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Many of the best soups, stews, and braises start with careful browning that creates a flavor that’s rich and seductive.

The chances are the last thing that come to mind when you read the above was tofu. But what makes this dish work, as I wrote back in 2000, is careful browning of onions – which takes a while, but it so worth it. (Avoid burning at all costs or the dish will be bitter instead of sweet.)

When the onions are done, you add curry powder, which also needs to brown – or toast – for 30 seconds or so to cook out the raw intensity of the spice. Then come chopped walnuts or cashews: toast them, too. Between the onions, curry powder, and nuts, there is a tremendous amount of flavor generated up front. I would even go so far as to call it rich and seductive.

With all of the heavy lifting done in the beginning, the rest of this curry comes together very quickly. You add coconut milk, which satisfyingly changes from white to rich yellow when it hits the skillet and then the tofu. Soy sauce provides most of the salt here, and a little cayenne the kick.

The tofu may get top billing here, but really – the browning does all the work.