Ever tried eating flatbread with a Chinese dish? It may sound bizarre or may be a little awful. Something cooked in ginger garlic and soy sauce being eaten with an Indian bread. Unthinkable, is it? But if you go by my word, don’t keep this dish just in your thoughts; try it in your kitchen and then gorge on it! Coz it is that delicious!
Minced Soya or Soya Granules are a protein rich ingredient that is a fabulous substitute for meat for vegetarians and vegans. It was a cousin who introduced me to soya granules. To be honest, I had never tried minced soya till then. Having tasted a Chinese style snack of soya nuggets, I marveled at the clubbing of those flavors and how well they went along. It was therefore obvious that it would work well soya granules as well. To some, the amount of garlic may seem overwhelming but it works very well in this dish. Take my word for it 🙂
This dish is actually deceptive by all means. In fact I would suggest, please don’t go by its appearance. Let us go by these wise words – ‘The taste of the pudding is in eating’. It certainly looks blah and may be somewhat unappetizing but it is anything but blah. The granules beautifully absorb the flavors of garlic and ginger along with the soy and chilli sauce making it lip smacking good. Eaten with a buttered garlic naan makes it oh-so-good! This dish is pretty much effortless and quite easy and simple. Am I sounding like I am trying desperately hard to sell this dish to you? Well heck, I am! Coz knowing how delicious it is, I know what you will be missing out on, if you don’t give it a go! 😀
I used the following ratio to cook the soya:
1 cup Soya Granules
3/4 C sliced Onions
5 – 6 fat cloves Garlic (thinly sliced)
1½ – 2 inch ginger (julienne)
3 Green Chili (Slit length-wise in two)
2 tbsp Vegetable Oil
1 tbsp plus 1 tsp Soy Sauce
½ – 1 tbsp Green Chilli Sauce (adjust heat to taste)
1 generous pinch Ajinomoto (optional)
1 tbsp Tomato Purée or 1 tsp Tomato Ketchup (optional)
¼ tsp Black Pepper Powder (adjust to taste)
2 tsp Cornflour
Heat four and half cups of water and once it starts to boil, add the minced soya
Cook and minute or a minute and half minute at medium heat. Remove from heat and strain it.
Run it under water. Using hands, squeeze out excess water from the soya. Keep aside.
In a wok, heat the oil and add sliced onion, ginger and garlic. Fry till the onion becomes translucent and garlic & ginger become aromatic.
Add slit green chillies and stir fry for 15 seconds more.
Add the minced soya and season it with salt, soy sauce, green chilli sauce, ajinomoto, tomato purée and black pepper powder. (Use the salt judiciously since the sauces too have salt in them)
Give it good stir till all the flavours have incorporated well. (if the soya appears dry, add a few spoons of water)
Add the corn flour to three tbsp of water and mix well. Add this to the minced soya, stir well and cook for a minute.
Taste the soya and adjust the seasoning if required.
Serve with hot Garlic Naan. Enjoy!
Serves 4
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