Quick Tofu Bhurji (Indian Silken Tofu Scramble)

This quick and simple Indian silken tofu scramble (otherwise known as tofu bhurji), is a delicious and great way to start your morning. It’s a flavour packed spicy recipe, full of protein and with the addition of the sliced avocado, it is also full of healthy fats.

This Indian style tofu scramble recipe is an excellent way to make both your breakfasts and tofu, so much more exciting.

‘Bhurjee’ in Hindi translates to scrambled eggs in English, and put simply, it is a masala spiced twist on your classic scrambled eggs dish. To add a twist to the classic egg Indian bhurji, we are instead using a vegan substitute, silken tofu!

In India, a vegetarian diet often excludes eggs and this is known as a ‘pure vegetarian’ diet. On auspicious religious days or weeks in Hindu and Sikh religions, people often practice eating this pure form of vegetarianism, sometimes without onions and garlic too. I was actually vegetarian for five years and still to date, have regular weeks or months where I will eat only vegetarian meals.

For other interesting breakfasts check out my eggs kejriwal, my Bombay breakfast sandwich and my chicken shakshuka are excellent options. This recipe and my other Indian breakfasts will also pair excellently with a karak chai!

Tofu Scramble Ingredients

For this recipe, you will need the following ingredients:

Fresh-ingredients

1. One block of silken tofu – please make sure you use silken tofu and not firm tofu, as noted above, this will give it a nice eggy texture.
2. Half of a red onion – you can use more if you would like this mix to be particularly oniony. Or, you could also use one whole small onion.
3. Two cloves of garlic – skip out on this if you would prefer to not have garlic for your breakfast / brunch recipes, but this definitely adds a lot of depth of flavour and highly recommended.
4. One small to medium sized tomato – this will melt into the tofu mixture and combine really well, so don’t worry, its not too over powering!
5. One green chilli – if you wouldn’t like this too spicy, then you could also skip out on this, but again highly recommended and perfect to mimick an indian scramble.
6. Fresh coriander for garnish – you can also substitute this for parsley if you don’t like corriander.
7. A ripe avocado (for toast) – but this is optional and you could also skip out on this and have the tofu scramble on its own!

Masala ingredients

1. A table spoon of olive oil – you could also use less if you would prefer and are being conscious about your oil intake.
2. A half teaspoon of cumin seeds – ensure that you toast these first, as a first step. This allows the cumin seeds to properly toast and become fragrant.
3. Spices:
   1. A teaspoon of turmeric: this will add a really nice yellow colour, almost mimicking the colour of scrambled eggs.
   2. A teaspoon of red chilli powder: if you are not a red chilli powder fan, then please adjust and perhaps use cayenne pepper as a substitute.
   3. A teaspoon of Indian black salt (kala namak): for that eggy flavour, and all round is excellent as a flavour enhancement.
4. Vegan or normal cream cheese (for the toast and optional – but in my opinion this is a really great way to serve this dish.

Note that you can chop and change these seasonings and spices according to your preference.

If I had it to hand, I would have added a little bit of nutritional yeast and also some onion powder! A lot of tofu scramble recipes call for the use of Indian black salt and / or nutritional yeast for that eggy and cheesy flavour.

Why silken tofu instead of firm tofu?

Silken tofu is a type of soft tofu that is a lot more delicate in nature. The softness of it is perfect for resembling the creamy and buttery texture of eggs and this is why I chose it as opposed to firm tofu. Firm tofu is perfect for creating a nice bite to your meals.

Be careful with silken tofu as its texture means that it crumbles very quickly. Once out of the packaging, be sure to gently pat it dry with a paper towel and if you have time, you can also let it sit for around 30 mins before you use.

How to make tofu scramble? Step-by-step guide:

Notes:

1. Please note that I added the whole block of silken tofu (although the picture only shows half a block).
2. The tomatoes will release some juice, thus making the tofu bhurji mixture a little watery. If you want to get rid of the excess water, turn the heat up to high after step nine to ensure it is evaporated.
3. When stirring the masala and tofu together, be gentle and break the tofu up slowly. You still want to retain some texture to the tofu!
4. This is a spicy tofu recipe, but you can adjust the spice to your liking.

Tofu scramble vs eggs

Tofu is an excellent choice for vegans and pure vegetarians alike for getting in their protein. Tofu is also a great source of nutrients and generally speaking, quite versatile in nature. The BBC have a great article here on the benefits of Tofu.

Compared to eggs, which are also nutritionally rich, in order to make tofu interesting, you have to add lots of different (often, salty) flavours to it, whereas scrambled eggs don’t really have this requirement.

Scrambled eggs though, can get very boring and this is a different way of switching up your breakfasts.