Soy Tikka Masala served with Carrot Rice & Raita (Salad)

Chicken tikka and paneer tikka are some of the most popular Indian dishes served in restaurants. Tikka means pieces. Specialty of this dish is paneer is marinated in tadoori spices and yoghurt and baked or barbequed in skewers. Then it’s added to tangy creamy gravy which is the base of this dish. It can be served with rice, biryani or Indian breads like naan or chapatti.

I tried the same cooking style with textured soy protein chunks. I recommend using soy chunks because similar to paneer (cottage cheese) it’s bland in taste; also textured soy protein has soft spongy texture. Hence its texture helps to absorb maximum flavors when marinated and roasted in oven.

I chose to serve Soy tikka masala with carrot rice, again a rice recipe I picked up from my mom. My version has roasted peanuts and yellow split peas for protein and crunchiness. Whenever I make main meals like rice, pasta or noodles, I look for other ingredients to add volume so that I can serve a meal with less carbohydrate and more vegetables and nuts or legumes.

Carrot gives mild sweetness to this rice, served with spicy soy tikka masala, and raita (Indian Salad) is a perfect combination for a special occasion.

Print Recipe here 
Soy Tikka Masala

Ingredients

Serves 4-6

To make Tikka

200g Textured Soy Protein chunks

2 tbsp tandoori spice powder (Can be bought in Indian grocery stores)

4 tbsp low fat yoghurt / soy yoghurt for vegans

To make Masala Gravy

1 Onion

1 tomato

Few coriander leaves

Few curry leaves

4-5 dry red chilies

Grind above ingredients using food processor

4 tbsp vegetable oil

1 tbsp minced garlic and ginger

2 tbsp curry powder

1 tbsp chili powder

200ml full cream milk / coconut milk for vegans

1 tbsp dried kasuri methi (fenugreek) leaves (From Indian grocery stores)

1 tbsp garam masala

Salt to taste

1 tbsp Lemon Juice

Method

Soak soy protein chunks in water for 20 minutes, till they are soft. Squeeze excess water out of soy chunks and mix them with tandoori powder and low fat yoghurt. Let it marinate for 30 minutes. Alternatively you could marinate overnight in fridge to enhance its flavor.

Heat oil in a large pan; stir-fry marinated soy chunks for 5-10 minutes till the outer layer turns into slightly crispy texture. Into the same pan add ground onion mixture and stir fry for few more minutes till raw smell evaporates.

Add curry powder, chili powder, kasuri methi and stir well till soy chunks are coated with spices. Stir in milk, 100ml water cover the lid and cook for 5 minutes till gravy starts to simmer. At this stage add garam masala, lemon juice and salt to taste.

Serve with rice or roti or your choice of bread.

Carrot Rice

Ingredients

Serves 2-3

To make rice

100g Basmati or ponni rice (Both are Indian rice varieties)

1 vegetable soup cube

½ tsp of turmeric powder

1 tbsp lemon juice

Vegetable Mix

1 onion

Few curry leaves

Few coriander leaves

3-4 dry red chili

Grind above ingredients using food processor

2 tbsp vegetable oil

1 tbsp minced garlic and ginger

2 tbsp yellow split peas

1 tsp of each fennel and mustard seeds

1 large carrot, grated

50g frozen green peas, thawed

Handful of roasted peanuts

Salt to taste

Method

Cook rice in a rice cooker by adding water, soup cube and turmeric powder. These add extra flavor and color to the rice. Water has to be 2 times the amount of rice i.e. for 1 cup of rice add 2 cups of water. Once the rice is cooked add 50ml water to the rice cooker, switch off, and leave it to cool down with the lid. Adding water after rice is cooked helps rice not to stick to the rice cooker; else it’s a common problem wherein a layer of cooked rice sticks to the rice cooker. After around 15 minutes add lemon juice and stir the rice using a wooden spoon. Leave it aside.

Heat oil in a large pan; add ground onion mixture, garlic and ginger sauté for 2 minutes till raw smell evaporates. Add mustard, fennel seeds and yellow split peas.

Add grated carrot, pinch of salt and sauté for another 2 minutes till carrot is mildly cooked.  Turn off heat, add thawed green peas, roasted peanuts, rice and mix well.

I recommend to serve this rice with Soy Tikka Masala or some of my other curries like Paneer Masala, Soy Meat curry, fried eggplant curry, mock fish curry, veg chicken curry or any other tangy curry of your choice.

Raita (Indian Salad)

Ingredients

Serves 2-3

½ of Japanese cucumber, diced

1 tomato, diced

1 onion, diced

2 fresh red chilis, diced

4 tbsp low fat yoghurt

Mix all the ingredients and serve immediately.

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