Vegan Paneer Lababdar with Tofu. Tofu with Luscious Tomato Cashew Ginger Sauce. Use this Delicious Indian Lababdar Sauce with other proteins, chickpeas, veggies, chickpea tofu, tempeh, seitan. Vegan Glutenfree Recipe. Nutfree Soyfree options Jump to Recipe
Oh hey its the 4 year anniversary of my first book Vegan Richa’s Indian Kitchen! And what better way to celebrate than another amazing North Indian Saucy Entree! This lababdar sauce is a lighter sauce similar to the butter sauce. It can be made without any oil. The tomatoes, spices and cashews and boiled with a bit of water then blended. Onion is then caramelized separately. The tomato mixture + onion + a few spices is cooked down until roasted. To keep the rest of the process simple, I use panfried tofu with the sauce. You can bake the tofu like my butter sauce tofu, or other other proteins such as chickpea tofu, tempeh, seitan. Or just add some chickpeas or veggies. The several stages of cooking the ingredients and the sauce makes it a deeper richer flavor.
This creamy lababdar sauce is delicious, luscious and is freezer friendly! The dish can be made without nuts and soy, see recipe notes after the recipe.
Look at that gorgeous color!
Ingredients Used for Vegan Paneer Lababdar
- Firm Tofu replaces the paneer cheese in this vegan version. Tofu is panfried to crisp a bit before adding to the sauce. You can also use chickpea tofu, seitan and pan fry them. Or use roasted veggies or cooked chickpeas or other beans.
- The sauce begins with cooking the tomatoes, cashews, ginger, garlic, cardamom and clove in water or broth until the tomatoes and cashews are tender. This mix is then cooled and blended. This boiling step allows for reducing the prep time of presoaking cashews. Cooking the tomatoes also help reduce the raw flavor.
- Onions are then caramelized with bay leaves, Coriander, garam masala and cayenne.
- Salt and sugar/sweetener and fresh green chilies round up the flavor. Once the sauce thickens, tofu gets added along with water to simmer for a bit to infuse the flavors.
- Fenugreek leaves are a frequent addition to north Indian, mughlai or restaurant style sauces. The bitter zesty flavor elevates the sauce. Use ground mustard if you dont have fenugreek or just use more garam masala. But as I mention in several recipes, do get some as you will be cooking with them if you cook my Indian recipes :).
Step Photos:
Boil the tomatoes with the cashews, garlic, ginger, clove and cardamom. Then cool and blend until smooth.
Panfry the tofu, or bake. Meanwhile, cook the onion and bay leaves in another skillet until onion is golden. Add the blended tomato mixture and cook until it thickens and shines (releases oil), or starts to smell roasted.
Add tofu and water and simmer for a few to infuse the flavor, serve with rice or flatbread or naan.
How to store vegan paneer lababdar and lababdar sauce
- Refrigerate for upto 3 days and freeze for upto a month.
- To use the sauce, simmer with water and added protein or veggies for 10-15 mins.
Why does any Indian recipe I try taste bland or not like restaurant food
- The number 1 reason the flavor doesn’t show up is old spices. Invest in good fresh spices, and the flavor payoff will increase significantly.
- Another big reason is using blends that are not entirely Indian. Indian dishes sometimes rely heavily on flavor from blends such as garam masala or other masala powders. Non indian brands often have westernized blends or the flavor is just not balanced or the blend is very old. Get garam masala from Indian brands or make your own. Its easy.
- Restaurants add a lot more fat, oil, cream, butter (which is of course much more delicious/pleasing, fat also is a great flavor carrier), and that is usually absent in everyday Indian recipes or is used in moderation. I prefer to use much less of those, use vegan versions. You can add more oil and some vegan butter towards the end for additional fatty flavor.
- Restaurants will often slow roast the sauces for a long while so the deep flavor develops. Indian food does need some time and patience for the best flavor result.
