Soya Chunks Cutlets or Kebabs – Rich in Protein

Textured soy chunks or soy protein are perfect meat substitutes…

Soy chunks or textured soy proteins are not new to me. I’ve tried cooking with it a few years ago, but the taste of it didn’t excite me that much. I think I made a vegetarian curry or something with that. After that I didn’t care nor make an attempt to try something new with soy chunks. Last weekend, while flipping through the TV channels, as usual my flipping came to an end when I saw a cooking show in one of the Indian channels. I got glued to that show for sometime. In that, the chef made kebabs using soy chunks. I never thought that kebabs or cutlets can be made out of soy chunks, that definitely encouraged me to buy soy chunks. I have seen soy chunks at the Indian store, so I just have to go straight to that store. Without any delay, I tried the soy cutlets or kebabs in my own way.

Believe me, I didn’t feel like I was having vegetarian cutlets, the ground soy chunks had the texture of ground chicken. I shallow fried the cutlets and it tasted really delicious. If you are looking for a meat substitute for making cutlets or kebabs, without any doubt soy chunks is the perfect match. These can also be used for making burgers or sandwiches or just wrap these in a pita bread or tortilla, perfect for lunch, dinner or even for breakfast.

Soy chunks are rich in protein and is vegetarian. Even though soy is gluten free, I learned from some blogs that these soy chunks are not 100% gluten free.

Soy Cutlets or Kebabs

Ingredients

• Soy chunks or textured soy protein- 2 1/2 cups
• Olive oil- 1 tbsp
• Cloves, whole- 2
• Cardamom, whole- 3
• Cinnamon, whole- 2 inch slice
• Bay leaf- 1
• Whole black peppercorns- 6 to 7 or (use 1/2 tsp ground pepper)
• Onion, chopped small- 1 large
• Ginger-Garlic paste- 2 tsp
• Coriander powder- 1 1/2 tsp
• Fennel powder- 2 tsp
• Dalia flour or roasted chana dal flour- 2 1/2 cups or depending on how much you need to make round shapes
• Cilantro, chopped- 1/4 cup
• Salt- to taste
• Oil- for shallow frying or deep frying

Instruction

1. Cover soy chunks with water and soak it for 20 minutes. Don’t soak it overnight.
2. Soy chunks will absorb moisture and will have a sponge like texture after it’s been soaked in water.
3. Just before you add soy chunks to the pan, make sure to squeeze the water off.
4. Place a large pan over medium heat.
5. Add oil, let it turn hot.
6. Add cloves, cardamom, cinnamon, bay leaf, whole peppercorns to the oil, saute for a few seconds.
7. Add onion, little salt and saute till it turns translucent.
8. Add ginger-garlic paste and saute for a couple of minutes.
9. Squeeze the water off the soy chunks and add to the pan.
10. Add coriander powder, fennel powder and salt, combine well.
11. Cook covered for a few minutes.
12. If it’s too dry you could add little water to the pan and cook.
13. Soy chunks will cook very fast.
14. Open the lid and cook till all the water has dried off.
15. Add cilantro and cook for a minute.
16. Remove from the flame and let cool down.
17. Add the mixture to the blender or food processor and grind it to a smooth constituency.
18. You could add just enough water while grinding to get a smooth constituency, but don’t add too much water.
19. Transfer the ground soy mixture into a large bowl.
20. If the cinnamon hasn’t ground well, just discard that.
21. Add dalia flour in small amounts to the soy mixture and combine.
22. You should be able to form balls out of the ground mixture.
23. If the mixture is wet, add more of the flour and combine.
24. Have a taste and add more salt or ground pepper if needed.
25. Make small balls out of the mixture and shape it into oval or round shape.
26. You can make these balls way ahead and refrigerate it.
    
27. Either deep fry the cutlets or shallow fry it, I shallow fried it.
28. Heat oil in a skillet or frying pan, place the cutlets and shallow fry or deep fry till both sides have turned golden brown in color.
29. Transfer to a paper towel and serve warm with ketchup or your favorite dippings.

Tips:

• Make sure you don’t add too much water while grinding the cooked soy chunks, if it gets too watery you need to add more flour to make the balls.
• Dalia flour is available at Indian stores, don’t confuse it with besan or gram flour.
• Or buy roasted dalia and ground it into fine powder in a blender.
• Use these for making veggie burgers/sandwich or wrap in a pita bread, tortilla etc or just serve with salad.

Soy Cutlets or Kebabs - Rich in Protein

 

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Ingredients

• Soy chunks or textured soy protein- 2½ cups
• Olive oil- 1 tbsp
• Cloves, whole- 2
• Cardamom, whole- 3
• Cinnamon, whole- 2 inch slice
• Bay leaf- 1
• Whole black peppercorns- 6 to 7 or (use ½ tsp ground pepper)
• Onion, chopped small- 1 large
• Ginger-Garlic paste- 2 tsp
• Coriander powder- 1½ tsp
• Fennel powder- 2 tsp
• Dalia flour or roasted chana dal flour- 2½ cups or depending on how much you need to make round shapes
• Cilantro, chopped- ¼ cup
• Salt- to taste
• Oil- for shallow frying or deep frying

Instructions

1. Cover soy chunks with water and soak it for 20 minutes. Don't soak it overnight.
2. Soy chunks will absorb moisture and will have a sponge like texture after it's been soaked in water.
3. Just before you add soy chunks to the pan, make sure to squeeze the water off.
4. Place a large pan over medium heat.
5. Add oil, let it turn hot.
6. Add cloves, cardamom, cinnamon, bay leaf, whole peppercorns to the oil, saute for a few seconds.
7. Add onion, little salt and saute till it turns translucent.
8. Add ginger-garlic paste and saute for a couple of minutes.
9. Squeeze the water off the soy chunks and add to the pan.
10. Add coriander powder, fennel powder and salt, combine well.
11. Cook covered for a few minutes.
12. If it's too dry you could add little water to the pan and cook.
13. Soy chunks will cook very fast.
14. Open the lid and cook till all the water has dried off.
15. Add cilantro and cook for a minute.
16. Remove from the flame and let cool down.
17. Add the mixture to the blender or food processor and grind it to a smooth constituency.
18. You could add just enough water while grinding to get a smooth constituency, but don't add too much water.
19. Transfer the ground soy mixture into a large bowl.
20. If the cinnamon hasn't ground well, just discard that.
21. Add dalia flour in small amounts to the soy mixture and combine.
22. You should be able to form balls out of the ground mixture.
23. If the mixture is wet, add more of the flour and combine.
24. Have a taste and add more salt or ground pepper if needed.
25. Make small balls out of the mixture and shape it into oval or round shape.
26. You can make these balls way ahead and refrigerate it.
27. Either deep fry the cutlets or shallow fry it, I shallow fried it.
28. Heat oil in a skillet or frying pan, place the cutlets and shallow fry or deep fry till both sides have turned golden brown in color.
29. Transfer to a paper towel and serve warm with ketchup or your favorite dippings.

Notes

•Make sure you don't add too much water while grinding the cooked soy chunks, if it gets too watery you need to add more flour to make the balls.
•Dalia flour is available at Indian stores, don't confuse it with besan or gram flour.
•Or buy roasted dalia and ground it into fine powder in a blender.
•Use these for making veggie burgers/sandwich or wrap in a pita bread, tortilla etc or just serve with salad.

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