Soya Matar Gravy (Soya nuggets & Peas Gravy)

soya chunks and peas gravy

I had never had soya nuggets before my Uttarakhand volunteering trip. I learnt a lot about food during the 40 days I was volunteering in Uttarakhand. Especially to be grateful for food. Food; vegetables in particular; were a scarcity. More so after the floods when a lot of land was washed away. Relief agencies had filled the houses with dry ration supplies as a result we were lucky to have enough of pulses and rice and flour in all the homes we stayed. We were also lucky that for most part we were staying at Space for Nurturing Creativity or at the Swamy Vivekanand hostel in Kotma. In both places the teachers and swamy ji tried their best to source as many fresh vegetables as possible keeping in mind children’s nutrition. One vegetable supplement that we had a lot because it is easy to store and provided in the relief ration was soya nuggets!

There was no option of being fussy there and neither did the thought even cross my mind at that time. Homemade food was a luxury and I loved everything that was served because it came with so much love and I guess the mountain air adds a lot to the taste as well :).

Anyway I came back in love with soya nuggets :). I think I had mentioned it in passing and my mom-in-law remembered. Couple of days back she bought a Nutrela soya nuggets packet just for me:). None of us had cooked soya before, I simply followed instructions on the packet for preparing soya and then made a usual peas curry as I would do with potato and it turned out so nice!

Soya matar gravy (Soya nuggets and peas gravy)

Preparation Time: 5 mins| Cooking Time: 15 mins| Serves 4

1 ½ cup soya nuggets (I used Nutrela mini Soya chunks)

2 onions, chopped

3 tomatoes, chopped

1 cup peas

1 green chilli, chopped

4 tbsp oil

A pinch of asafoetida

1 tsp cumin seeds

2 tsp ginger garlic paste

2 tsp coriander powder

½ tsp red chilli powder

¼ tsp turmeric powder

½ tsp garam masala

Salt to taste

• Soak soya chunks in 5 cups of water
• Add a little salt to the water and boil it for 4-5 minutes.
• Remove from heat; drain and run the boiled soya chunks under cold running water.
• Squeeze out all the water and set aside.
• Heat 2 tbsps oil in non-stick pan
• Shallow fry soya nuggets and keep aside
• Heat the remaining oil. Add a pinch of asafoetida and cumin seeds.
• When the seeds begin to crackle, add green chillies and ginger-garlic paste. Sauté for a minute
• Add chopped onion, Sauté for 3-4 minute.
• Add chopped tomatoes and 1 cup water. Mix well and cook covered for 2 minutes
• Add all the spices, except garam masala, mix well and again cook covered for 4-5 minutes (Keep stirring in between).
• Remove the gravy from heat and blend to a thick paste in a mixer.
• Return to the pan. Add water according to the consistency required and let it simmer for 3-4 mins.
• Add peas, shallow fried soya nuggets and garam masala. Mix well and cook covered for 5 mins, till the peas are done.
• Remove in a serving dish and serve hot with rotis.

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