Gongura Soya Chunks Curry | Soya Gongura | Gongura Recipes

Sorrel leaves aka Gongura are sour leaves and are used to prepare the famous Andhra Gongura Pickle and Gongura Pacchadi. Though these leaves taste the best in Pickle or Pacchadi form, they are versatile and can be used in various recipes like dal,curry, stew or rice varieties. I have already posted Gongura Pappu  , Gongura Pulusu Kura, Gongura Pulihora , Gongura Pacchadi with Green Chillies, Gongura Pacchadi with Red Chillies recipes and I am yet to post the famous Gongura Pickle, sometime soon I should post it too. I love gongura based recipes because of the unique tartness from the sorrel leaves.

Today I am posting a curry recipe using Gongura, I saw this curry preparation in a tv show and modified it according to our taste buds. This is not a rich curry but is good as a everyday curry and a nice way to eat gongura leaves. There are so many various ways that Gongura is used in non vegetarian dishes and Gongura Mutton is one dish, today's recipe is a version of it by replacing the mutton with the soya chunks(meal maker) which is a treat for vegetarians. Soya Chunks absorb the flavors nicely and gives a nice flavorful chewy bites in the gravy.Try this different recipe with gongura and I am sure that you will try this recipe if you are gongura lover.Even if you are not, do give it a try and I am sure you will like it!!

Check out the list of Gongura recipes in my blog:

• Gongura Pulihora | Gongura Rice | Sorrel Greens Rice
• Gongura Pacchadi with Green Chillies
• Gongura Pacchadi with Red Chillies
• Talimpu Gongura | Noone Gongura
• Gongura Pulusu Kura
• Gongura Pappu | Sorrel Greens Dal

Gongura Soya Chunks Curry:

Serves 3 | Author: Prathibha

Prep time: 20 mins | Cooking time: 30 mins | Total time: 50 mins

Cuisine: Andhra | Category: Side dish for Rice and Rotis

Ingredients:

1 medium bunch Red Sorrel (Gongura) leaves, 3 cups when tightly packed

2/3 cup Soya Chunks

2 Onions, chopped into small pieces

1 Tomato, finely chopped (optional)

2 tsp Ginger-Garlic paste

2-3 Green Chilies,slit

4-5 Garlic pods,roughly chopped

1.5 tsp Red chili powder

2 tsp Coriander powder

3/4 tsp Garam masala

1/2 tsp Turmeric powder

Salt to taste

2-3 tbsp Oil

Method:

• Separate the red sorrel leaves from the stems and wash them nicely and saute the leaves in 2 tsp oil until they become soft and mushy.Cool the mixture

• Meanwhile boil soya chunks in water for 3-4 mins until they are done and drain them and give a cold water bath twice, squeeze them each time gently and repeat and keep them aside.

• Grind the cooled gognura leaves to a rough puree.
• Heat 2 tbsp oil in a kadai and add slit green chilies and roughly chopped garlic pods and fry them until the green chilis wilt.

• Add chopped onions and fry them until they become pink in color.Add finely chopped tomatoes and cook until they become mushy.

• Now add all the spices - turmeric powder, red chili powder, garam masala, coriander powder, salt and cook the masala until the oil in the masala leaves the edges.
• Add pureed gongura mixture to it and fry for another 5-6 mins.If the mixture is sticking add a couple of tablespoons of water in between.

• Once the mixture is nicely fried add the cooked and squeezed soya chunks to it and add 1.5 cups of water to it and cook for 5-6 mins until it is done and oil floats on the mixture. You can add 3/4th cup of coconut milk and 3/4 cup of water at this stage.Adjust the consistency of the gravy according to your requirement.

Serve it hot with rice/rotis.

Notes:

1. The addition of tomato is optional but I wanted to serve as a gravy for chapathis and hence I added, you can avoid it if you want.
2. Instead of only water you can even add 3/4 th cup of coconut milk and 3/4th cup of water to make it as a gravy. This gives a subtle flavor to the gravy and also makes it rich and balances the sourness of Gongura. But I wanted to highlight and enjoy the gongura flavor so I completely avoided the coconut milk. 
3. Gongura based dishes are usually sour, hence add more number of green chilies and spices like red chili powder and garam masala to balance the flavors.Garlic adds a nice flavor to gongura hence do not skip the garlic.
4. You can even mash the gongura once it is cooked to a rough mixture if you want, you don't need to make it to a puree.
5. You can replace red sorrel leaves with the green sorrel leaves too.

