofu Coconut Curry
- Vegan Tofu Yellow Coconut Curry & Rice
- Vegan Seitan Sweet Potato Kofta Makhani
- Vegan Punjabi Style Palak Tofu ‘Paneer’
- Vegan Red Thai Coconut Curry
- Sweet Potato Chana Masala
- Rice Noodle Coconut Green Curry Soup
Serves 5
Ingredients
Tofu balls
- 500g firm tofu (17.6 oz)
- 400g can of white beans (yields 240g beans) (14.1 oz can / yield 8.5 oz)
- 1.2 dl corn flour (½ cup)
- ½ yellow onion
- 3 garlic cloves
- ½ teaspoon dried vegetable stock
- ½ teaspoon freshly grind black pepper
- 1 teaspoon salt
- (Plant milk if needed)
Curry sauce
- 600 ml unsweetened plant milk (20.3 oz)
- 2 medium to small potatoes (200g / 7 oz)
- 2 carrots (160g / 5.6 oz)
- ½ yellow onion
- 2-4 tablespoons curry powder (depends on taste and strength of powder)
- 1 teaspoon dried vegetable stock
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon ground coriander
- ½ teaspoon freshly grind pepper
- Salt to taste
Serve with
- 5 servings of basmati rice
- Steamed peas
- Fresh cilantro (or parsley for traditional serving)
- A dollop of Green Tomato Chutney (or pickled cucumber for traditional serving)
What you will need
- Cutting board and knife
- 1 big bowl
- Measuring spoons
- Baking tray + baking paper
- 1 vegetable peeler
- 1 small pot + strainer
- 1 stick blender
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200 c (390 F).
- Drain the tofu package but keep as much moisture in the tofu as possible and add to a big bowl. Strain and wash the beans and add.
- Peel and finely chop half an onion and the garlic and add with the, vegetables stock, salt and pepper. Mash with a potato masher until smooth, this can take time, just using clean hands is so much easier.
- Add in the corn flour. If needed, add in a little bit of unsweetened plant milk if there was not enough moisture in the tofu. The texture should be quite moist and firm enough to roll. Roll about 25 balls and place on a baking tray with a baking sheet.
- Bake in a preheated oven on 200 c (390 F) in the middle of the oven on normal setting for about 25 minutes until golden.
- Peel the potato, carrot and onion, chop into smaller chunks. Put into a pot of boiling water and boil for about 15 minutes. Strain in the pot and leave the vegetable in the pot.
- Add in the unsweetened plant milk, curry powder, dried vegetable stock, cumin, coriander, salt and pepper. Blend smooth with a stick blender. Bring to a simmer. Add salt and pepper to taste if needed.
- Take tofu balls out when baked and golden.
- Serve basmati rice with the tofu balls, creamy curry sauce, steamed peas, fresh cilantro and some Green Tomato Chutney.
Enjoy !
