At home we have been on-again off-again fan of the Soy Chunks also called as Soy Meal Maker. Nutrela is the Indian brand that makes this soy protein which has a meaty texture and is a good option for vegetarians. They are easily available in the Indian groceries. 

Years ago after I discovered a vegetarian version of soy protein and learnt its nutritional benefits I used to put it in just about anything be it pulao, fried rice, curries etc. Now that I remember, everything except for the smell was a plus. But then eventually we got tired of it, decided to give it a break and stopped using it altogether. 

Fast forward few years and now I am looking for way to introduce various nutritional foods to the kiddo. A colleague and I were talking about recipes for kids and the topic lead to the usage of soy chunks. That is when I bought a bag of these Nutrela Soy chunks from the Indian store. 

When I saw the recipe for Chilli Soy Chunks at Soma’s, I knew I had to try it. The kiddo loves Gobi Manchurian and all that was needed was to treat the boiled soy chunks as the equivalent of Gobi. Of course, I did not deep fry but made the sauce and tossed the boiled soy chunks into the gravy. The gravy that I made is a dry one as I did not add water to it.

Thanks for asking but more than the kid, the mom loved it and wiped the plate clean 🙂 

Adapted from: Chilli Soy Chunks @eCurry
Ingredients

• 1 cup uncooked Soy chunks
• 1 bell pepper/ capsicum chopped (any color)
• 1 medium onion (chopped lengthwise)
• 2 tsp ginger garlic paste
• ½ tsp pepper powder
• 1 Tbsp soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp vinegar
• 1 Tbsp ketchup
• 1 Tbsp chilli flakes/hot sauce
• 2 Tbsp Oil
• 1 Tbsp Chopped coriander leaves
• Salt (to taste)

Method 

• Boil 4 cups of water, along with 2 tsp of salt. After it is boiled add the dry soya chunks to it and keep closed and let it sit for about 15 minutes.
• The chunks would have puffed up by now. Drain the water and using hands squeeze out the water from the soy chunks. Keep aside.
• Heat the oil in a pan. To this, add the sliced onions and ginger-garlic mixture. Fry on medium heat, then add the chopped capsicum and fry until cooked.
• Draw everything to a side and add little oil. Add soy sauce, vinegar to this and mix well.
• After it is cooked, add the ketchup and mix in the onion capsicum mixture to the cooked sauces.
• Add the chilli flakes, pepper powder and the cooked soy chunks and stir well.
• Cover with lid and let the sauces get incorporate into the soy chunks. Garnish with the chopped coriander. 

Serve this hot as an appetizer.