Tofu "Tikka" must be trending because I saw recipes for it all over the Internet last month and was intrigued enough to recreate this (without referring to any one of the recipes that I had seen as often happens when one cooks a lot.) The photo does not do the dish justice -- it is hard to photograph something cream colored well -- but I really did enjoy this. I ate it as is when I got home from work having missed lunch but, next time, will serve it on a bed of curried creamed spinach with a grain of some kind on the side.
1 block firm tofu, cubed
1/2 cup full-fat Greek yogurt
1 tsp Garam masala
1/2 tsp grated fresh ginger root
Salt to taste
Mix everything but the tofu together to create a paste. Gently stir in the tofu, making sure that each side of each cube has a coating of spiced yogurt but without breaking any of the cubes. Cover and refrigerate for 24 hours.
When ready to eat, preheat the oven to 450.
Give the tofu cubes a stir as they will have lost some of their liquid content into the yogurt paste and remove one by one onto a lightly oiled parchment lined baking tray. Do not wipe off the yogurt paste but do use tongs to remove the cubes from the yogurt mixture so as to allow excess to remain behind.
Bake for 5 minutes. Turn the cubes over and bake for an additional 5.
Turn on the broiler and broil on each side for a minute or so until small charred dots start to appear on the surface of each cube.
Remove from the oven. At this point you could squeeze on some lemon juice or drizzle a few drops of hot sauce over the top of the tofu if you wanted. I settled for a light dusting of Maldon salt. No matter how you finish the tofu before eating it, the end result will be the same -- little pillows of lightly spiced custardy tofu encased in a slightly chewy crust.