Chickpea Tofu

Step 1

Rinse the dried chickpeas in a colander. Add them to a bowl, and cover with 2 inches of water. Soak overnight in the refrigerator.

Step 2

The next day, drain off the water, and transfer the chickpeas to a blender along with 2 cups of fresh water. Before you blend the chickpeas, prepare a cheesecloth bag set inside a large bowl. Now, blend the chickpeas until totally smooth. For reference, in my Vitamix blender, I pureed the chickpeas at speed 8 for 1 minute.

Step 3

Immediately pour the chickpea puree into the cheesecloth bag. The bean starch settles quickly. If you let it sit for more than even 30 seconds, pulse the liquid in the blender to redistribute the liquid and solids.

Step 4

Strain the liquid out of the cheesecloth bag, squeezing with your hands to get every drop of liquid. Set aside the chickpea pulp. Transfer the chickpea liquid to a medium pot. Set it over medium high heat, and heat until you see small bubbles around the edge of the pot. Reduce the heat to medium and cook for 6-8 minutes, stirring continuously until the liquid thickens into a thick gravy-like consistency that coats the back of a spoon. This whole cooking process takes about 10-12 minutes.

Step 5

Next, immediately transfer the cooked liquid to a heatproof container, ideally something that will yield a tofu block shape. Cover and cool slightly before transferring to the refrigerator overnight to set.

Step 6

The next day, flip the tofu container onto a flat plate. It should come out very easily and is ready to use!