How to make a vegan bean curd salad that will leave your taste buds tingling

This dish is a variation of a salad I make, where I stir-fry onion with mustard seeds, curry leaf and chillies, and serve the mixture over a platter of ripe, sweet, raw tomatoes of various sizes and colours. The contrast between the hot onion and room temperature tomatoes is lovely. But I wanted a more substantial dish that I can serve as a main course to vegetarians, and this is the result.

Turmeric- and chilli-spiced bean curd with tomatoes, onion and mustard seeds

This is a vividly flavoured dish that you can make as spicy or mild as you like. It should have a touch of chilli, though, because the almost-raw tomatoes will cool the palate.

Use white onion to make this – not brown onion. White onions have a sweeter, milder flavour, which is important because they’re cooked just briefly, so they stay a little crisp.

Buy blocks of medium-firm bean curd and pan-fry it carefully, using a metal spatula to turn the pieces over, so they don’t break up.

Take care not to overcook the mustard seeds or they will be bitter; they need about 10 seconds in the hot oil. And the tomatoes should also be cooked briefly, just to heat them through, but not so they start to fall apart.

For the topping:
1 white onion, about 250 grams (9 oz), peeled
2 garlic cloves, peeled
300 grams (10 ½ oz) ripe, sweet cherry tomatoes, preferably a mix of colours
2-4 red or green bird’s eye chillies, depending on how spicy you like it
2 stalks (about 12cm/4 ¾ in) fresh curry leaves
¾ tsp black mustard seeds
1 tsp fine sea salt, divided

For the bean curd:
3 blocks firm bean curd, about 250 grams (9 oz) each
50 grams (1/4 cup and 2 ½ tbsp) plain (all-purpose) flour
½ tsp fine sea salt
¼-½ tsp chilli powder
¼ tsp ground turmeric
Cooking oil, as necessary