Crispy Harissa Tofu Flatbreads With Kebab House Garlic Yoghurt
For re-experiencing your youth without the stomach ache
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I’ve got a mercifully quick preamble this week because my in-laws are visiting. I’m writing this in the short time I have before we take a long walk along the Atlantic coast just south of Porto. Beautiful and life-affirming, yes. Conducive to getting work done, not so much.
Things in bread may be my favourite food category. Things that remind me of food eaten at 2 am from the local takeaway joint is probably my second.
Today I’m marrying the two together and throwing in an ingredient that Mr. Egg (Birmingham’s premier 24-hour takeaway and the scene of many a Saturday night in my early 20s) would never consider.
Tofu.
Thanks to young TikTok vegan food influencers, tofu is shaking its dusty old image of sandal-wearing hippies and glowing up.
I’m not upset about that at all. Because when handled well, tofu is a wonder.
Whilst I’m partial to shallow frying tofu — like in my peanut and miso noodle soup — you can also crisp it up in the oven which is what I’ve done for this recipe. The edges blacken, the little bits get all crunchy and, because tofu is like a sponge, whatever you smother it with permeates through every little nook and cranny.
I went with harissa, that smoky, spicy North African sauce I’m slowly becoming a little obsessed with.
Then there’s the yogurt. Garlic yogurt is a takeaway staple in the UK where I grew up. I used to persuade the men working behind Mr. Egg’s counter to give me extra so I could douse my kebab in that punchy, almost spicy garlic sauce.
And finally, freshness from a Chimichurri-inspired sauce with a spicy kick. Just call it your vitamin C dose.
Put the lot together and you have something worthy of lunch, dinner, or indeed a late-night snack (make it before you go out) if you’re still a reveler. The 2 am snack still sometimes makes an appearance in my house, so I’m with you.
Right, I’m off to walk the boardwalk with the in-laws. See y’all next week.
Crispy Harissa Tofu With Kebab House Garlic Yoghurt
Serves 4
Flatbreads
1 batch of basic flatbread dough
Crispy Harissa Tofu
500g / 17oz firm or extra-firm tofu either grated on the large side of a box grater or crumbled by hand into small pieces.
4-5 tbsp harissa paste (storebought or homemade)
Chimichurri sauce
Finely chopped parsley - around 8 tbsp once chopped (approx 1/2 cup)
2 garlic cloves smashed into a paste with the help of a little sea salt and the back of a chef’s knife
3 tbsp good quality olive oil
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1/2 a red chilli finely chopped
Sea salt to taste
Kebab house garlic yoghurt
200g / 3/4 cup plain yoghurt
2 garlic cloves smashed with a little sea salt on the back of a chef’s knife
Extra salt to taste (if required)
Pre-heat the oven to 180C / 350F.
Mix the harissa and crumbled tofu. Spread onto an oiled sheet pan.
Stick the tofu in the oven until there are little bits of crispy tofu hanging around in the pan. This will take around 30-40 minutes. Turn every 10 minutes.
Mix all the chimichurri ingredients. Put it in a bowl and stick it on the table.
Mix all the garlic yogurt ingredients. Put it in a bowl and stick it on the table.
Split the bread dough into four, eight, or 12 balls depending on how large you like your flatbreads. I often make eight for four people, but it depends on how much time I have on my hands.
Heat a frying pan on a high heat. Roll out each flatbread into a flatbread-thick circle (thin, but not flour tortilla thin).
Stick in the frying pan until bubbles form on the surface. Lift a corner of the bread and check the underside. If it’s browned, it’s good to flip.
Once the other side is browned (it’ll take just a minute or two), wrap the flatbreads in a clean tea towel whilst you make the others.
Assemble your flatbreads. A good smear of garlic yoghurt, topped with tofu and a good dollop or two of chimichurri.
The flatbreads
Storebought pitas or flatbreads are a good alternative if you don’t want to make your own. Corn tortillas will do nicely if you’re gluten-free.
The crispy tofu
If you’re a meat person, swap the tofu for one of the spiced meat recipes I’ve got all over The Capsule Pantry:
The chimichurri
Whilst the OG herb in chimichurri is parsley, I’ve also made it with coriander. You could also make a mixture of the two.
Red wine vinegar is acid in many Chimichurri recipes. Feel free to swap the fresh lemon juice for RWV if you have it in your cupboard.
If you don’t have fresh chillies to hand (it’s not the season for them after all), you could substitute with dried chilli flakes or — as I did — diced pickled chillies.
The kebab house yogurt sauce
Variations of this sauce include Greek tzatziki and Swooshable labneh.
If you’re dairy-free, you can swap the yoghurt for a dairy-free alternative, or make hummous.
One more thing:
If the chilli isn’t hot enough for you in the chimichurri, consider dolloping some hot sauce (homemade or store-bought) over the top of this dish. If you’re a chilli-head, you won’t be sorry.
I’ve seen too many random bits of tofu leftover to not give you some waste-minimising ideas. You can:
Shallow fry cubes of it and cover it in my peanut-soy “everything” sauce
Freeze it for later use
If you don’t get through much plain yogurt, consider making labneh balls with whatever’s left in the pot. They last for weeks in the fridge.
If you’ve got leftover harissa, go for:
Leftover parsley / coriander can go into:
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Thank you for the inspiration, lovely