Soya chunks masala

 
Enjoy this protein-packed recipe of soya chunks, any day of the week to pack on muscle and stay fit. Soya,a quick cooking protein that's tasty as well.

Ingredients:

1. 2 cups Soya Chunks
2.  1tsp Cumin Seeds
3.  2 tsp Kashmiri Red Chilli Powder 
4. 1/2tsp Turmeric Powder
5.  2 tomatoes,pureed
6. 1/2 cup curd,beaten
7. 2 Green chillies,finely chopped
8.  Salt to taste
9. 3tbsp Ghee/Clarified butter
10. Coriander Leaves For garnishing

 For the masala paste:

1.  2-3 Onion chopped
2. 10-12 Garlic cloves
3. 1'inch Ginger
4. 2-3 Cardamoms
5. 4-5 Cloves
6. 1'inch Cinnamon
7. 10-12 Cashew-nuts
8. 1 cup Coconut freshly grated
9. 1tspSugar

Method:

• Boil 5-6 cups of water and completely immerse soya chunks in it. Add a pinch of salt.Cook it for 3-4 minutes.
• Once it is cooked,remove from flame.Rinse  well in cold water and squeeze dry..
• Heat 2 tsps of oil in a pan and fry chopped onion, cardamom,cinnamon,cloves,ginger and garlic cloves until onion turns light brown.
• Blend fried onion and garlic with grated coconut and cashew-nuts into a smooth paste adding about 2 cups of water.
• Heat ghee in a pot, add cumin seeds let it crackle.
• When cumin seeds are done, add tomato puree and drained soya chunks and saute for 5-6 minutes on medium flame.
• Now add ground masala paste, red chilli powder, turmeric powder, chopped green chilly,sugar, salt and saute again till oil comes on top.
• Now add beaten curd and mix it well with the masala, cook on a medium flame for 5-8 min. At this stage you can add little water if the consistency of the gravy is too thick .Continue cooking for 10 more minutes till the gravy is well coated with the soya chunks.
• Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot.

Serving suggestions:

• Goes well with Naan ,Roti,Dosa or Ghee Rice.

Cooking Tips

• To keep your eyes from stinging and watering while cutting onions, trying popping the onion in the freezer for 15 minutes before you plan to start cooking. Chilling the onion slows the release of the enzyme responsible for teary eyes.
• Clarified butter is the pure butterfat that remains when the milk solids and water have been removed from normal butter. Clarified butter can be used to cook at higher temperatures than normal butter. Ghee is a type of clarified butter common in Indian dishes.
• Here's a trick for peeling garlic quickly. Put the garlic clove on your cutting board. Take a knife with a thick blade and place the blade flat across the garlic clove (the clove should be closer to the handle than the middle of the blade). Whack down on the flat side of the blade with your free hand to smoosh the garlic a bit. Done correctly, the skin will peel right off.