Of Donkeys & Dhoklas

My friend VK and I run a fun and vibey Vegan Food Group on WhatsApp, where we discuss recipes, tips, and other topics related to vegan food. Click here to join! While many vegans enjoy eating soy tofu, many others avoid soy for some reasons. VK is among those who don’t eat soy, so she has been experimenting with non-soy tofu options. She tried pumfu — a soy-free, nut-free tofu alternative made with pumpkin seeds. She loved it and posted about it in the group. Even though I love my soy tofu, I thought of giving pumfu a try just for fun. And it is so good!

There are many homemade pumfu recipes you can find online, but mine is a little different. So I decided to share my method here. This method gives you soft, creamy, and evenly-textured pumfu that can be used in a variety of recipes.

My favorite way to eat pumfu is to make a tawa fry, but you can use it as a direct replacement for tofu in any recipe. VK makes pumfu kofta, pumfu stir fry, shahi pumfu, kebabs, vegan pumfu eggs, scrambled pumfu, etc. So once you learn how to make your own pumfu, you can have fun experimenting with it! Since pumpkin seeds are nutritious, pumfu is a great option to try, even if you eat soy tofu.

Enjoy!

Homemade Pumfu

Preparation time: 30 minutes + setting time

1 Indian tea cup = 150 ml

This recipe yields around 4 servings of pumfu

You need:

• 2 cups raw pumpkin seeds

• 6 cups water, plus more for soaking

• 2 teaspoons Apple Cider Vinegar/lemon juice

Method:

1. Soak the raw pumpkin seeds in plenty of water for 5 to 6 hours. Drain and rinse well.

2. Transfer the soaked pumpkin seeds to a mixer jar. Add 1.5 cups of fresh water and grind on the highest speed setting to get a thick and creamy paste. Add the rest of the water and blend well again to get a slurry. You may have to do this in batches, depending on the capacity of your mixer jar.

3. Strain this slurry using a nut milk bag or a fine mesh sieve to get pumpkin seed milk. Reserve the pulp; we’ll discuss its uses later.

4.  Pour the pumpkin seed milk into a deep-bottomed saucepan or kadhai, and bring to a boil on medium-high heat, stirring continuously. If you don’t stir continuously, it will stick to the bottom of the pan.

Note: it is important to boil the pumpkin seeds milk immediately after extracting; otherwise, it may not curdle to yield pumfu.

5. Once the pumpkin seed milk comes to a boil (it may take around 3-4 minutes), it will start curdling by itself. Now add the apple cider vinegar or lemon juice and mix well. The milk will continue to curdle, and lumps of pumfu will begin to form. Let the mixture boil for a few more seconds so that more pumfu gets separated from the whey. Switch off the heat.

6. Place a colander over a large bowl and line it with with damp cotton cloth. Transfer the curdled pumpkin milk to the colander. The cloth holds the pumfu lumps while the whey collects in the bowl. Let the pumfu lumps cool for a few minutes.

7. Transfer the pumfu lumps to a mixer jar and blend on high speed until smooth and creamy. This step is important to get soft, creamy pumfu with a uniform texture.

Variation: you may add a pinch of salt and a sprinkling of spices like red chilli powder, jeera powder, and pepper powder to the pumfu pulp to make masala pumfu. Or you could add a little Italian or Mexican seasoning.

8. Line your tofu press* with damp cotton cloth and pour in the pumfu mixture. Cover it over gently with the cloth. Now place the tofu press lid on top and weigh it down with any heavy object (mortar and pestle, for e.g.). Leave the pumfu to drain and set for around 2-3 hours.

9. Carefully remove the weight and gently unmold the pumfu block. Refrigerate for a few hours to firm it up further. Now you can slice the pumfu and use it in any dish you want to 🙂

*I use Manani Tofu Press. You can use any brand you like.

How to store the pumfu?

Wrap the pumfu block in a damp cotton cloth and place it in an airtight container or zip-lock pouch, then refrigerate. Rinse the pumfu in fresh water and repeat this process daily to maintain the freshness and prevent microbial activity. Pumfu can be stored this way for at least 5-6 days.

What to do with the leftover pumpkin seed pulp and whey?

1. Use the leftover whey to make dal/rajma, soup, or any gravy dish.

2. You can add the residual pumpkin seed pulp to smoothies, roti dough, or dosa/cheela batter. You can even mix it with mashed potatoes, add salt and spices to taste, and make cutlets out of it.

3. You can dehydrate and grind the residual pumpkin seed pulp leftover after extracting the milk to get a nutty-flavored, naturally gluten-free powder. Add this powder to smoothies or mix with enough date paste to make laddus.