Soya Chunks Biryani along with Yummy Frittata

As a kid, I used to eat these Chunks or meal maker, which I loved a lot. Soya chunks cutlet, pulav, korma or biryani…. whatever it is, I love it from my heart. Though it does not have any flavor, it has the tendency of absorbing any flavors you dunk them in. Many varieties of dishes can be prepared using these chunks.

Soya chunks are very good for health. They are rich in vitamins, minerals and they also help to reduce cholesterol. These are the best sources of essential omega-3 fatty acids. These are less in fat and may help reduce heart diseases.

I think these informations are enough to add soya protein in your daily diet. Todays post is about soya chunks biryani which is a very easy and tasty dish. This biryani goes well with raita, pickle, papad and so on but I made frittata which is another one pot meal. I didn't add many veggies. My frittata was a simple one.

Frittata is an Italian omelet, in which most of the veggies are added and then baked in the oven. As I was alone, I made my frittata with very less ingredients and enjoyed it with yummy biryani.

Ingredients:

1. Soya Chunks- 2 Cups
2. Basmati Rice- 2 cups
3. Onions- 2 nos
4. Tomatoes- 1 no
5. Ginger and garlic Paste- 1 tbsp
6. Green Chillies- 2 nos
7. Red Chilli Powder- 1 tsp
8. Coriander powder- 1 tsp
9. Turmeric Powder- ½ tsp
10. Coriander leaves( chopped)- a hand ful
11. Curd- ½ Cup
12. Cinnamon- 1 inch
13. Cloves- 4 nos
14. Cardamom- 3 nos
15. Oil- ½ tbsp
16. Ghee- ½ tbsp

Method:

1. Soak the chunks in boiled water for about 10 minutes then soak these in cold water. Squeeze and keep them aside.
2. Wash and drain the rice.
3. In a kadai, pour oil and ghee. Fry onions along with cloves, cinnamon and cardamom. Once they turn translucent add ginger garlic paste and green chillies. Stir well.
4. Add the chopped tomatoes, stir till they turn mushy. Add the red chilli powder, coriander powder and turmeric powder. Mix well.
5. Pour the curd and coriander leaves. Mix and add the chunks. Stir well.
6. In this add the rice and enough water and close with a lid. Stir in between. When the water gets absorbed and rice gets cooked switch off the flame.
7. Serve along with raita. Here I like this with frittata.

Simple Frittata:

Ingredients:

1. Eggs- 2 nos
2. Mushrooms- ¼ Cup
3. Onions- 1 no
4. Tomato- 1 no
5. Green Chillies- 2 nos
6. Coriander Leaves- 2 tbsp
7. Cheese- 1 tbsp
8. Salt- as required
9. Oil- 1 tbsp

Method:

1. Chop all the vegetables and stir fry a little in a pan using oil. Sprinkle some salt.
2. Whisk the eggs and add this on top of the stir fried vegetables and let it cook on slow flame. When one side is done add the grated cheese and flip and switch off the flame.
3. I didn't put this in oven, I simply cooked it on stove.
4. Enjoy an amazing rice and this frittata.

Soya chunks Pulao

Soya chunks or “meal maker” is my latest fascination. I love them in all my curries, cutlets, rice and the list will go on. As soya chunks are a great source of protiens and vitamin B12, I make it a point to buy these and store, so that I can use any time I want and I mostly include this in my little one’s food. She loves them a lot.

I made this Pulao for lunch on a weekend so that I dont have to spend much time in kitchen :) and also a pulao can also make a complete meal by itself. I make this often with different combinations of veggies.

Soya is very healthy and low in fat and has a high protein content, which promotes growth.
This can be made easily without any effort. I made this in a pressure cooker as this will take less time to prepare. Only thing to note with cooking rice in a cooker is that we should know the  correct time limit and measurement for the rice to become fluffy and still not stick to each other.

