Soya Chaap Masala- Soya Recipes

 

Instead of using heavy meat gravies, try this vegetarian version, soya chaap masala (atleast thatz what I have heard). Soya chaap, available in supermarkets, is made with soy gluten or wheat gluten and is notoriously difficult to prepare at home, with a correspondingly small yield and high price tag. Visit this link if you want to learn more about soya chaap. As for its availability in southern India, I can't say for sure, but up here in the north, you can find it in any and all Metro supermarkets. Prior to seeing the chaap masala on the takeout menu card of a dhaba on my first day in Punjab, I had never heard of these chaap. Then I cautiously began looking around and discovering new things.

At first, I tried some Soya Chaap Tikka, which was out of this world. Incredibly delicious. Tawa chaap masala at a dhaba came next, and it was delicious. Since they tasted very similar to the soya chunks, I decided to cook them myself. To be honest, I didn't think anything bad could happen when consuming soya. Overcooking it the first time I made it caused it to become extremely soft and almost dissolve in the gravy. I was a little more cautious the next time around, and things worked out fine. Then I tweaked it with a few more ingredients, and it tasted just like the dhaba version. The time has come, and here it is.

Ingredients:

Four Soya Chop

Three thinly sliced onions One cup each of tomato paste and pureed tomatoes Five whole tomatoes

2-tablespoons of ginger-garlic paste

Spices: 1 1/2 teaspoons of red chilli powder, 1 1/4 teaspoons of turmeric, 1 teaspoons of coriander, 1 teaspoon of garam masala, 1 teaspoon of cream, 2 tablespoons of milk, and salt to taste

Garnish with coriander leaves.

Seasoning Ingredients: 1 dried red chilli, 2 whole black peppercorns, 1/2 teaspoon each of coriander and cumin seeds, 1 bay leaf, 3 tablespoons of oil.

What Caused It:

1. One, soak the frozen soya chaaps in water for an hour to defrost them. Then take them out of the water, give them a gentle squeeze without mashing them, and cut them a few times so the masala can seep in.

2.  When the items on the "to temper" list begin to pop, add the onions to the hot oil and continue cooking until they are a deep golden colour and the oil is almost completely absorbed by the onions.

3. After that, add the ginger-garlic paste and cook it down until the raw smell disappears.

4. Red chilli powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder, and salt should be mixed in together. The food should be cooked until the raw smell disappears and oil begins to drip from the sides of the pan.

5. Now stir in the tomato paste/purée and the two cups of water. Simmer until about 3/4 of the liquid has evaporated and the gravy begins to release oil. A good 15-20 minutes should be allotted for this.

6. After adjusting the salt, add the garam masala powder and stir to combine.

7. Mix gently so as not to break the soya chaap sticks as you carefully slide them in. Wait 5 minutes and check the progress.

8.  Add the whipped cream and milk mixture to the simmering gravy and stir until combined. Give it 2 minutes to cook.

9. Turn off the heat, sprinkle with coriander leaves, and let the chaap sticks sit for 15-30 minutes so the masala can soak in. After that, heat it up slightly and serve it with Phulkas or rotis.

Be aware that prolonged soaking will cause the soya chaap to become so soft that they will dissolve when added to the gravy. If you try to reduce the oil, the gravy will burn quickly as it simmers.

* For maximum flavour, freshly ground ginger garlic paste is highly recommended. To save time, I substituted all tomato paste for the stock. Paste is preferable, but canned puree or 5 tomatoes ground into a paste will do in a pinch. We found the sourness of the tomato paste to be just right. However, a pinch of amchur powder, a type of tart spice, may be necessary to balance the flavours if you decide to use fresh tomato puree. To make it richer, add more cream, but taste and adjust the spices as needed. But you should add some milk to it so it doesn't curdle. We found that the above proportions produced results that were both consistent with, and superior to, those of commercially available versions. When using cream, do not continue cooking for too long. The soya chaap needs time to soak up the liquids and spices, and the resting time helps to enhance the flavours. Soya chaap loses its texture if cooked for longer than ten minutes after being added to the flame.

Alternatives to soya chaap include soya Shami kabab and Soya Chaap.