Easy Soya Chunks Curry Recipe | Meal Maker Curry
Soya Chunks (Neutri)
Soya chunks curry is a delicious and nutritious dish made with protein-rich soya chunks and a variety of flavorful spices. Soya chunks, also known as soya nuggets or soya granules, are made from soya flour and are an excellent source of vegetarian protein.
To make soya chunks curry, the soya chunks are first soaked in hot water and then cooked in a tomato-based gravy along with onions, garlic, and a blend of aromatic spices like cumin, coriander, turmeric, and garam masala. The result is a hearty and satisfying dish that can be enjoyed with rice, butter naan, or tandoori roti.
This dish is not only a great option for vegetarians and vegans but also for those who are looking to reduce their meat consumption and increase their protein intake. Additionally, it is a versatile dish that can be customized with different vegetables and spices to suit individual tastes and preferences.
What are Soya chunks
Soya chunks are a great source of protein and are commonly used as a meat substitute in vegetarian and vegan dishes. They have a meat-like texture and can absorb flavors well, making them a versatile ingredient in many cuisines. Additionally, they are low in fat, high in fiber, and contain essential amino acids, making them a healthy addition to a balanced diet.
Soya chunks are type of mock meat made from defatted soya flour. In India, these meatless chunks are called by various names – soya vadi, Meal Maker, nutri-nuggets, soya nuggets, textured vegetable protein and also “vegetarian’s meat.”
Soya chunks are a popular protein-rich vegetarian food in India. They are readily available in most Indian cities and can be purchased online.
I am not that fond of soya chunks, but I do like soya chaap. I cook with this meat substitute occasionally, but never thought of adding any recipes to the blog. That is, I hadn’t until I heard from you, my readers! I have been getting many requests to include soya chunks recipes and hopefully I will be able to add a few.
What Recipes Can Be Made With Soya Chunks?
Since soya chunks are a meat substitute, you can easily swap them into any recipe that includes pieces of meat. These chunks take on the flavors of the ingredients that you use, making them ideal for curry, Soya Chunks Fry, pulao, Soya Biryani and manchurian. When cooked, they have a soft and chewy, almost meaty texture.
Before cooking with soya nuggets, you need to prep them in one of three ways: Either boil them in water, soak them in hot water or soak them in water overnight. I personally prefer the boiling method.
My mother in law makes many recipes with soya chunks and I learn the whole soya chunks recipes from her. Today I am sharing a highly improvised version of her recipe to make a great tasting, protein-packed soya chunks curry.
Note: Although soya chunks are rich in protein, I recommend to have them occasionally and not everyday as they are highly processed. Make sure that your body is ok to consume high levels pf proteins.
Why Soya Chunks Curry Recipe
This recipe is a nice way to include soya chunks in your diet. After all, most Indians love curries, and what better way to use a meat substitute than in a delicious curry sauce.
This meal maker curry has a base of sweet caramelized onions, tangy softened tomatoes and creamy coconut milk. The flavor of curry leaves melds with the spicy pungency of the green chiles and savory aroma of the spices to make this a top-notch curry.
When you eat it, you will know what I mean. The meaty texture of the soya chunks is a wonderful contrast to the light creaminess and savory flavors in the gravy. This delicious vegan soya chunks curry recipe is sure to win over even the experienced meat eaters in your life!
How to Prep Soya Chunks
With the boiling method, you can also be rest assured that there won’t be any rawness or hardness in the chunks. But feel free to prep the soya chunks with your preferred method.
This is the method I follow when I make any soya chunks recipe. I prefer this method to the soaking method, as the chunks both soften nicely and end up being more flavorful.
- Set water for boiling, add tea bag, salt and sugar.
- Put the soya chunks and granules in the pan and stir /cook for 6-7 minutes. I’ve used tea bag , if in case you don’t have tea bag, then you can simply tie tea powder in muslin cloth and leave it in the water.
- Once the soya is cooked use a sieve to strain the water.
- Further rinse with fresh water.