Ingredients:

1. Soya chunks- 1cup
2. Onions (sliced)- 2nos
3. Ginger and garlic paste- 1tbsp
4. Carrots (sliced)- 2nos
5. Cloves- 3nos
6. Cinnamon stick- 1
7. star anise- 2nos
8. Cardamom poda- 2nos
9. Bay Leaf- 1
10. Garam Masala powder- 1tsp
11. Lemon juice- 1tbsp
12. Salt- as per taste
13. Oil- 1tbsp
14. Ghee- 1tbsp
15. Rice- 2cups
16. Water- 2 ½ cups

Method:

1. Boil water and soak the soya chunks in boilng water. After 10 minutes drain the soya chunks, give them a good rinse and squeeze out the excess water. keep this aside.
2. Wash and drain the basmathi rice and keep it aside.
3. Heat oil and ghee in a pressure cooker, add the sliced onions and whole garam masala (cloves, cinnamon, cardamom, bay leaf and star anise). Give them a nice mix till the onion turns light brown in colour.
4. Add the ginger and garlic paste and mix well till the raw smell disappears. In this add the sliced carrots (or any other vegetable you want) and mix well. Cook till the vegetable is half done.
5. Add the drained soya chunks, garam masala powder and salt. Stir till everything is well blended.
6. In the above add drained rice and mix well. After 3- 5 minutes add water and pressure cook. Keep the flame high till 1 whistle and then reduce the flame and cook for 3 minutes.
7. Switch off the flame and when it is completely cool open the lid and add lemon juice and stir well.
8. Serve this hot with raita or any curry of your choice.

Soya chunks - bread fruit cutlets

The other day when I was searching for something in my kitchen, I got a packet of soya chunks which I bought long back and was abandoned in one of the containers.

My mom used to make so many different varieties of dishes with soya chunks but my Husband never liked this (he is more picky than my daughter :-)). So once when I saw this in super market I just picked this pack and there it was lying down in my kitchen as if no body wanted it.

So I thought of making a curry which will taste exactly like chicken when soya chunks are added, but I was not sure whether he will eat it or not after seeing the soya chunks in the curry. Then I got  an idea of making soya cutlets, so that he wont come to know that I have added soya chunks as soya is minced and added in this. I had some left over cooked bread fruit in my refrigerator with which I made breadfruit thoran the previous day. Instead of potatoes I thought of using this bread fruit for binding the cutlets. These came out very well and my Husband didn’t even realize that he was eating soya chunks. He thought that these are bread fruit cutlets and he enjoyed it till the last bite. He was really surprised when I told him the ingredients later. I believe he has now started liking soya :-)

Soya is very nutritious, healthy and rich in proteins, my kid didn’t have any problem in finishing this as she like any type of cutlets and samosas.

Ingredients:

1. Soya Chunks- 250gms
2. Bread fruit (Diced, boiled and mashed)- 1cup
3. Onions (chopped)- 1no
4. Green chillies- 3-4 nos
5. Ginger and garlic paste- 1tbsp
6. Red chilli powder- 1tsp
7. Coriander powder- 2tsp
8. Turmeric powder- ½ tsp
9. Pepper powder- 1tsp
10. Garam masala powder- 1tsp
11. Coriander leaves (chopped)- ½ cup
12. Salt- as required
13. Oil- 1tbsp
14. Bread crumbs- 1cup
15. Egg- 1no

Method:

1. Soak soya chunks in boiled water for 5 minutes and remove and immerse them in cold water. After sometime squeeze out excess water from soya chunks. Mince and keep it aside.
2. In a pan heat oil, add onions, green chillies and ginger and garlic paste. Stir fry them well.
3. Add red chilli powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder, garam masala powder and salt. Mix well.
4. At last add pepper powder, coriander leaves and mix well. In this add the minced soya chunks and mix well till everything is well blended.
5. Add the boiled and mashed bread fruit to the above and keep it aside to cool.
6. Make them into small balls and flatten them in the shape of cutlets.
7. Dip this in beaten egg, roll in bread crumbs and shallow fry them in oil till golden brown in colour.
8. Serve hot with tomato sauce.