Thai-Style Green Stir Fry with Marinated Tofu- vegan

This dish goes really well with noodles! We used soba, but to be more authentically Thai, you could use rice noodles or  cellophane noodles.

I have to admit it; I'd never tried cooking Thai food before I made this! I always liked it, but somehow never got round to actually making anything Thai, mainly because some of the exotic ingredients used to be so hard to find. This recipe idea was hanging around in our drafts folder for a few weeks, with some notes on what ingredients to use that I'd decided on by looking at various recipes for Thai green curry. Tonight we had the tofu already made, the fresh coriander and a jar of galangal powder, so I decided that it was now or never... except I had no kaffir lime leaves or fresh lemongrass, so I decided to improvise by using lemongrass and ginger teabags (!) and fresh lime juice. We can't call this dish Thai Green Curry, as it is not based on a curry paste, so we think "stir fry" is more accurate. We also refer to it as "Thai-style" because we're sure it's not totally authentic. Nevertheless, it's a delicious and satisfying main meal with a palette of complex aromatic, sweet, salty and spicy flavours which is well in keeping with the Thai ambience. We will definitely be trying Thai cooking again!

There are lots of different veggies you could use; shown here are white cabbage, broccoli and green peppers.

This recipe serves 4-6.
A couple of handfuls of chopped/ broken cashews or peanuts
400-500g cubed tofu- the firmer the better
oil for roasting and frying (ricebran, coconut or olive oil are all good)
Marinade:
2 lemongrass and ginger or plain lemongrass teabags steeped in 100ml boiling water for at least 5 minutes
100ml dark soy sauce
around 25g gour/ jaggery
1/2 tsp galangal powder
the juice of 2 fresh limes
Stir Fry:
one fresh medium-mild red or green chilli, minced
1 rounded tab ground coriander
1 flat tab ground cumin
1/2 tsp hing
1 tsp salt
800g mixed vegetables- try white cabbage, shredded kale, baby corn, mangetout, celery, green beans, broccoli, peppers etc.
200g sprouted mung beans
100g (or more if you like) fresh coriander leaf
300ml coconut milk (nearly a whole tin)

• First roast the nuts in a little oil and salt until they are starting to brown. Be careful not to overcook them. Set aside.
• Make up the marinade by thoroughly mixing all the ingredients together. Discard the teabags. 
• Then spend a few minutes stir-frying the tofu until it is lightly browned. Leave it in the marinade.
• Prepare all the vegetables; shred the cabbage and cut the rest into matchsticks. If using broccoli or cauliflower, make sure the florets are small. Finely chop the fresh coriander.
• Stir-fry all the veg apart from the coriander and beansprouts in the oil until they are tender but still with a little "bite" to them. Fry the cabbage first, and add the chilli and spices just before the other veg. (I used a large wok.)
• Stir in the coconut oil, the coriander and the beansprouts; remove the tofu from the marinade and throw in the leftover liquid, simmering gently for a couple of minutes until the veg is tender and the sauce has thickened.
• Serve with your favourite noodles or rice, topped with the cubes of tofu and the roasted nuts.

PS: This can be gluten free; just serve with rice or gluten free noodles, and use a wheat free soy sauce!