- Press and squeeze the chunks really well to remove all the extra water the chunks have absorbed. Set aside. You can also use a cloth to squeeze out the water efficiently.
- Add all the ingredients of the tomato puree in grinding jar, and grind to make to make a fine puree. Keep it aside to be used later.
How to Make Soya Chunks Curry
Firstly Sauteing Onions
- Set a wok on medium heat, add oil and the whole spices along with onions, stir and cook until the onions are golden brown in colour.
- As the onions turn light golden brown in colour, add the ginger garlic paste , stir &cook for 4-5 minutes on medium flame.
- Now, lower the flame and add kashmiri red chilli powder, stir once and add 300-400 ml hot water , stir / cook until the ghee separates & the masala is cooked really well.
Saute Tomatoes
- Now, add the prepared tomato puree, salt to taste and cook for 7-8 minutes on medium flame.
- Mix the Ground spices.
- Add ground spices listed below and saute for 1 to 2 minutes on low heat.
Note: You can also switch the hest off when you add the spices if you prefer.
- Add tumeric powder, cumin powder, garam masala powder, kashmiri red chilli powder or red chilli powder, coriander powder.
- Further add the cooked soya chunks& granules, stir& cook for 3-4 minutes.
- Add additional 500 ml hot water.
- Further add capsicum, ginger, green chillies & garam masala, stir & cook for 3-4 minutes on medium flame.
- Now add dark soya sauce.
- Put red chilli sauce& stir well.
- Cover & cook for 20-25 minutes on very low flame, do stir in intervals.
- Check for the seasoning and adjust accordingly, add lemon juice and finish with freshly chopped coriander leaves, nutri gravy is ready. Make sure to give a tadka before serving.
How to make Tadka Soya Chunks
- To give the final tadka , before serving, set a pan on medium heat add butter, green chillies, capsicum & carrots.
- Stir & cook briefly on high flame while breaking down the bigger soya chunks.
- Finish by adding freshly chopped coriander leaves, you can also give the tadka in batches and adjust the quantity of carrots, capsicum, green chillies as required.
Your Amritsari style masala nutri is ready, serve hot with some onion rings on side and some red and green spicy chutney.
Serving Suggestions
Serve meal maker curry hot or very warm with Roti or Paratha for dipping, or enjoy with simple Steamed Basmati Rice, Jeera Rice or Ghee Rice if you are gluten-free. You can also serve this soya vadi curry as a side gravy with Vegetable Biryani or Pulao.
Storage
Store any leftovers in the refrigerator for up to one day only. Since coconut milk is used in the recipe, the gravy can curdle and go rancid if left for too long. To reheat, use a small saucepan and add some water if the curry has become thick.
Expert Tips
Choose the right sized soya chunks: In India, soya chunks come in three basic varieties. For this soya chunks curry recipe, you can use either the regular soya chunks or mini chunks. Do not use the soya granules in this soya chunks curry recipe. Make sure to check the soya chunks expiry date and not use if they have gone rancid or have an off odor.
Squeeze out excess water from the soaked soya chunks before adding them to the curry. This will help to prevent the curry from becoming too watery.
Use a blend of aromatic spices like cumin, coriander, turmeric, and garam masala to flavor the curry. This will help to bring out the natural flavors of the soya chunks and create a delicious and fragrant curry.
Get the right consistency: You can add less or more water to alter the consistency to your liking.
Herbs & Spices: I recommend to include all the spices and herbs, but you can skip mint leaves and ground fennel powder if you prefer.
Additional veggies: To bulk up this vegetarian curry, you can add peas, finely chopped carrots or any veggie which can cook in about ten minutes. You can also opt to roast, steam or sauté heartier vegetables separately and add to the curry once the cooking is complete.
Scaling: The recipes serves 4, but you can halve or double the proportions as needed.
FAQs
Q. Is this Soya Chunks Curry healthy?
A. While I always recommend that you consult a certified nutrition expert for any dietary advice, I would suggest to include soya chunks once in a while and not everyday as they are highly processed.
