Thursday 30 August 2012

Soya Chunks Masala



While I was in India I used to make many varieties for Soya Chunks dishes. The good part about Soya chunks are that it somewhat tastes like chicken & very healthy too. Last time when i went to little India I found this in a small grocery store & I just grabbed a packet of it. The idea was to make Chilli Soya which is one of my fav:) Yesterday I was thinking on what to make to go with Rotis for dinner? Thatz when this idea popped up & I made it with a new twist by adding Poppy seeds. This curry turned out very tasty & goes well with Roti, rice, dosa... There was some left over from last night & I had that with Appams in the morning & it was yummm. I made this curry spicy. Now let me tell you how I made this

Ingredients

2 cups Soya chunks
1 Onion chopped
1 Tbsp Ginger & garlic Paste
1 Large Tomato chopped
1 Tbsp Kashmiri Chili Powder
1/2 Tsp Cumin Powder
1/4 Tsp Turmeric powder
1/2 Tsp Corinader Powder
1/4 Tsp Garam Masala
1/2 Cup of water
1/2 Ltr of water for boiling Soya Chunks
Handful of Cashew nuts
1 Tbsp of Poppy seeds (kuskus) (Soak this in 1/4 cup of hot water for 10 minutes)
Slat as per taste
2 Tbsp Cooking Oil
Coriander leaves for garnish (Since I dint have them I use spring Onions:))

Method:

Boil 1/2 ltr of water & add soya chunks into it. Cook this for about 2 minutes, drain off the water & set aside. In a heavy bottom pan add oil fry ginger garlic for 1/2 a minute, add onion, tomatoes, all the masalas, salt & cook for 5 minutes until fat separation. Now add in the drained soya chunks into this masala & cook for 2 minutes until its well blended. In a mixer/ grinder add the cashew nuts, poppy seeds along with soaked water & grind it to a smooth paste. Now add this paste to the soya mixture. Give it a good mix & cook on low flame for about 2 minutes. Garnish this with Coriander leaves or spring onions. Soya Chunks masala is ready to serve.



Note:
  • You can actually omit the poppy seeds & cashew if you want. However adding these 2 amazing ingredients can make your food rich & tastier
  • This soya took very less time to cook. However back in India the size if soya used to be bigger & it took more time to cook.
  • Poppy seed is one of the expenses seeds. This is also a drug if taken in large quantities. The Bengalis use this in varity of dishes. When used in right amount for cooking it add great flavour.
  • Many of my friends ask me how I get a nice color to my curries. I use Everest brand masalas & they work  great for me. The color & taste of your dishes vastly comes from the brands that you use.
Happy cooking & eating:)


4 comments:

  1. This looks so delicious! Have a great weekend!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hello,
    Where do you get the poppy seeds in Singapore? I checked out in Mustafa and another Indian shop and they told they don't sell them.
    And where to get these Soya chunks too..

    Regards,

    ReplyDelete
  3. some of the Malay shops have them & they sell the powder. I had once picked it up from Tampines N2 Malay Indian store.

    ReplyDelete

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