Part healthy salad, part comforting pasta, this Tikka Masala Pasta Salad recipe has everything you love about your favorite Indian curry in one bowl. Serve fresh or make ahead for an easy vegan meal, and enjoy either warm or cold. Nutfree. Options for gluten-free Soyfree

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 10 minutes
  • Cook time: 25 minutes
  • Total time: 35 minutes
  • Yield: 4
  • Category: Main, Side
  • Cuisine: American, Indian

Ingredients

For the salad:

  • 4 ounces farfalle or other pasta cooked according to package instructions
  • 1 large tomato (thinly sliced or chopped)
  • 1/2 green bell pepper (thinly sliced)
  • 1/2 cup red onion (chopped)
  • 6 to 7 ounces of firm or extra firm tofu (chopped or made into thin slices or rectangles)
  • 3 to 4 tablespoons chopped pecans or other crunchy additions such as pumpkin seeds or hemp seeds or walnuts
  • 1/4 cup chopped cilantro

For the dressing:

  • 2.5 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 2 tablespoons non-dairy yogurt or use non dairy cream option such as coconut cream or cashew cream or blended up tofu
  • 1 tablespoon lime juice
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon garam masala (less or more to preference)
  • 1 teaspoon ground coriander
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
  • 3/4 teaspoon Kashmiri chili powder or paprika (less or more to preference)
  • 1/4 teaspoon cayenne (omit for less heat)
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried fenugreek leaves (or use 1/4 teaspoon ground mustard)
  • Optional: 1/2 cup to 1/4 cup of chickpeas

Method

  1. Cook the pasta according to the instructions on the package, drain and rinse in cold water and add to a bowl.
  2. Chop up the vegetables that you plan to use then add to a bowl. Add the tofu, cilantro and the nuts or seeds and mix well.

Make the dressing:

  1. Add all of the ingredients of the dressing into a bowl and mix really well. If the dressing is too thick add in a tablespoon or so of water and mix in. Heat it in a skillet or microwave until it just comes to a boil. Then taste and adjust salt and flavor, it will be salty but it’s going over the entire bowl so you want to keep it a bit on the salty side. Heating the dressing helps the spices bloom. Cool for a few minutes.
  2. Add this dressing to your salad bowl, and toss well to coat. Taste and adjust salt and flavour. Add more lime juice if needed, more black pepper if needed. Top it with some more fresh cilantro, let it chill for 15 minutes or more then serve.

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.