Naturopathic Control: Chickpea Tofu

Chickpea tofu is high in protein. For this reason, it is liked among vegans. While it has similar nutritional content as conventional soy tofu, it is suitable for people on a soy-free diet. When compared with soy tofu, chickpea tofu has less protein. Despite the similarities, it differs in a few noteworthy ways. For instance, compared with soy tofu, chickpea tofu is a richer source of many minerals and vitamins such as vitamin B6, thiamin, iron, zinc and phosphorus. On the other hand, it has less potassium, magnesium, niacin, riboflavin, copper and vitamin C. Consider details like this in terms of your personal dietary concerns. For instance, someone on a reduced potassium diet (perhaps due to kidney disease concerns) may prefer chickpea tofu over soy tofu.

This post features a recipe that has been inspired by YouTuber Mary's Test Kitchen. The recipe makes tofu that is so firm that it can even be boiled for at least 2 minutes or otherwise cooked. Unlike many other cases, it does not even require gypsum or other coagulants.

Steps for making chickpea tofu

Soak dried chickpeas overnight in cold water
Drain chickpeas
Blend thoroughly in cold water that is double the volume of the chickpeas. (The ideal homogeneity occurs after roughly 30 seconds with a powerful VitaMix blender).
Squeeze and wring through nut bag until the fiber in the bag is dry. (The fibers will not be used. Rather than toss them, you can freeze them for other projects. See other by-product project ideas below).
Allow the milk to rest on the counter for roughly 1.5 hours. This is to allow the maximum amount of starch to settle. (In tofu making, isolating / removing starch is ideal to render a bouncy, even chewy textured tofu that will not crumble. FYI, this starch can be used as a corn starch substitute for purposes like thickening gravy or batter ingredient to make your fried foods crispy. See other by-product project ideas below)
As much as possible, remove the liquid without disturbing the starch layer. You can do this with a soup ladle and turkey baster.
Use a heavy saucepan to simmer the milk on high heat. Use a flat bottomed spatula to keep stirring the milk to prevent sedimentation and burning. When the milk reaches a simmering point (ie at a temperature just below its boiling point), allow to continue simmering for roughly 10 minutes. Use a thermometer for this. Coagulation can usually occur at around 82C. (As with any other legume, you should aim to cook through the chickpeas so as to counteract the antinutrient effect of uncooked legumes. Antinutrient legumes prevent proper absorption of nutrients.)
The milk should begin to coagulate, on its own. (Coagulation is the process in which a liquid changes into a solid or semisolid state. A tofu maker dreams of getting curds that are as big as possible that separate clearly from the remaining liquid, called the whey. To this end, makers must usually add calcium sulfate (aka gypsum) to milk at the end of the simmering stage. However, chickpea self coagulates without needing a coagulant.)
Remove from heat and allow to stand for 15 minutes (as per the usual tofu making process. This rest time gives the milk to form more curds if it can.)
Remove the curds (ie the solids) from the whey (ie the liquid). To this end, you may use a spoon with small holes, a colander or strainer.
Place a tofu cloth into a drainable mold. (A tofu cloth allows remaining whey to drain out if the curbs are pressed. A grade 100 cheesecloth is adequate. DIY molds that also allow drainage include strainers or colanders.)
After wrapping the curbs inside of the tofu cloth, allow to cure with a weight on top of the wrapped curds. DIY weights include books, jars and the like. The weight allows the curds to bond while forcing remaining whey out of the tofu. (The whey is not part of the tofu. However, you may experiment with it for soups or other projects. See by-product projects below.)
Allow the tofu to remain refrigerated in the mold for 24 hours. Refrigeration encourages the curbs to bind.
When you unwrap and cut the loaf of tofu, a cube of your new tofu should be bouncy (as opposed to crumble).
Cooking ideas:

Coat tofu cubes with a combination of spices like nutritional yeast, salt, paprika, onion powder, garlic powder and oil before stir frying.

A YouTube video by Mary's Test Kitchen called 'Will chickpeas tofu? Finally, we find out'

CONTENT RELATED TO CHICKPEA TOFU / GARBANZO TOFU

Projects with by-products of this recipe

Falafel.
Mixing the starch back into the pulp, and using it to make falafel is a great way to use up the byproduct of chickpea tofu, and it makes for some of the best falafel I've ever had.