- Roasting: there are several points at which the spices get toasted/roasted, onions are cooked, the sauce gets cooked and so on. For many recipes, it is tempting to skip on the time needed at each step. But all that affects the overall flavor. The spices really need to roast enough time to release flavor, onions are very different flavor when just about turning translucent vs golden and starting to caramelize, tomatoes when not cooked enough retain a lot of their raw flavor. Restaurants cook and then overcook at each step.
More Indian Mains from the blog
- Butter Tofu GF
- IP Tikka Masala Simmer Sauce , with Cauliflower. GF
- Tofu Amritsari Masala.GF
- Instant Pot Vegan Butter Chickin(soycurls). GF – Creamy, Delicious
- Mushroom Matar Masala
- Bombay Potato and Peas
- Tofu Pasanda
- Tofu in Spinach Curry – Saag Tofu
Recipe Card
Save This Recipe in Your Inbox
Share your email and we will send this recipe! Plus, enjoy all the new recipes as they post!
By submitting this form, you consent to receive emails from Vegan Richa.
Vegan Paneer Lababdar (Tofu lababdar)
Ingredients
- 14 oz (396.89 g) firm tofu ,pressed for 15 mins and cubed
Tomato mixture:
- 15 oz (425.24 g) diced tomatoes or 3 medium
- ¼ cup (32.25 g) raw cashews
- 1 inch ginger
- 4 cloves of garlic
- ¼ tsp (0.25 tsp) ground cardamom
- 1 whole clove
Lababdar sauce:
- 1 tsp oil
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 medium onion , finely chopped
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- ½ to 1 tsp garam masala , or use a mix of ground cumin and coriander
- ⅓ tsp (0.33 tsp) cayenne , adjust to heat preference
- ½ tsp (0.5 tsp) salt , depends on if the tomatoes are salted. I use unsalted tomatoes and ¾tsp salt.
- 1 tsp sugar or other sweetener
- 2 green chilies , chopped or ¼ cup thinly sliced green bell pepper
- 1 cup (236.59 ml) water
- 1 tsp dried fenugreek leaves (or use ¼ tsp ground mustard)
- garam masala, cayenne, cilantro for garnish
Instructions
- Press the Tofu if you havent already while you prep the rest of the ingredients. Heat 1 tsp oil in a non stick or cast iron skillet. Add cubed tofu and cook until golden on most sides. 5 to 7 mins. Stir occasionally.
- Combine tomatoes, cashews, ginger, garlic and spices in a saucepan over medium heat with ½ cup water. Bring to a boil and cook for 10 mins. Cool slightly and then blend. I usually let it cool while I cook the next 2 steps.
- Heat 1 tsp oil in a skillet. Add bay leaves, onion and pinch of salt. Cook until onion is mostly golden.
- Add the spices and mix in. Add the blended tomato mixture and cook for 10 mins or until it thickens a bit and develops a shine.
- Add water, green chilies, salt and sugar and mix in. Add the panfried tofu and mix in and bring to a boil. Simmer for 2 mins. Taste and adjust salt, flavor. Add half of the fenugreek leaves and mix in. Take off heat and let sit for 5 mins. Garnish with garam masala and remaining fenugreek and cilantro. (for events, restaurant style flavor, mix a tbsp vegan butter in, and dress with cashew cream/vegan cream). Serve with flatbreads, rice or naan.
- Store the dish or the sauce from 5 refrigerated for upto 3 days, freeze for upto a month. To use the sauce, heat with water, chili, salt, sugar, and protein such as panfried tofu, steamed tempeh, seitan, cooked chickpeas or roasted veggies and simmer for 5 mins to 15 mins depending on the ingredient used.
Maneesha
What a banging recipe! I loved it!! This was a great recipe, a different style of cooking, especially since we cooked the tomato first and THEN blended it . I added some veggies and butterbeans.
Richa
Yay
Mira
Amazingly flavorful. I think I will just use veggies next time because I’m still not loving tofu no matter how hard I try. Nonetheless, I was able to eat the tofu this time because the sauce was 🔥 🔥 🔥
Richa
Yes use roasted veggies or cooked chickpeas
Christina
This is sooo delicious. Incredible flavor. Thanks, Richa!
