Soya Chunks Cutlet

With Fall setting in, the landscape is nicely dotted with crimson red and burning brown hues everywhere. Its a bit windy with long spells of mild showers and wind chill on some days. Warm food seems to be the order of the day. I love the chewy goodness of Soya Chunks, especially on days when I wish to avoid meat, this recipe comes handy for a nice tasty snack made with the wholesome flavours of Soya Chunks. I got the inspiration for this recipe from Chef Sanjeev Kapoor's Mixed Vegetable Cutlet. I made few changes to suit out taste. The good thing about this recipe is that you can shape the Cutlets and refrigerate them for consumption within 2-3 days. I added some chopped Spinach and Fenugreek leaves since I had them handy. Add or discard as per choice & preference.

Preparation time: 20 minutes

Cooking time: 20-30 minutes

Ingredients:

Soya Chunks - 4 cups packed

Potatoes (boiled and mashed) - 2 cups

Fresh chopped leafy vegetable (Spinach & Fenugreek leaves) (optional) - 1 cup

Cumin powder - 1 teaspoon

Coriander powder - 1 teaspoon

Red Chilli powder - 1/2 teaspoon

Ginger paste - 1" piece

Garlic pods - 3-4

Coriander leaves - 1/2 cup

Green Chilli - 1-2

Onions (chopped) - 1/2 cup

Garam Masala powder - 1/2 teaspoon

Sooji or Semolina - 1/2 cup

Oil/Ghee

Method:

Boil the Soya chunks and wash in water multiple times till they are soft and evenly cooked. Mince to bite sized flavours in a blender and set aside.

Make a paste of Ginger, Garlic, Green Chillies and Coriander leaves. Heat oil in a pan and saute the paste till the raw flavour disappears. Add mashed Potato chunks and add all the spice powders. Do not add water at all. Add minced Soya chunks and greens if you are adding them. Let the mixture form a collective semi-dry consistency.

Make palm sized cutlets and set aside.

While frying Cutlets, heat oil in a pan, add Cutlets dredged in Semolina and shallow fry on both sides till they are crispy, done and lightly browned.

Vegetarian Soya Keema Curry

When I saw Nupur's post on Soya Its Not Keema Curry, I knew I wanted to try it out for the sheer beauty of spices and soya chunks meshing together. Worked well for me as I wanted to finish few things from pantry and they were all part of the specified recipe. I made few changes to suit our flavour and taste buds, added lot of Coriander leaves in minced form to add the extra fresh aroma. Worked wonders and we both loved it! Thanks Nupur and Kanchan - both for the original version and adapted version which was so healthy and tasty.

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 15-20 minutes

Recipe Source: Adapted from One Hot Stove's - Its not Keema recipe with original recipe from Kanchan's Mom's recipe: courtesy Kitchen Gossip

Ingredients:

Soya Chunks (boiled) - 4 cups

Onions (minced) - 1 and 1/2 cup

Coriander leaves (minced) - 1/2 cup

Ginger - Garlic paste - 1 tablespoon

Chilli paste - 1 teaspoon

Tomatoes (minced) - 1 cup

Garam Masala - 1 tablespoon

Turmeric powder - 1/3 teaspoon

Red Chilli powder - 1/3 teaspoon

Oil/Ghee

Salt

For the spice powder -

Coconut powder (dry) - 3-4 tablespoon

Cloves - 2

Cinnamon - 1" stick

Dry Coconut powder - 3 tablespoon

Coriander seeds - 2 tablespoon

Poppy seeds - 1/2 teaspoon

Whole Black Peppercorns - 1/2 teaspoon

Cardamom pods (optional) - 1

Garnish: Chopped Coriander leaves - few strands

Method:

Wash the Soya chunks in water thoroughly and soak in warm water with 2-3 changes to clean them evenly. Keep aside. Grind all the items in spice powder to a dry powder, hence do not add water.

In a deep thick bottomed pan, heat few teaspoon of oil/ghee, saute Onions and Tomatoes till they are mushy. Once they are cooked, add the spice powder and gently stir for few minutes. Add the ground ginger-garlic paste and minced Coriander leaves as well the chilli paste, add Turmeric powder and Red Chilli powder. Mix to a good consistency and do not lot of water, add water only if you want a semi-liquid consistency. Bring to boil and simmer on low flame for 5-8 minutes or until completely cooked. Garnish with Coriander leaves and serve hot with bread of choice.