Tofu Scramble with Turmeric, Peppers, and Black Salt

General Fast With Oil Published August 02, 2026

Fasting mornings are where discipline usually breaks, because there is nothing to eat that fills you. This fixes that. A block of tofu crumbled into a hot pan gives you thirty-plus grams of protein in ten minutes, which is more than three eggs and holds you longer.

Two ingredients make it taste like something rather than like plain tofu: turmeric for color and earth, and kala namak — black salt — for the sulfurous note that reads unmistakably as egg. Black salt is cheap, keeps forever, and is sold in any Indian grocery. Add it off the heat; cooking dulls it.

Firm tofu crumbled by hand gives better texture than silken, which goes to slurry. Serve with bread, potatoes, or rolled into a wrap for the road.

FASTING LEVEL: Fast With Oil
SERVINGS: 3
TIME: 20 minutes

INGREDIENTS

- 450g firm or extra-firm tofu, drained and pressed 10 minutes
- 3 tablespoons olive or neutral oil
- 1 onion, diced
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 3 tablespoons unsweetened plant milk or water
- 100g spinach or chopped kale
- 3/4 teaspoon kala namak (black salt), to finish
- Black pepper
- Chives or scallions, sliced
- Hot sauce, to serve

METHOD

1. Crumble the tofu with your hands into a bowl, leaving pieces in a range of sizes — some large curds, some fine. Uniform crumbles feel monotonous.

2. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high. Add the onion and bell pepper and cook 6 minutes until softened and beginning to char at the edges.

3. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute.

4. Add the crumbled tofu and spread it out. Let it sit undisturbed 3 minutes to brown on one side, then stir.

5. Sprinkle over the turmeric, smoked paprika, cumin, and nutritional yeast. Stir to coat, then add the plant milk to loosen and bring everything together. Cook 3-4 minutes until heated through and slightly creamy.

6. Add the spinach and cook 1 minute until wilted.

7. Off the heat, add the black salt and plenty of black pepper. Taste — it should be well seasoned and savory. Finish with chives and hot sauce.

NOTES

- For strict no-oil days: dry-cook the tofu in a nonstick pan and use vegetable broth in place of oil to soften the vegetables. Black salt and nutritional yeast still carry it.
- Kala namak is essential to the effect. Regular salt makes a fine dish, just a different one.
- Add a can of drained black beans or a handful of cooked lentils to stretch it to four servings.
- Leftovers are good cold in a wrap with hummus and greens.