Persian Tofu Kebabs with Tabouli & Red Onion Salad
Recipe / Adam Guthrie
Persian food is simple yet abundantly colourful.
Serves: 4
Marinade
¼ tsp saffron threads, crushed & dissolved in 1–2 tbsp hot water
2 cups water
1 small brown onion, diced
⅔ cup lemon juice
¼ cup raw cashews, soaked in hot water for 10 mins
¼ tsp turmeric
½ tsp cracked pepper
Salt, to taste
450g firm tofu
Tabouli
1 cup cooked quinoa 3 cups fresh parsley, finely chopped
1 cup fresh mint, finely chopped
½ red onion, finely diced
1 Lebanese cucumber, diced
3 tomatoes, diced
Juice ½ lemon
Salt, to taste
Red Onion Salad
½ red onion, very finely sliced
¼ tsp sumac
Juice ½ lemon
12 baby truss tomatoes
Noom barbari (recipe on page 114)
To make the marinade, dissolve the crushed saffron threads in 1–2 tbsp of hot water in a bowl for 2–3 mins. Add the water, diced onion, lemon juice, cashews, turmeric, pepper and salt and the saffron bowl water to a blender and blend until smooth.
For the tofu kebabs, skewer the tofu cubes onto wooden skewers then submerge them in the marinade for a minimum of 2 hours to soak up the colour and flavour. Remove the kebabs from the marinade and place on a plate ready to grill. Cook the tofu skewers on a hot non-stick grill, turning until the tofu is golden brown on all sides.
For the tabouli, place the cooked quinoa, parsley and mint, red onion, cucumber, tomatoes, lemon juice and salt into a bowl and mix well.
For the red onion salad, add the onion, lemon juice and dust with sumac spice and serve.
For the grilled tomatoes, skewer the tomatoes and cook on a hot grill, turning until the tomatoes are