Q. What is the best way to prepare soya nuggets for cooking?
A. I personally prefer to boil my soya chunks in lightly salted water for 5 minutes prior to adding them to any recipe. You can also opt to pour boiling water over the top and leave them to soak for a few hours, or cover with cool water and soak them overnight.
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Soya Chunks Recipe Card
Equipments
Ingredients
For Nutri gravy
- Boiling Water
- 1 no Tea bag/ 2teaspoon Tea powder
- Salt to taste
- 1 teaspoon Sugar
- 150 gms Soya Chunks
- 50 gm Soya granules (optional)
For Tomato Puree
- 4-5 Diced Tomatoes (medium sizes)
- 3-4 nos Green Chilis
- 1 inch Ginger
For Gravy
- 3 tablespoon Oil
- 2 tablespoon Ghee
- 1 teaspoon Cumin seeds (jeera)
- 1-2 nos Bay leaf (tej patta)
- 4-5 nos Onions (medium sized, chopped)
- Water as required
- 3 tablespoon Ginger & garlic paste
- 2 tablespoon Kashmiri red chili powder
- 1 tablespoon Spicy red chili
- 1 tablespoon Cumin powder (jeera)
- 3 tablespoon Coriander powder
- 1 teaspoon Turmeric powder (haldi)
- 2 tablespoon Anardana
- Hot water as required
- Salt to taste
- 1 tablespoon Dark Soya sauce
- 1 tablespoon Red chili sauce
- 2 Capsicum (chopped) medium sized
- 1 inch Ginger
- 2-3 nos Green chilis
- 1 teaspoon Garam masala
- 1 teaspoon Lemon juice
- Fresh Coriander leaves as required
Assembly
- Butter as required
- 3-4 nos Green chilis (slit/chopped)
- ⅓ cup Onion (thin slices)
- ⅓ cup Capsicum
- ⅓ cup Carrrots
- Prepared Nutri gravy
- Fresh Coriander leaves
Instructions
- Set water for boiling, add tea bag, salt and sugar.2. Put the soya chunks and granules in the pan and stir /cook for 6-7 minutes.3. Once the soya is cooked use a sieve to strain the water.4. Further rinse with fresh water.5. Press and squeeze the chunks really well to remove all the extra water the chunks have absorbed. 6. Add all the ingredients of the tomato puree in grinding jar, and grind to make to make a fine puree. Keep it aside to be used later. Make tadka soya chunks7. Set a wok on medium heat, add oil and the whole spices along with onions, stir and cook until the onions are golden brown in colour.8. As the onions turn light golden brown in colour, add the ginger garlic paste , stir &cook for 4-5 minutes on medium flame.9. Now, lower the flame and add kashmiri red chilli powder, stir once and add 300-400 ml hot water , stir / cook until the ghee separates & the masala is cooked really well.10. Now, add the prepared tomato puree, salt to taste and cook for 7-8 minutes on medium flameMix the Ground spices.11. Add ground spices listed below and saute for 1 to 2 minutes on low heat.12. Add tumeric powder, cumin powder, garam masala powder, kashmiri red chilli powder or red chilli powder, coriander powder.13. Further add the cooked soya chunks& granules, stir& cook for 3-4 minutes.Add additional 500 ml hot water.14. Further add capsicum, ginger, green chillies & garam masala, stir & cook for 3-4 minutes on medium flame.15. Now add dark soya sauce.Put red chilli sauce& stir well.16. Cover & cook for 20-25 minutes on very low flame.17. Add lemon juice and finish with freshly chopped coriander leaves, nutri gravy is ready.18. To give the final tadka , before serving, set a pan on medium heat add butter, green chillies, capsicum & carrots.19. Finish by adding freshly chopped coriander leaves, you can also give the tadka in batches and adjust the quantity of carrots, capsicum, green chillies as required.Your Soya Chunks are ready
Video
Notes
- Use a good quality soya chunks as the size will increase of it.
- You can adjust the spices as your convenience.
- You can adjust red chilli sauce if kids are going to have this dish.
So yummy recipe and full of proteins.
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