Soya Chaap Masala- Soya Recipes

Soya Chaap masala is a healthy and tasty alternative to meaty gravies (atleast thatz what I have heard). To start off with, Soya chaap is made with soy gluten or wheat gluten and are very difficult to make at home and even if you make, the end product will be far more less in quantity than you expect and expensive so you can get those in super markets. To know more about soya chap check here.I don’t know whether it’s easily available in South India but in North you can get those in all Metro chain stores. I haven’t heard about these chaap until I saw the chaap masala in a take away menu card of a dhaba just the day of me landing in Punjab. Then slowly started searching and exploring it. 

First I tasted Soya Chaap Tikka which was out of the world.. It was sooooo good. The next was tawa chaap masala in a dhaba which was yumm too. So I decided to cook myself as they were almost like the soya chunks. I thought ‘hey what could go wrong with the soya?” but I was wrong. The first time when I made it I overcooked it and it became very soft and almost dissolved in the gravy. The next time I took a bit more care and it turned out well. Then made a few more additions and it came out the exact same way as the one we tasted in dhaba. So here it is.

Ingredients:

Soya Chaap-4 pieces

Onion-3, sliced

Tomato paste-1/2 cup/Tomato Puree-1 cup/ grind 5 fresh tomatoes

Ginger-garlic paste-2 tsp

Red chili powder-1 & ½ tsp

Turmeric powder-1 /4 tsp

Coriander powder-1 tsp

Garam Masala powder-1 tsp

Cream-2 tbsp

Milk-1/2 cup

Salt- as needed

Coriander leaves-to garnish

To Temper:

Dried Red chilies-2

Whole Black Peppercorns-1/2 tsp

Coriander seeds-1/2 tsp

Cumin seeds-1 tsp

Bay leaf-1

Oil-3 tbsp

How It Happened:

1. Thaw the frozen soya chaaps by soaking them in water for 1 hour. Then remove them from water and gently squeeze them without mashing and then make a couple of slashes on them for the masala to seep thorough then set aside.

2.  Heat oil in a pan, add the ingredients given under the ‘to temper’ list and when they pop, add the onions and fry until they turn glossy.

3. Then add the ginger-garlic paste and fry until the raw smell goes off.

4. Throw in the red chili powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder, salt and mix well. Let it cook until the raw smell goes and the oil oozes on the sides of the pan.

5. Now add the tomato paste/puree and 2 cups of water and mix once. Let it cook in simmer until ¾ th of the liquid is dried off and the gravy starts leaving out oil. This will take around 15-20 minutes.

6. Now add the garam masala powder and adjust salt then mix well.

7. Carefully slide in the soya chaap sticks and mix carefully so as not to break the sticks. Let it cook for 5 minutes.

8. Mix the cream with milk and beat well, now add this to the simmering gravy and mix well. Let it cook for 2 minutes.

9. Switch off the flame, garnish with coriander leaves and let it rest for 15- 30 minutes for the chaap sticks to absorb the masala. Then slightly reheat it and serve hot with Phulkas/rotis.

Notes:

* Do not soak the soya chaap for long as they become very soft and will lose the texture and will dissolve when added to the gravy.

* Do not reduce the oil, else they gravy will get easily burnt while simmering the gravy.

* Use freshly ground ginger garlic paste for best flavors.

* I used tomato paste completely as I wanted to get over with the stock. But if you don’t have paste you can use canned puree or just grind 5 tomatoes and use it.

* The tomato paste has a sourness which was fair enough to suit our tastes. But if you add fresh tomato puree you may have to add a tsp of amchur powder to add a little tart to round off the flavors.

* Add more cream for richness but adjust spices accordingly. But do mix it with milk to prevent curdling. The above mentioned measurement worked well for us and tasted exactly just likes the ones we get in the restaurants. Also do not cook for long after adding cream.

* The resting time helps in enhancing the flavors and also gives time for the soya chaap to absorb the liquids and spices. Do not cook for more than ten minutes in flame after adding the soya chaap as they get softened too much and will lose the texture.

* Soya chaap can be replaced with soya chunks or soya curls as well.