Vegan Richa Support
thanks for popping in!
Lesley Little
I made this a couple of nights ago and we both loved it! Indian cooking is my favourite to the point where I find it therapeutic. I put the higher end of cayenne in and two green chillies (not seeded) I was a bit worried it would have too much chilli but it’s so well-balanced it wasn’t overpowering at all.
Richa
Awesome
Vibeke Vale
I cook from your recipes every single week. I share your food recipes with people on my Instagram as much as I can. Richa, this recipe is the absolute most authentic tasting Indian curry I have ever tasted outside of a posh restaurant. Mmmmm so good!!! I skipped the tofu and just added a can of unsalted chickpeas. WOW!!! Wow! Amazing.
Richa
Awesome!
Amanda Newby
Creamy and flavorful! The family loved it!
Vegan Richa Support
Excellent !!
Alice
Hi Richa: I only have some very watery homemade passata (defrosted), and need to cook them longer to thicken. Should I cook them first separately and then add the cashews/ginger/garlic/spices mix, or can I cook them together? Thank you for your help.
Richa
Just don’t add all of the water while boiling with the cashews etc. You can add more liquid later if it thickens too much
Alice
Hello Richa, The flavor was excellent but the consistency wasn’t as creamy as in your pictures. We could taste bits of onion and chili. Was it supposed to be creamy? Thank you.
Richa
Chop them finely and cook longer. They disappear in the sauce when small and well cooked. The sauce is creamy if blended really well. The cashews and tomatoes need to be blended until smooth
Ewa
could bay leaves be replaced by curry leaves or anything else? Thank you 🙂
Richa
omit them
POLLY STRAUB-COOK
Exceptional. Served with sambal olek for the spicy food fans.
Belinda
Just made this last night & it was beautiful!!
Richa
Yay
Erin
This recipe is delicious and the measurements are perfect! I can’t wait to play around with it and continue to perfect.
Vegan Richa Support
Love it!! recipes are guidelines – have fun
Marg
I am eating this as I am commenting and I can tell you that it is Simply Delicious I did not have a clove so I used a half a teaspoon of allspice and the mustard instead of the fenugreek leaves and it is awesome will definitely be making this again
Vegan Richa Support
I’m so glad you enjoyed this! 🙂
Amy
Delicious as always! Thank you!
Jana
This was so delicious! Your site is such a wonderful resource for plant based recipes.
Vegan Richa Support
Thank you Jana!
Samantha
brilliant! really tasty! ❤️
Vegan Richa Support
Many thanks !!!!
Jocelyn Flint
This was DELICIOUS. My daughter loves Chat Masala (she actually sprinkles chat masala over plain rice as a snack) so I substituted that for the Garam Masala. SO GOOD. This is a keeper. Thank you!
Richa
aweesome!
Laura
I’ve made a fair few of your curries already and this one is my new favourite. It looked exactly like yours and tasted absolutely amazing. I can’t comment on leftovers because we ate the whole thing!
The only changes I made were to replace the cardamom (which didn’t make it on to the shopping list) with 1/8 of a tsp of cinnamon and 3 cloves, and I used half the amount of salt and sugar.
Thanks for your fantastic website and please keep the deliciousness coming!!!
Richa
awesome
Susan
Looks interesting, love Indian food but alas, paneer not vegan so baked flavored tofu excellent sub. Few questions, do you peel og ginger? and can use maybe 1/4 tsp fenugreek seeds as sub for leaves? Thankyou for pictures and great tips! Can tell it will be delicious!
Richa
no i dont peel the ginger, you may peel it. yes use 1/8 tsp seeds, powder them and use, as the seeds a quite bitter
Amy
This is absolutely delicious! I’ve made it so many times and my kids love it. I was running late one day and didn’t pre fry the tofu and it still had such a great texture still so that was good to find out. Love that any vegetable goes well in it too. It’s a staple in our house 🙂
Richa
Awesome! Yes i often add cubed tofu as is or lightly pan fried, the sauce has tonsof flavor already!
