Soya Chunks Kurma Recipe

We like soya chunks, for its meaty texture, for its flavour-absorbing nature and for all that protein it hides in there. What we are not a fan of is the smell it gives out. Here are a couple of tips shared by readers in my Chilli Soya Chunks Recipe post.

- Add some minced garlic to the nuggets and boil in water for 5 mins. Cool, squeeze out extra water and use
- Soak nuggets in a bowl of hot water along with 3-4 spoons of milk - that takes away the raw soya taste and leaves the soya nuggets creamy and smooth.

I have tried and they both work. I used the second method for this recipe. The list of ingredients may seem long but its all pantry staple in an Indian kitchen so you won't need to go running for anything, hopefully :)

Soya Chunks / Meal Maker Kurma Recipe
Serves: 2
Preparation time: 30 mins

Ingredients:
1.5 cup soya chunks
1 large onion, sliced long
1/2 cup chopped mixed vegetables (carrots, pea, beans, cauliflower, anything you have in the fridge)
1/4 cup grated coconut, ground in a mixer
1/2 cup coconut milk
1 tsp ginger garlic paste
2 green chillies
1 tsp red chilli powder (optional, or adjust to taste)
A pinch of turmeric powder
1 tbsp oil
Salt to taste

Spices:
1 bay leaf
2 pods cardamom
3 cloves
1" piece of cinnamon
1 star anise (optional)
1 tsp roasted jeera / cumin powder
1 tbsp coriander / malli powder


How I Made It:

1. Soak soya chunks in a bowl of hot water along with 3-4 spoons of milk. After about 20 mins, drain, squeeze out all excess water and set aside.

2. Heat oil in a pan and add the sliced onions. Fry until transparent and add all the spices. Fry for 2 mins until the flavour and smell comes out. Then add the ginger garlic paste, turmeric and chilly powder/green chillies. Fry for another 30 mins.

3. Next, add the ground coconut, mixed vegetables and soya chunks. Mix well and cook closed for about 10-12 mins until the vegetables are soft. There's no need to add any water, the soya chunks will give out water as they cook.

4. Once the vegetables are done, add salt, lower flame to sim and add the coconut milk. Mix well, bring to a soft boil and remove from fire.

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Meal Maker / Soya Chunks Cutlets Recipe

This recipe is almost entirely flicked from the sister's blog. She has always been better with her hands than me, so my cutlets look more rugged as compared to her chubby, smooth ones. I am guessing it tasted as good though because these did taste great.

Soya Chunks Cutlets

Soya chunks give a nice meatiness to the cutlets which is hard for vegetarians to come by. Even if you are not a huge fan of soya chunks, these may just turn you around because the infamous smell associated with soya chunks is absent in these cutlets and overall, these are healthier than their meat/fish counterparts.


Soya Chunks Cutlets 
Makes: 12


Ingredients:


For cutlets
1 cup soya chunks
1 large potato, boiled and mashed
1 large onion, chopped fine
1 tsp ginger garlic paste
1 tsp coriander powder / dhania powder / malli podi
2 green chillies, chopped fine (or 1 tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp garam masala (or any curry masala you have in hand)
A pinch of turmeric powder
1/4 tsp pepper powder
A few curry leaves
Salt to taste


For frying:
1 cup bread crumbs (toast 3-4 slices of bread dry and powder in the mixie)
1 beaten egg or a paste of 2tbsp maida with 2 tbsp water
Oil for deep frying




How I Made It:


1.. Soak the soya chunks in water for about 30 mins. Drain and squeeze excess water out.

2.Blend in a mixer until fine. Again squeeze out all excess water.

3. To this, add all the ingredients for the cutlets and mix well.

4. Shape this mixture into cutlets, dip first in the egg (or maida mixture) and then the bread crumbs. Deep fry until nicely browned. Make sure you keep the flame in medium-high so that the inside also gets cooked well.

5. Serve hot with ketchup, or just bite in!

Thanks for a lovely snack recipe sis. We loved it! :)

Moong Bean Sprouts Biryani with Soy Chunks

Moong Bean Sprouts Biryani with Soy Chunks

The Free Spirit Bloggers are back in action and this time the theme was chosen by Anu of Love and Lentil. She wanted us to make something with an ingredient or set of ingredients that we haven't cooked with so far os avoid because we don't like it. 