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Soya Chunks Biryani Recipe | Soya Chunks Recipes

I love Pulaos and Biryanis for the fact that they are one pot meal and can be prepared quickly,while few Biryani recipes are bit complicated and time consuming. I reserve the Dum Biryanis for occasions and always adopt a simple one pot pressure cooker method for daily basis. These kind of one pot dishes are ideal for lunch box or for a week end lunch.

 I usually add soya chunks even to my vegetable pulaos but in moderate amounts. Soya chunks is also known as 'Nutrela' or 'Meal Maker'.Soya chunks has meaty texture and is a very good source of proteins for vegetarians, hence I include it in many of the gravies and pulaos on daily basis. As Soya chunks are bland in taste you need to spice it up a bit but they observe the flavours beautifully and make the dish delicious. We get soya chunks in two sizes and I prefer to use the mini soya chunks over the bigger ones. I follow more or less a similar recipe for most of my one pot biryanis and love the flavourful outcome all the time. Pair it with Onion-Tomato raita and papad and enjoy the delicious meal with your family.

Check out similar biryani/pulao recipes here  - Veg Dum Biryani, Babycorn Pulao, Mint Pulav /Pudina Rice, Mixed Vegetable Pulav, Baby Potato Biriyani and Capsicum-Potato Pulav.

Soya Chunks Biryani Recipe:

Serves 2

Prep time: 10 mins | Cooking time: 20 mins | Total time: 30 mins

Cuisine: Indian | Category: Pulao/Biryani - Main Course

Ingredients:

1 heaped cup Basmati rice

3/4 cup mini Soya Chunks

1/3 cup fresh/frozen Green peas

2 cups Coconut Milk(medium consistency,see notes)

1 large Onion,finely sliced

1 tsp Biryani Masala or 1/4 tsp Garam masala

1/2 tsp Red chili powder

1/4 tsp Turmeric powder

few mint leaves

1 Bayleaf

1/2" Cinnamon

2 Cloves

1 Cardamom, slightly crushed

1 tsp Shahjeera(black Cumin seeds)

Salt to taste

2 tbsp Oil

1 tbsp Ghee

to grind:

1 Tomato,chopped

2 Green chillies

1/4 cup Mint leaves

1/8 cup Coriander leaves

4-5 Garlic pods

3/4" Ginger,chopped

1/2" Cinnamon

2 Cloves

1 tsp Fennel seeds(saunf)

Method:

• Grind all the ingredients mentioned under 'to grind' to a smooth paste and keep it aside. 

• Wash and soak basmati rice in water for 10 mins.
• Boil 2-3 cups of water in a vessel and add soya chunks and boil for 2-3 minutes or immerse in hot water for 7-8 mins.Drain them and drop them again in cold water and squeeze them and repeat the cold bath once again and squeeze them and keep aside.This process ensures to remove the raw smell from soya chunks. 

• Heat oil and ghee in a cooker and add bayleaf followed by shahjeera, cloves, cardamom and cinnamon and fry for half a minute. 

• Add sliced onions and fry well until they turn pink color.
• Add green peas and boiled and squeezed soya chunks and fry well for a minute. 

• Now add ground masala and fry well for 2-3 minutes until the raw smell disappears.
• Now add turmeric powder, red chili powder or Garam masala(or biryani masala) and fry for a minute again.

• Add soaked and drained basmati rice and fry for a minute until the moisture in the rice dries.Do not roast for long as the rice would break.

• Add coconut milk to it, mint leaves and salt and bring it to a boil and cover it and pressure cook for 1 whistle and simmer it for 7-8 mins.Switch it off and let the pressure drops on its own.Fluff up the rice with a fork.

Serve it hot with Tomato-Onion raita and papad.

Notes:

• If you use tinned Coconut milk which is of thick consistency you can dilute 1 cup of coconut milk with 1 cup of water to get 2 cups of thin coconut milk.You can even mix coconut milk powder in hot water to get the desired consistency as mentioned on the pack.
• You can use water instead of coconut milk in the recipe. In that case I recommend you to add 2 tbsp beaten curd before adding water and fry slightly.
• Along with soya chunks,you can add vegetables like carrots, beans, potatoes, cauliflower, capsicum and reduce the quantity of soya chunks in the recipe.

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