Chilli Soya Chunk Manchurian

My mother spoon fed me for a long time. I refused to eat on my own even when I was reading in class five or six!!! The perks of that feeding was purely a gain for my mother because she used to mix and mash the veggies and curries with the rice and fed me that while I read or watched t.v!! I couldn’t distinguish the veggies...and I ate silently. My mother had one more trick back then. She used to say that she has cooked meat and fed me soya chunks in place of that. When I asked that it does not taste like meat, she replied that it might be because I am feeling sleepy or today the curry is not that rich. It took me a long time to figure out this little piece of information, but by then I have started eating on my own!!!

Now every time my husband says that he does not want to eat soya curry, I remember my childhood days and a little me chuckles inside me!! Ha!!! I wish I could be that simple even now, not prying over the background stories behind a real conversation!! It would have been such a relief then.

Fry the soya chunks.

Heat oil and the minced ginger and garlic. Saute for half a minute or util you get the strong garlic smell.

Add chopped onions. Sprinkle salt and pepper over them.

Cook the onions until they become translucent.

Add the chopped capsicum and green chillies and cook for 2-3 minutes more.

Add the prepared sauce mix.

Add the kept aside fried soya chunks.

Simmer for 3-4 minutes or until the sauce thickens.

But yes...trick or no tric...hands down...I love soya chunks. So I make Soya Manchurian very often. Its such a simple recipe and takes no more than 15 minutes to cook, if you are not counting the soaking time. J With lots of garlic this recipe has everything in it, chillies, garlic, Chinese touch. Do I need to tell more to tempt you?? Come on...jump to the recipe now!!

Chilli Soya Manchurian

Serves 4

Ingredients:

2 and ½ cups of soya chunks

1 medium onion – chopped

8 fat cloves of garlic – minced

½ inch ginger – minced

2 green chillies – chopped

1 small capsicum – chopped into small cubed 

Salt

1 tbsp ground pepper

1 tbsp oil

For frying the soya chunks:

1 tbsp corn starch

2 tsp all purpose flour

2-3 tsp dark soy sauce

Salt

For the sauce:

2 tbsp dark soy sauce

2 tsp vinegar

3-4 tsp corn starch

1 tbsp green chilli sauce

1 tsp tomato ketchup

¼ th cup water

Method:

Soak the soya chunks in water overnight. After that squeeze them and replace the water with cleaner one. Keep them for 10 minutes there and squeeze the soya chunks again. Keep the squeezed soya chunks in a big bowl.

In that bowl add in all the ingredients listed under “for frying the soya chunks”. Mix them well with hand.

Heat oil in a flat pan / kadai / wok and shallow fry the soya chunks stirring often for 2-3 minutes. Transfer these fried soya chunks in a separate bowl and keep aside.

Clean that pan and heat oil.

Add in the minced ginger and garlic there. Sauté them for a bit or until you start to get the pungent garlic flavour.

Immediately add in the chopped onions and mix well.

Sprinkle some salt and ground pepper over the onions and cook them until they become translucent.

Next add the chopped capsicum and green chillies, and cook for another 3 minutes more. We want to cook the capsicum a little, but they should still retain their crunch as well.

In a bowl mix in all the ingredients listed under “for the sauce” and pour them into the onions and capsicum.

Mix and add in the fried kept aside soy chunks.

Mix well so that all the soya chunks are well covered with the sauce and cook for another 2-3 minutes or until the sauce becomes thick and sticky.

Taste and adjust the seasonings and put off the flame.

Finally finish off with some chopped parsley or spring onions or coriander leaves.

Serve hot with plain hot rice / chapatti / naan.