I've been making dryfried tofu, pretty much a straight lift from Vera at The Hungry Tiger, for years. For some reason, though, it hadn't occurred to me to experiment with other spices until the other night.

I was going through the spice cabinet, trying to figure out what to do for food, until I found a half-full jar labeled "shawarma". Apparently, this was all my brain needed to jump straight to dryfried shawarma tofu. Completely inauthentic! Done by a totally different cooking method! Not meat! DRYFRIED SHAWARMA TOFU.

Dryfried shawarma tofu

block of firm tofu
shawarma spices (mine are a mix from spicely)
green onion
zucchini
water
lemon wedge for juice

I didn't even use any garlic or ginger! You could dice some of those and fry them with the tofu, though.

Cut your tofu into appropriate searing squares. Toss them with enough shawarma spices to coat (or use any other spice blend you find appealing: tandoori, for instance, would be really good here). This is why it's called dryfried: the spice rub (so to speak) is all dry. Brown the tofu bits on all sides in a nonstick frying pan over medium heat, tossing them around occasionally.

While they're cooking, find a handful of green onion and a zucchini. Cut the green onion into pieces maybe two inches long. Cut the zucchini in half, then in strips to match. You can experiment with other steam-prone vegetables here; any softish green, summer squash, or reasonably delicate green bean would probably work.

When the tofu is sufficiently browned, toss the vegetables on top. Add a splash of water and a big squeeze of lemon juice, then whip on the pan lid. Leave things to steam for maybe three or four minutes, then take off the lid. If there's still water kicking around, cook it off. You'll notice that the green onions have magically become not just garnish but real vegetables with the character of sautéed greens! Yay! How awesome is that?

(Fairly awesome.)

Now eat! We had ours with long grain brown rice; any grain would be good. Or you could whip the whole business over a plate of ginger mashed potatoes: delicious and soporific.