Tofu sothi

I guess it is safe to say that i never really sat to eat restaurant food until i was 16. Coming fr a small town where the womenfolk of my grandma's era took pride in providing homecooked for their families, eating outside especially by womenfolk was still frowned upon during my early years.

My late grandma being the only regular cook for the family as far as i remember believed in providing a wholesome fare. Hence we ate the best of fishes, high end vegetables and own homegrown poultries. At one time she even grew her own rice.

When comes to cooking we would hv a mix of traditional indian, a bit of chinese (the veges) and a fusion of some. I realised now she also had cooked a lot of other ethnic food like Sri Lankan and Kerala. I remember her thick creamy sothi, made from the coconuts off her trees, scraped by hand and squeezed out of 1st , 2nd and 3rd cream. I myself hv sat on the low stool coconut scrap many a times in 13s and 14s as i was on afternoon school and was at home in the mornings to see her cook. It was a task i used to dread together with the spice grinding and i cant imagine how the old lady managed it with ease even with her old age and body aches. (My mom seems to be complaining of body aches all the time even if she has to just stir fries some veges for her own consumption and enjoy an idle retirement. )

It was my grandmother and and my aunt mano who taught me to make sothi. How to heat it on low fire so that it doesnt curdle. And when granma made sothi, it was always accompanied with a fried fish dish or 'ikan rebus' par-boiled salted mackerel, with sambal petai (a touch of Malay cooking too). Sometimes she skips the plain sothi for sothi with taugeh and also fish sothi. I love eating sothi with just some pickles and rice.

So here it is, after a long winded intro, the tofu sothi. I dished it up yesterday for my now very particular vegetarian mother who is visiting, who has been complaining every food we give her or buy for her tastes like 'shit'. Hmm... with all those pills she pops in from headache to back ache, stomachache, to knee pain and leg ache to god knows what else, no wonder her tastebuds hv taken the toll. She disapproves of us taking non-vege in her presence, peering down her nose at our plates. Especially prawns, coz it was one her favourite seafood and she had to quit it when it started making her face swell. She drinks calf's milk tho, yes, i meant calf's milk, it rightfully belongs to those baby cows from whom we mean humans snatch away its milk. So vegetarians who drink milk and hv dairy stuff, you are no where better la. haha!

Tofu sothi, just squeeze half a scraped coconut with like a litre of water-try to use fresh coconut to make sothi as it tastes creamier, fragrant and refreshing- save the coconut powder for curries. Keep coconut milk aside.

I pre-sauted 5 cubed hard tofu in a tbsp of corn oil so that it browns a little.

Then boil a litre water with a tsp of fenugreek, 2 ring sliced big onions, a cup of chopped pumpkin, 2 halved green chillies, a ping pong ball sized tamarind soaked in a cup of water and squeezed out of its extract, also salt to taste.

As liquid begins to boil, i pour in the coconut milk and turn the heat very very low and keep stirring constantly so it doesnt boil and curdle, i also throw in whatever easily cooked vegetables at this point, my choice was 2 chopped tomatoes and a fistful of bak choy. Let veges soften a bit. Then lastly in goes the pre cooked tofu, check again the seasonings if it ok.

Remember not to allow coconut milk to boil and curdle, spoils the whole sothi experience. Dish out and serve with something spicy or tangy. I served with with artificial (?) chicken flavoured soya meat light masala and potatoes as old lady said she felt like having vegetarian chicken (!). My mom, Brownian motion personified.

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