BM # 31 Week 3 Day 1
I have been a vegetarian since I was in grade 1. I still remember taking omelette and bread to school for my lunch. My best friend at that time was a Jain girl and the minute I would open my lunch box she would turn and tell me not to eat eggs. She would tell me ..it is a sin and I remember coming home and telling mom not to give me eggs. Mom stopped giving me any kind of non-veg, including eggs. I can never forget that friend, a fair looking lean but pretty girl, whom I owe a big Thanks for converting me into a vegetarian.
Today while cooking for BM, my theme is meatless dishes. These are dishes that are originally made with meat but have been substituted with a vegetarian ingredient.
For the first day, I have chosen to cook Soya chaaps. These are easily available in Delhi markets. My son is very fond of these and I always get in kilos and freeze them. I have never tried making the chaap itself, but did find a recipe on it, the method seemed authentic, but it was made from wheat flour. I am no fan of these as anything that resembles non-veg, I just cannot eat. That is one reason why I have not probed deeply into the basic recipe of soya chaap. These are also available in the dried form, where one has to soak them overnight and then use them. I cook these for my son and son in law, they simply love this dish. These chaaps can be fried and served with some chaat masala. Here is how I make these.
6-8 pieces ready soya chaap
Deep fry the chaaps to a golden.
Immerse them in water for 10 -15 minutes.
Drain and squeeze out the water.
Keep aside till required.
4-6 onions finely chopped
2 bay leaves
1 tsp cumin seeds
8-10 cloves garlic, crushed
Small piece of ginger, grated
8 tomatoes, puréed
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp red chilly powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp kitchen king masala
1/2 tsp Garam masala
1 tbsp kasoori methi
Salt to taste
Heat oil in a pressure cooker.
Add bay leaves and cumin seeds, let crackle.
Add crushed garlic, onions and garlic.
Cook till brown.
Add the fried chaaps and sauté till the oil floats up.
Add about 1 cup water and a little salt and close the lid.
Pressure cook the chaaps for 4-5 whistles.
Let the pressure drop, open the cooker and return to full flame.
Add tomatoes and all spices, sauté till the tomatoes have dried up and oil floats up.
Add 1 cup water and pressure cook it again for 4-5 whistles.
Open the cooker after pressure is released.
Crush kasoori methi with hands and sprinkle on the ready chaap sabzi.
Serve hot with naans or rotis.
every meat lover will sacrifice eating meat for this beautiful dish that you have made…bookmarking right away
its look like meat but after reading the whole recipe.wow.fabulous
The picture itself is just killing me, we dont get soya chaap here, do have the recipe for it..if so please share Vaishali..The platter makes me drool.
It really looks like a meat dish… well done
Soya chaaps curry looks elegant , loved your presentation!
Wow.. Looks like a true meat dish..
Never heard of soya chaap. This curry looks so inviting…
We don't get soya chaaps here, only soya chunks. The curry looks delicious Vaishali…
Never heard of soya chaap Vaishali, and your picture looks so much like meat..very nice..
Oh wow…I have never heard of these and looks wonderful!
Soya Chaap is totally new to me. But your curry looks fabulous
I've never heard of chaaps, but they look like the real thing 🙂 Sounds yummy, I'm sure I'll love it.
Sounds new to me,curry looks so tempting and inviting..
I also have never heard of chaaps..but it sure looks like the real thing!
we dont get the soy chaap here…it looks very inviting!!!
have questions to ask that why did you add fried chaaps after browning the onions and why did you add tomtoes puree afterwards? any specific reason. i will make it tomorrow. could you please tell the quantity of onions and tomatoes in grams and is it necessary to add kitchen king masala , if not then what is the substitute for that?
Meenakshi, the soya sticks are added after browning the onions becuase we want the sticks to cook well, after adding tomato they sometimes become stubborn and do not get tender, that is because the tomatoes are tangy and hinder in making the chaap tender. This is the procedure that I follow with tough veggies like soya,Lotus stem, Punjabi Vadi etc.
onions could about 250 gms and tomatoes about 500 gms.Kitchen king masala could be sustituted with any strong garam masala..you could also use some kasoori methi.
Happy Cooking…and do let me know how it turns out.
thanks for the reply. i have made it today, the taste is awesome. i bought kitchen king masala and reduced tomatoes using 300gms.if you have malai chaap recipe , please share. thanks once again for sharing your recipe.
Looks so delicious.. am going to try this out for sure. Thank you for sharing this wonderful creation.. :))
chowringhee kathi roll
WOW ..it looks fab …so tempting..
Restaurants in South Delhi
Good to know about soya chaap. That's very new to me 🙂 Online Food Order
wow… nice entry… looks so delicious, thankyou for shearing. chowringhee satyaniketan
i Love soya chop, it is healthy as well as tasty that give us taste like chicken.
this is nice blog with good information about this topic please provide few more information about this blogsoya chaap