Confession: I didn’t know Soya Chunks were called Nutrela. Or textured Vegetable Protein (TVP). Anyway, my mom never cooked with it much and I have only ever known them as soya chunks or “chung chung” as Amma calls them, with emphasis on the ‘g’! Turns out TH really likes soya chunks and I try to make different things out of it as much as possible. Cooking it with potatoes and tomatoes is probably my favourite. It goes well with rotis and is neither too watery nor dry – just perfect!
Looking for other soya chunks recipes? Try Chilly Soya Chunks | Soya Chunks Cutlets | Soya Chunks Kurma | Soya Chunks Biryani
- 2 of medium-sized potatoes
- 1.5 cups of soya chunks (TVP / Nutrela / Meal Maker)
- 2 of onions
- 2 of tomatoes
- 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
- 1 small piece of ginger, grated
- 2 of green chillies
- ½ tsp of red chilli powder
- 2 tsp of coriander powder
- 3 tbsp of oil
- ½ tsp of jeera (cumin)
- ¼ tsp of mustard seeds
- ¼ tsp of saunf (fennel seeds)
- ¼ tsp of turmeric powder
- ¼ tsp of urad dal
- A few curry leaves
- Salt to taste
- Chop the potatoes into small cubes. Peel and cube it if you prefer. Also, potatoes here cook up very fast so I don't par boil them. If you feel it will take too long, pressure cook the potatoes or boil them in some water for 10 mins before using. You can use any variety of potato you like.
- Slice the onions and tomatoes thin and long.
- Cook the soya chunks in boiling water with some salt for 10 mins until soft. You can also pressure cook it in some water but I find that cooking it this way is easier. You can add some milk to it at this stage to get rid of the smell of soya chunks. We don't mind it so much so I don't waste milk doing that.
- Drain and set aside.
- Heat oil in a pan and add the mustard seeds. When they pop, add the cumin, urad dal, fennel seeds, green chillies, garlic ginger, and curry leaves. Saute for a minute until the ginger and garlic smell roasted. Then add the onions and saute until they turn golden brown. Follow it with turmeric, red chilli powder, and coriander. Fry for another minute.
- Then, add the tomatoes and cook until the mixture turns mushy - about 3-4 mins.
- Squeeze the water out of the cooked soya granules as much as possible and add it to the above mixture along with the potatoes. Mix well and add salt. Sprinkle some water over it and cook covered, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes are cooked soft - about 10 mins.
- Serve hot with rotis or chapatis.
Step by Step Soya Chunks Masala with Potatoes Recipe
1. Chop the potatoes into small cubes. Peel and cube it if you prefer. Also, potatoes here cook up very fast so I don’t par boil them. If you feel it will take too long, pressure cook the potatoes or boil them in some water for 10 mins before using. You can use any variety of potato you like.
Slice the onions and tomatoes thin and long.
2. Cook the soya chunks in boiling water with some salt for 10 mins until soft. You can also pressure cook it in some water but I find that cooking it this way is easier. You can add some milk to it at this stage to get rid of the smell of soya chunks. We don’t mind it so much so I don’t waste milk doing that.
Drain and set aside.
3. Heat oil in a pan and add the mustard seeds. When they pop, add the cumin, urad dal, fennel seeds, green chillies, garlic ginger, and curry leaves. Saute for a minute until the ginger and garlic smell roasted. Then add the onions and saute until they turn golden brown. Follow it with turmeric, red chilli powder, and coriander. Fry for another minute.
Then, add the tomatoes and cook until the mixture turns mushy – about 3-4 mins.
4. Squeeze the water out of the cooked soya granules as much as possible and add it to the above mixture along with the potatoes. Mix well and add salt. Sprinkle some water over it and cook covered, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes are cooked soft – about 10 mins.
Serve hot with rotis or chapatis. I have also served this with jeera rice and it goes well.
For soya chunks masala with potatoes recipe in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu, Kannada, etc please use the Google translate button in the sidebar.
Thank you for this delicious recipe, first time cooking with large soya chunks! Very good!
What is urad dal please ? I live in UK
it’s a split lentil that’s white in colour. can google for images and in this recipe you can safely omit it
thank you so much,as its my first time I’am cooking something
Tried this recipe.Tasted so good Soya Alu seems to be a good made for each other combo
regards
Baskaran
Good Stuff Nags.. I'm a lover of Soya chunks & this is absolutely tasty.. Ramya…
looks delicious; must have tasted swell 🙂
Wat a simple and tasty recipe
Really, you can do this? I have a box of this stuff lying in my pantry and not going to tell you for how long. The only way I can get Nandu to taste it is by having potatoes in there!
Hi there…
i had been having Soya in office canteen fro almost an 2 years and decided to never have it again, but my doc thinks i need to have soyas regulary.. so i was looking up for interesting reciepe and yours the first one i tried.. tastes awesome.. looks awesome and feels awesome… thanks buddy… 🙂
can it get any better than this…no way…
thanks for sharing this recipe…
regards
rahul
Soy chunks have been my all time fav. Love this masala version with potatoes. Nice crisp clicks Nags.
This sounds like a nice combination…potato with soya chunks. Will def try the combo next time!
still my mom thinks these are non-veggies 🙂
I remember being very puzzled the first time I saw nutrela; I couldn't for the life of me figure out what they were. My husband would eat entire boxes of nutrela as a grad student.
Looks so homey and delicious !!
wow, its too good , must be gr8 wid rice..
I used this combo in my tart last week – was superb, tasted like a meat tart.
Wow.. love the gorgeous pic…
I use to know it as Nutrela as a kid. Now I know it's also called TVP. I love it… This looks tempting!
I use to know it as nutrela as a kid, I love it. This curry looks really tempting…
Looks delicious!
Ate a lot of soy chunks in Thai food, mom used to cook with it often too. Sometimes it's added as an extra topping on some Thai dishes, like peanuts.
Have you tried the fried ones just on their own? Nice n crisp, tastes awesome I tell ya!
When I pronounced the "chung chung" with emphasis on the 'g' – it sounded funny but cute. Haha 😀
I had them for the first time when my aunt's mum frm chennai made this yummy korma with someyhing that tasted like mutton but was vegetarian. Meal maker she said. We never got it here. We kids would wait for her next visit to have more of the delicious so non-veg like veg thingie. Lovely combo!delish!
Never cooked with soya chunks before.Once tasted a kurma made with vegetables and soya chunks at a restaurant where the chunks stood out like sore thumbs.So didn't attempt to cook with it yet.Potatoes make any dish interesting,so the combo sounds try-able!
Super irresistible masala,cant wait to try soon.
Interesting combination! looks yum!
Looks super yummy! My mom used to sneak these soya chunks into a variety of sides for rotis but they didnt looks half as yummy as this one. They were huge chunks and tasted like NOTHING! Let me give this recipe a try so that I can sneak soya into my kids' lunches…The things we vegetarians have to do for protein 🙂
Luv anyhing with soya..Looks temping.