Meera Sodha's vegan recipe for tofu meatballs in lemongrass curry | The new vegan

"Meatballs in whatever shape or form, and meatless or not, are not usually considered to be the latest thing. But they are like old friends, familiar and comforting, and, as such, I've been wanting to make a plausible vegan- (and tofu-) based one for some time. A little joyful nugget that could be taken in any direction, from Swedish kottbullar to Vietnamese bun cha."

"Put the tofu, breadcrumbs, two tablespoons of sambal oelek and the white pepper in a food processor and blitz to a malleable dough. Transfer the dough to a clean work surface, divide it into four even pieces, then divide each piece in five and roll into small balls weighing about 30g each. Put the 20 tofu balls on a plate and chill in the fridge for 15 minutes to firm up."

"In a small blender, blitz the lemongrass, garlic, ginger, lime leaves, the remaining four tablespoons of sambal oelek and two tablespoons of oil to make a paste. Take the tofu balls out of the fridge, and put two tablespoons of oil in a wide nonstick frying pan on a medium to high heat. Fry the tofu balls for 10 minutes, turning frequently, until golden all over, then tip back on to the plate."

Firm tofu, dried breadcrumbs and sambal oelek are blitzed into a malleable dough and seasoned with ground white pepper. The dough is divided into twenty 30g balls, chilled to firm, then fried in oil until golden. A paste of lemongrass, garlic, ginger, makrut lime leaves, sambal oelek and oil is cooked briefly, then combined with coconut milk and simmered to create a lemongrass coconut curry sauce. The fried tofu balls are returned to the pan to coat in the curry. The dish is finished with coriander leaves and served with steamed jasmine rice.

Read at www.theguardian.com