Julia
A real treat! Thank you for sharing your recipes – I was confident enough to make this for the first time for a guest and all went smoothly – in about an hour. Everyone loved it!
Richa
Thats awesome!!
Mike
Going to try this one tonight!
Dona
Just made it…it’s simply.. awesome… can’t get enough!
Richa
awesome!
Dipanjan Sarkar
Both Veg Manchurian & Veg Spring roll are Vegan
Kirthika
Hi Richa,
Amazing recipes 🙂 . When you say 1 serving, may I ask what is the amount per serving? This is as per usual Indian adult?
Richa
yes more like a womans portion. Mean can eat a lot more sometimes 🙂
Christine Kemfort
This is such an easy to make and delicious recipe. Even my picky husband ate and loved it.
Richa
Awesome!
Laana
Delicious and simple to make! Added some coconut cream and vegan butter. We ate it with cooked quinoa (ran out of rice). Thank you for a great recipe!
Richa
awesome!
Jane May
My family loved this dish. The sauce is amazing, I used dried mustard as per suggested substitution. If more people knew vegan food tasted this good more people would eat vegan food!
Richa
awesome!
Delnora
Richa, yours is my go-to blog these days for delicious vegan cooking.
This recipe was delicious. Definitely not a quick weeknight meal, but that’s okay. I made it on the weekend and enjoyed the whole process. Would be a great company meal. I might back off the cayenne just a touch next time I make it.
I doubled the recipe – but just did 14 oz tofu plus a drained can of garbanzo beans. Also added in some left over roasted cauliflower from the fridge! Served with basmati rice and some fresh chopped greens from the garden on the side.
Keep up the good work, xoxo
Richa
yum! awesome!!
Cassie Autumn Tran
Wow, what a delicious looking curry! I have never tried lababdar before, but I would love to recreate this recipe to do so. It looks fabulous!
Humblebun
I noticed that you wrote to use mix of cumin and coriander for the gram masala.. can this be the case for your other recipes? I have a allergy to spicy foods.
Richa
yes use a mix of cumin and coriander and a pinch of cinnamon if you wish. Garam masala doesnt always have heat, but the combination of spices like cloves can make it feel hot.
Fiona Harrower
so good!
Kim
Absolutely FABULOUS! I will share with my sisters. Honestly, I couldn’t stop eating the sauce out of the pot!!!
Richa
awesome!
Cheryl
Another delicious dish! Thanks for all your wonderful recipes. Don’t have to worry about storing leftovers. It’s all gone the 1st day.
Richa
yay!
Charlie
Ooooh, does this ever look great! I will be making this very soon. Thanks for the recipe!
Dhanya Samuel
Using tofu instead of paneer is really interesting; would be great when having vegan friends over for dinner
Linnea Hanson
This just so happens to be exactly what I was looking for when I went to your site, today. It didn’t even get to my inbox yet. We made it for dinner and it was amazing!!!
Richa
awesome!!
The Vegan 8
This looks incredible Richa! So making it this week. I have all the ingredients (yay) except fenugreek, so I will use the dry mustard!
Richa
Awesome!
Mary S
Another must-make, which I’m sure will be just as delicious as the other recipes of Richa’s that I’ve made. I moved about 650 miles west of where I was living for the last 15 yrs last summer; made sure I brought my copy of Richa’s Indian cookbook with me. Found where to get Super Firm tofu here: doesn’t need to be pressed and if you use it in a Richa recipe you can’t tell that it’s not paneer.
Richa
awesome! yes definitely use super firm if you have good one available!
Sue
Congrats Richa on this anniversary! Time sure does fly. You are my #1 go-to for reliable recipes. I really appreciate all of your hard work. Thank you so much.
Richa
Thank you so much Sue. I know right. It feels like its been 10 years, but just been 4!
Ahaana Sharma
There are many sites that provide recipes but I love this site the most because with the recipes you also provide tips which are really useful for beginners like me. Thanks for sharing this recipes. Keep updating with more such posts.
Richa
Thanks!