All that glitters is not gold. All that looks luscious is it delicious ?.
Well ! that’s a tough question to answer. I was recently stirred by the post by Ramya Memon from Cumbertown who wrote an invigorating post about how there are bad recipes too.A bad recipe is not that the recipe is a militant but rather its alchemy yet posted with such great pictures which would appease an onlooker to give it a try in his kitchen. The end results could be disastrous.
I would say if you are seasoned cook then by reading the steps you will definitely realize somehow the steps or the ingredients are not complimenting each other. Yes! but for a newbie the chances are less in order to point out loopholes. So, as a blogger, chef or food writer it is essential to assume a responsibility for the content you are writing. It should be a clear reflection of the dish that you are preparing and whether it is palatable,non-palatable or it is an acquired taste.I am set to prepare the chickpea soya curry.
Chickpea Soya Curry
Going back to my anecdotal phase, I always saw my mother finding new ways of injecting nutrients into our body. If you have been a conventional toddler and no incarnations of god almighty then you would realize that we all had tantrums for eating. The most common aversion list belongs to greens and milk. But there are a few like Soya which can also be included in the list. They came in granulated or small chunks to be consumed. It was hailed as the simulation of meaty taste for all strict vegetarians.Its initial advent into the food market revolutionized the consumption of this legume. It has always been the lifeline of Chinese cuisine (Visualize Soya Sauce) ever since but Nutrela made it a household name in the 80s. But like all things which come with a tag of ‘Made in China’ they always have a precautionary clause. They are high fibre, high protein and mineral diet for all. But there are certain parallel research which indicates its moderate consumption.Inherent of the clan, my mother was always well read and somehow she always knew what was good for us.
Frankly, I did not seem to enjoy the taste of soya bean or tofu. But she came up with chilli Soya, Soya masala, Soya mash and even Soya rice.Till date I have taken cues from her style and that is why I decided to prepare the Chickpea Soya Curry. If you imagined that being a mother eases as you go into incremental growth then you are extremely wrong. I am standing right in front of my cherub and Mr. H who has this sad look at the curry which has been placed in front of them. There are no takers for this dish. For me it is delicious, I do not know if I acquired the taste in the process of growing up or is it because I am on the other side of the game now? 🙂 I will leave the confusion on my role for the readers to decide.
I am sitting inside itsu and nibbling over edamame beans and almost feeling deja Vu.I am standing in front of the mirror and facing the same troubles of making soya palatable to my family. Few months back I had prepared the soya burger patties which was a major hit among my readers but I decided to pen down something more conventional today. The chickpea soya curry which comprises of soya chunks cooked along with chickpeas with some light spices to give it an instant kick.The recipe mimics a standard mutton curry and the idea is to give it a meat-like quality without overpowering its taste.
- 100 gms chickpeas,soaked overnight and boiled
- 100 gms soya chunks,soaked in warm water
- 1 red onion, grind into a paste
- 1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
- 1 tomato, cut into chunks
- 1 tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tsp red chilli powder
- 1 tsp cumin powder
- 1 tsp coriander powder
- 1 tsp garam masala
- 1 tsp chat masala
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 tbsp oil
- salt to taste
- Fresh sprig of Cilantro for garnish
- Few green chillies
- The chickpea can be boiled or cooked in a pressure cooker. I generally recommend 5 whistles for the right texture.Preserve the cooking liquid of the chickpeas which lends flavor to the gravy.
- Then heat oil in a deep bottomed pan, add the cumin seeds. The add your red onion paste and giner garlic paste and fry until the smell of onion & garlic has gone. This mostly takes five minutes.
- The key to indian cooking is how well the spices have been cooked.
- Now add the tomato chunks and cook them throughly. Adding salt at this stage makes the tomatoes cook sooner and melt into the gravy.
- Once the mixture is homgenous start adding all your dry spices except chat masala. Then fry until the spice mixture seperates from its oil. The impotant trick is if you intend to cook with less oil then after frying for 3 minutes you should add a little water to the spice mixture and continue steam frying them.
- Once all the masalas have been throughlu cooked. Stir in the chickpeas. Squeeze out the excess liquid from the soya chunks and add it to the chickpeas mixture.
- Then coat the chickpeas and soya chunks with masalas throughly. Then add 1 cup of the remaining chickpea cooking fluid. Adjust the consistency as per your needs.I prefer mine having a thicker consistency almost coating the legumes so that it is more flavorful.
- Then let it simmer over medium heat for 10 mintues.Then garnish with a coriander and thinly sliced green chillies. Sprikle a tsp of chat masala over the curry before serving to that extra zing.
- This is an absolutely stunning combination with chapathi and rice.
What a lovely post. It’s a true reflection of your sensitivity to your readers. And lovely recipe. i have never tried a combination of the two, but individually i love both!
Thank you for the visit Ramya. You are an excellent writer too. I have written a few facts which we bloggers face everyday. I wanted to comment on CumberTown but unfortunately it is not allowing me to do so.
That very last picture <3
I'd try any recipe that says "Chickpeas".
Gorgeous, warm, home-y vibe all over the pictures.
Love.
Hi Nusrat,
Hope you are in best of health. I am waiting for your next post. This year task is to work with brown tones and come out of my comfort zone of dark and moody.
It’s been a while I have stopped by.
The picture are so homey and cozy – it reminded me of my home in India. And like always, love your narration!
Take care.
Hello Dolphia,
Appreciation is from the heart doesn’t always need to be quantified. Wish you great success for your new University studies. Thats my fav subject. Keep the blogging juices flowing.
I agree to you on the struggle to get acceptable vegeterian meals on the table. When I get a clean bowl back, I say Alhamdulillah, pat my back and be happy! 🙂 This sounds like a delicious curry, have made both separately… the pictures are so homely…
We eat a lot of vegetarian meals, Chickpeas and soya chucks are two quite common ingredients. I never really mixed the two and made a dish out of it. Surely sounds quite hearty.
Hello Kankana,
Call it luck,call it destiny! But I am such a big fan of your work. I never knew how to catch your attention though. You have such beautifully composed photographs and the recipes are unique and I think you are a pioneer with Prerna much before we guys sprouted.
Yah mixed, I think I call it my mother’s calculator.She used to mixed one likeable with one not so likeable(not bad) to create one dish for us.