 My initial plan was to go make something with Quinoa. I have tried many Quinoa dishes over the past couple of years but never tried to make anything with it myself. Work interfered and soon I was left with little time to figure out what to do, and that's when I came across a bag of moong bean sprouts in Mustafa Centre.

TH hates sprouts and wouldn't even come anywhere near it, let alone eat a salad or chaat made with sprouts. I had to think a bit creative here. I knew I would have to add something into the mix that he really likes - and soya chunks was the answer. 


 Soon, the idea for the biryani formed in my head and here we are. A healthy and very flavourful biryani for vegetarians and easily made vegan if you so desire. 


Moong Bean Sprouts Biryani with Soya Chunks


Serves 2




Ingredients:
2 cups of cooked rice 
1 large onion 
2 tomatoes, pureed 
4 green chillies 
1" piece of ginger 
4 garlic cloves 
1 tsp of freshly ground mixture with 2 cloves, 2 cardamom, 1" piece of cinnamon 
1/2 tsp of black pepper powder 
1 cup of moon bean sprouts 
1/4 cup of soya chunks, cooked in boiling water for 5 mins, drained, and squeezed of extra water 
1/2 tsp  of jeera / cumin 
1 tsp of coriander powder 
1/2 tsp of red chilli powder 
A pinch of turmeric 
1 tbsp of ghee or oil
To taste salt 


How I Made It:


 1. Grind together the onion, green chillies, ginger, and garlic. 


 2. Heat oil or ghee and add the cumin. When it sizzles, add the onion paste and fry together until it turns a darker shade of brown. 


 3. Next, add the red chilli powder, turmeric, and coriander powder, fry for 5 seconds, and add the pureed tomato. Coon until the oil begins to show on the sides - about 10 mins. 


 4. Now add the bean srouts and the soya chunks. Mix well and heat until the mixture mingles well - about 3 mins. 


 5. Finally mix in the cooked rice, salt and pepper and mix well. 


 6. Garnish with freshly chopped coriander leaves / cilantro and serve hot with any raita of choice.

3-Way Tofu, Egg, and Vegetable Fried Rice

3-Way Tofu, Egg, and Vegetable Fried Rice

This is a very ad-hoc recipe that I concocted one night. I had some tofu in hand that needed to be used up and I was in no mood to cook a rice or roti, then a side-dish, etc.


 This post actually has 3 recipes, in a way. You can stop at two other stages on the way to making the tofu vegetable fried rice or go all the way and make it a one-pot meal.

3-Way Tofu, Egg, and Vegetable Fried Rice

Serves 2-3

Ingredients and measurements are approximate

Ingredients for basic tofu + veg base:

1 block firm tofu
 1 cup mixed vegetables, chopped (I used carrot, French beans, corn, peas)
 1 onion, sliced
 1 tbsp soya sauce
 1 tsp green chilli sauce (I use Ching's Secret for both soya sauce and chilli sauce)
 1 tbsp freshly cracked black pepper
 1/2 tsp minced ginger
 1/2 tsp minced garlic
 3 tbsp oil
 Salt to taste


Additional optional ingredients:
 2 eggs
 2 cups cooked rice

How I Made It:

 1. Heat oil (make sure its not smoking hot, just barely glistening on top) and add the ginger and garlic. Saute for 30 seconds until fragrant. Add the sliced onion and saute until cooked and soft. 

 2. Increase the flame/heat and add the soya sauce and chilli sauce. Saute for a minute. Lower flame and add cubed tofu. Fry until the tofu has browned on most sides. 

 3. Add the vegetables and some salt (be careful with salt since soya sauce is already salty) and mix well. Cook partially closed until the vegetables are cooked. Add pepper. 

 You can stop at this stage and serve this with noodles or rice. 

 Another step further would be to make space in the centre of your pan and crack in two eggs side by side. Don't disturb it until the whites are partially cooked. Then slowly scramble it into the tofu and vegetable mixture. 

 If you want a one-pot meal, mix in 2 cups of cooked rice. You may want to increase the amount of salt and pepper in this case. The rice will be mild and perfect for a wholesome weeknight dinner.

Of course you can garnish with coriander leaves or spring onions if you have any in hand. Serve hot.