Soya chunk in coconut gravy

Soya chunks is something my mom did not like, so  needless to say she never made it. In my whole life in India, my mom might have made it once and the second time I ate it, was when one of my colleagues/lecturer's brought it for lunch and offered it to me for tasting when I was curious.

But my hubby likes it. I am not a super fan of them but I am not avers to them like my mom. So I do make it. And today I made a recipe with soya chunks in coconut gravy and it was yum yum.

Soya Chunks in coconut gravy

Ingredients

1. Soya Chunks - 1/2 cup
2. 1/2 teaspoon each of ginger garlic paste, salt, chilly powder, turmeric, cumin seeds
3. Coriander powder - 1 tsp
4. Oil - 1 tbsp
5. Few curry leaves
6. 2 dried red chilli

 To grind:

1. Coconut - 2 tbsp
2. Pepper - 1/2 tsp
3. Fennel seeds - 1 tsp
4. Onion - 1 medium sized
5. Tomato - 2 medium sized

 In a microwave safe bowl heat about 2 cups of water for 1-1.5 minutes. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt to it and mix and add the soya chunks to it. And let sit for 20 minutes. Drain them and squeeze as much water out of them as possible. Set aside.

Ass 1/2 tablespoon oil Add the onion and fry for 5 minutes. Add tomatoes and fry for 5-7 more minutes., Let it cool a bit and grind to a paste along with the rest of the ingredients under "to grind".

In a pan heat the remaining oil - add  cumin, mustard seeds, dried red chillies, curry leaves and fry until the seeds start to splutter. Add the ground paste, ginger garlic paste along with all the powdered ingredients and stir to combine. Add the drained/squeezed soya chunks, 1 cup water and bring to a boil. Simmer for 20 minutes on medium heat and serve

 

:

Rajma

Its been a looooonnng time that I logged anything on my blog. But...whose keeping track.

Anyway...sometime ago, I had a friend of my daughter come over for sleep over. And I asked her mom what her favorite dish is, so that I can make it for dinner and she said Rajma...well, this curry with kidney beans is so super popular in the Northern state (of India) Punjab. But its not that popular in the South. In the south we are more devoted to lentils to supply our protein fix.

So that day, I had to go shopping for kidney beans, because I had none in my pantry...shocker :O.
So, instead of going through the pain of remembering to soak the beans over night...cook them extr long to make them nice and mushy, I just got canned kidney beans. So long as you rinse them atleast twice you are fine. And my daughter loved the curry...and that's how one more of the staple curry's in my household was born.

Rajma (Kidney beans cooked in spicy/aromatic gravy)
Ingredients:

1. Rajma/Red Kidney Beans - 1 can
2. Onion - 1 Large
3. Tomatoes - 2 Large
4. Green Chilli - 2
5. Oil - 2 tbsp
6. Hing/Asafoetida - A Pinch
7. 1/2 tsp each of Cumin Seeds, coriander powder,turmeric, amchur powder
8. 1 teaspoon each of Red Chilli Powder , Crushed Kasoori Methi/Dried Fenugreek Leaves ,Salt  (or less)
9. Chopped Coriander Leaves - 2 tbsp 

 Grind the onions to a paste (I like my gravy smooth) or finely chop them.

 In a pan heat oil add hing, cumin and allow to crack. Add onion paste and fry till it start getting brown. Add chilli, ginger-garlic paste, turmeric, coriander powders and mix well, saute for a minute while stirring. Now add finely tomatoes (or ground tomatoes) and stir, cover and cook until tomato gets mashed, stir occasionally. Drain the canned rajma and rinse them under running water and add them to the pan with 2 cups of water and bring it to good boil cover and simmer for 10 minutes.  Add salt, crushed kasoori methi, amchur powder, and stir to mix well. Simmer in slow flame for another 5 minutes or until gravy becomes thick. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve with rice or your favorite roti