Zaiqa

Soya is an excellent source of Protein including all Amino Acids, being the only vegetable whose protein is complete. It is also a good source of Calcium, Vitamins, Omega-3-Fatty Acids and Dietary Fibre. Benefits of Soya include promoting heart health with LDL cholesterol (Bad Cholesterol) lowering claim for soya; preventing Cancer and alleviating menopausal synptoms. Soya are also very versatile. They can be had in the form of Soya nuggets, whole Soya beans, or processed as Soya milk, Tofu or Soya sauce. I buy and store those dried soya nuggets in air tight containers in the pantry for very long periods.

Dried Soya Nuggets ~ Soya nuggets soaked overnight in water

Note: Soak Soya nuggets in surplus fresh cool water for 1-2 hours. Later, squeeze them, drain the water and put the squeezed nuggets in a dry bowl. Add fresh cool water to it and again squeeze them, drain the water and put them in a bowl. Repeat this about 8 times, until there is no lather in the water when you squeeze them while washing them up. This is important, otherwise the lather in soya will cause severe flatulence. So, be careful there.

Recipe Source: India’s Vegetarian Cooking, by Monisha Bharadwaj

Soya Ki Subzi / Soya Nuggets in Tomato Sauce

Ingredients:

Dried Soya nuggets – 300 gms – read ‘Note’ above before you start cooking
Canola Oil – 3 tbsp
Yellow Onions – 2, medium, chopped
Ginger Garlic paste – 1 tbsp
Tomatoes – 2, ripe
Cumin seeds/Zeera – 1 tsp
Turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp
Red Chilli powder – 1/2 tsp
Garam masala powder – 1/2 tsp
Salt – 2 tsp
Water – 100 ml
Green Chillies – 1, slit, for garnishing

Soya Ki Subzi – Soya Nuggets in Tomato Sauce

Method:

-Pour oil in a heavy bottomed pan and fry the onions until transparent. Add ginger garlic paste and the chopped tomatoes to it. Stir well and let it cook until it has become soft and mushy. Once cool, grind the above mixture into a paste.
-Heat the remaining oil in an another heavy bottom preferably non stick pan and fry the cumin seeds till they splutter. Now add the ground onion-tomato paste, and stir well to mix. Cook for a couple of minutes. Add the spice powders and salt. Add the squeezed soya nuggets to the pan and stir in water. Bring it to a boil. Reduce the heat, simmer for about 5 minutes and allow the soya nuggets to absorb all the flavours and liquid from the pan mixture. Cook until the gravy is semi-dry.
-Garnish with slit green chillies and serve it hot along with Parathas.

Luv,
Mona