Vegan Karbonāde, Latvian inspired crispy tofu cutlets served with a mushroom cream sauce and dill potatoes.
Serving Vegan Karbonāde
The recipe details the traditional accompaniments to Latvian Karbonāde. The mushroom cream sauce is delicious and goes really well with the crispy tofu cutlets. The dill potatoes are now our favourite potato side dish.
When chanterelle mushrooms are in season we highly suggest using them in the creamy mushroom sauce. They add an extra peppery and fruity taste to the sauce that’s divine.
Cooking Tips – Crispy Tofu Cutlets
- To make sure the tofu cutlets stay crispy, they are best eaten as soon as possible after cooking. So start by cooking the potatoes and mushroom sauce then finish with the tofu cutlets.
- The smoked paprika adds a wonderful smokey flavour to the tofu.
- Panko breadcrumbs are the best coating for the crispiest cutlets. However, use leftover bread if you have any to save on food waste.
- Make sure to press the tofu before coating. This will give the tofu a better, more meaty texture.
- You don’t need to use much oil to fry these. Just make sure the oil covers half the tofu cutlets.
Vegan Karbonāde (Latvian Tofu Cutlets)
Latvian inspired crispy tofu cutlets served with a mushroom cream sauce and dill potatoes.
Ingredients
Mushroom Cream Sauce
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 250 g mushrooms sliced
- 1 small onion diced
- 80 ml vegan cooking cream
- 20 ml lemon juice
- Fresh dill finely chopped
Dill Potatoes
- 500 g new potatoes
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
- 30 g plant-based butter melted
- 60 ml vegan cream
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 2 tablespoon dill finely chopped
Crispy Tofu Cutlets
- 300 g firm tofu
- ½ cup gram flour
- ½ cup unsweetened plant-based milk
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1½ cups panko breadcrumbs
- 1 cup vegetable oil
Instructions
- Start by cooking the potatoes and mushroom sauce then finish with the Tofu Cutlets to make sure the cutlets stay crispy.
Mushroom Cream Sauce
- Heat the oil in a pan over medium heat. Once hot add the sliced mushrooms and stir to coat them in the oil. Let the mushrooms cook, stirring occasionally until all the liquid has been released and they are begining to brown around the edges. This will take 10 to 15 minutes.
- Add the onions with a good pinch of salt and cook until they are soft and translucent, around 6 minutes.
- Add the cooking cream and lemon juice and continue to cook for a couple of minutes to heat up the cream. Turn off the heat then mix in the chopped dill.
- Taste and adjust the seasoning. We added ½ teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon black pepper.
Dill Potatoes
- Wash the baby potatoes and cook them the way you like. We like steaming them with the skin on until just fork-tender, around 15-20 minutes depending on the size of the potatoes. The skin can easily be peeled off after they have cooled. Set aside for later.
- Once cooked, drain the excess oil on kitchen paper.
- Add the rest of the ingredients to a pot over medium heat. Bring to a boil then add the potatoes and coat them in the sauce.
- Taste and adjust the seasoning.
Crispy Tofu Cutlets
- Prepare the tofu. Make sure it has been pressed for at least 10 minutes to remove excess water. Once pressed, cut into large slabs about 1cm thick.
- Season the tofu all over with salt and freshly cracked black pepper.
- Now prepare the dredging station. In one bowl sift in the gram flour then add the unsweetened plant-based milk, nutritional yeast, smoked paprika and salt. Mix well with a whisk to remove all lumps. The batter should be thick.
- In another bowl add the panko breadcrumbs.
- Heat the vegetable oil in a frying pan to around 170°C. Make sure the oil is deep enough to shallow fry.
- Once the oil is hot, dredge each tofu slice, firstly in the gram flour mix, then finally in to the breadcrumbs. You can use a spoon to spoon over the gram flour mix to fully coat the tofu. Cook in the hot oil on each side until golden brown, around 2 minutes on each side.
- Serve the cutlets with a generous portion of the mushroom sauce and potatoes and garnish with more freshly chopped dill.
Tried this recipe?Mention @mikeronm or tag #theveganplanetkitchen!
