Loading...Soya Chunks Curry or meal maker gravy is an Indian gravy recipe consisting of soya chunks. It is rich, creamy, and has a lot of flavours to it.
Indian cuisine has always been full of gravy recipes. You will have a plethora of them once you start looking in them. One such recipe is soya chunks curry.
It’s an ideal recipe for a meal. Especially to those who don’t allow themselves to eat meat as soya chunks are the best substitute. They will be able to get an idea of how meat tastes like and will get a fill of protein as soya chunks are rich with the nutrient.
It is also less fussy and easy to make gravy. You can have it with rice, chapati, roti, bread, etc., whatever you prefer.
What is Soya Chunks?
The soya chunks are made out of soy flour. Its fat content and the oil is removed from it. The byproduct that remains from this process is the soya chunks. They are rough in texture and are also dry. Another name for this ingredient is Nutri-nuggets or Soya Vadi for Indians.
Soya chunks are rich in protein meal and are an excellent meat substitute. These are commonly used in soya snacks, curries, pulao, fried rice, biryani, starters, appetizers, and stir fry dishes.
What You’ll Need for the Recipe?
- Soya Chunks – It is also known as a meal maker. It is the star ingredient of our recipe.
- Water – We only need water to boil the soya chunks. We are not using water in the gravy since we are making it thick.
- Spices – Cumin Seeds. Cardamom and bay leaf are dry spices that will saute in oil. For spiciness and other flavours, we will be using red chilli powder, salt, turmeric powder, coriander powder, and garam masala. The measures of all these ingredients are adjustable.
- Cashew Paste – This will make the gravy more thick, rich, and silky in texture. You can also add heavy cream or even coconut milk instead of this if you like.
- Curd – It will provide a nice tanginess to the gravy and also provide a good texture.
- Ginger-Garlic Paste – It will provide the base flavour. If you do not want to use ginger-garlic paste, then mince them and saute them with onion.
- Kasuri Methi – This ingredient will provide extra flavour and aroma. You can skip this, but we recommend you add this ingredient.
- Oil – We are using regular cooking oil here. Any other cooking oil will be okay to use in this recipe.
- Tomato Puree & Onion – This will form the base of our recipe. The measure of the puree is adjustable as per the gravy you need.
How To Make Soya Chunks Curry?
We will be preparing them in two stages. So let’s have a look at those.
Preparing Soya Chunks
Firstly, we need to soak soya chunks into hot water with salt. This step is to retain the moisture as after the processing; they are too complicated. Remove them once they are soft enough.
Now to marinate them drop them into a bowl. Add curd, ginger-garlic paste, red chilli powder, turmeric powder, coriander powder, Kasuri methi, and salt. Mix them well. Add two more spoons of curd, mix them, cover the bowl, and keep them aside to marinate.
For Gravy
Till the chunks are marinating, we prepare the gravy meanwhile. To do that, we first need to heat oil in a pan or kadhai. Next, add cumin seeds and temper them. Then add cardamom, bay leaf, onion and saute them until the onion changes colour. If you are not using ginger-garlic paste and instead mincing them, then saute them as well in this stage.
After that is done, add coriander powder, turmeric powder, red chilli powder, salt, garam masala, and tomato puree. Mix again and cook until it gets thick. Now it’s time to add the soya chunks and mix them. Also, add the cashew paste (or heavy cream/coconut milk if using them) and mix them all.
Lastly, we’ll be adding chopped coriander to it. Covering it with a lid, we’ll let it cook for 5-8 minutes on low flame. It will combine all the ingredients. Finally, the soya chunks of curry are ready.
