Today’s recipe Soya Chunks Kurma is an absolute favorite of mine. I know I say this a lot, and of course I wont share anything that I don’t enjoy cooking. But then, anything with soya chunks or meal maker gets my full marks and I simply love them. Ever since I can remember, I have been a huge fan of meal maker. Amma used to add it to her Sunday biriyanis and sometimes, to her veg kurma. Being a vegetarian family that didn’t even consume eggs, it was dad’s idea to incorporate meal maker in our diet to increase protein intake. I didn’t care for the nutrient information as much, just loved the texture. While there are many who don’t like the taste and smell of soya chunks – I am one of those obsessed with it.

Dehydrated soya meal, made to chunks is called as Meal Maker. Soya Chunks are made from defatted soyabean meal, a byproduct of extracting soya bean oil. Usually available as large chunks, these should be first cooked in water to rehydrate and washed well to remove any impurities. As soya chunks are really porous, they soak up a lot of water while cooking. Soya doesn’t have taste of its own, so it is better to squeeze off the excess water and that way, it absorbs all the flavors of the Soya Chunks Kurma!

Kurma is a tamil style curry usually served with breakfast or dinner recipes – chapati, parotta, dosa, uthappam, roti and set dosa. Almost every vegetable can be made into Kurma and there are also many different versions of kurma recipes. Every hotel makes their kurma differently and just like that, every household’s kurma recipe could also be different. However, there is one common thing across every kurma – the base of the kurma is made from a coconut along with poppy seeds and sometimes, fried gram or cashews. I usally add soya chunks to my  Vegetable Kurma but this Soya Chunks Kurma comes in handy if you don’t have any vegetables available.

Add the ingredients under “coconut paste” and grind into a smooth paste by adding little water. Set aside.

In a pan, heat 2 teaspoon oil. Add cinnamon stick, cloves, cardamom & bay leaf. Add finely chopped onions and slit green chilli. Fry for a couple of mins and add fresh curry leaves.

As the onions turn translucent, add ginger garlic paste. Cook until the raw smell is gone for about 3 mins.

Add finely chopped tomatoes and cook them until slightly mushy.

Now add all the spice powders – turmeric powder, Kashmiri red chilli powder, coriander powder and salt as needed.

Cook for a couple of minutes and as the oil oozes from the sides, add coriander and mint leaves. Cook for another 2 minutes.

Next add cooked soya chunks. Add some water as needed and cook for 3-4 mins.

Now add the prepared coconut paste and quickly add some water. Mix well.

As the kurma comes to a slow boil, add garam masala powder.

Let the gravy boil on low flame for 3-4 mins.

Garnish with fresh coriander leaves and remove from heat.

Serve hot with chapati/roti, parotta and it goes really well with dosa varieties too!

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