Soya vegetable Pilaf
High protein soya chunks when combined with fresh vegetables in mint gravy rice, is heaven. Trust me on this. This guilt free indulgence is one power packed highly satisfying meal. Great for an ideal sunday lunch.
Great Aroma, Great colors and Great Flavour
Along with a bowl of cool onion raita, some papad and spicy indian lime/mango pickle, this is a complete satisfying lunch.
Yummy Lunch.
Without further ado, lets get to work:
Ingredients
- 1 cup rice, cooked so that each grain is separate.
- 1/2 cup soya mini chunks, boiled.
- 1 cup assorted mixed vegetables, chopped and parboiled. I used carrot, beans, potato, cauliflower
- 1 onion, diced
- 1 tomato, diced
- whole spices – 2 cardamoms, 2 cloves, 1 star aniseed, 1 large bay leaf
- 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tsp coriander powder
- salt to taste
- 2 tbsp oil/ghee
- Serving suggestions: Onion Raita
To be ground into a paste:
- 1 onion,
- 1/2 cup mint leaves
- a handful of coriander leaves n stalk
- 2 cloves
- a small piece of cinnamon
- 3-4 pods of garlic
- 3-4 green chilies – optional, change according to your level of spice
- a small piece of coconut
- 2 tbsp curds
For the soya chunks: salt turmeric and red chili powder to marinate.
Method
Keep your rice and soya chunks boiled and ready. Prepare the ground paste with the mentioned ingredients. Earlier I used the soya nuggets just boiled, but recently I found this method, where you marinate your boiled soya with little salt, turmeric and red chili powder. keep aside for 15 minutes and then roast in pan with very minimal oil. The soya chunks brown to perfection and have this crunchy bite to them. Tastes better.
Now, in a deep heavy bottomed pan or a big kadai, heat oil/ghee. Once hot, throw in the whole spices, and a minute later, the onions. After they turn pinkish, pour the ground paste into the melange and saute real well. Now add the tomato along with turmeric, coriander powder and salt. Mix well. let is again simmer for 4-5 minutes or till the tomato gets mushy. Now add the vegetables. cover and cook for 5 minutes or so. Once done. Add the cooled rice and roasted soya nuggets. Mix well with gentle hands taking care not to break the rice. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve with chilled raita and some savoury like pappad, chips or chaklis.
Yea, I know, this looks tedious, but the end result is so worth it. If you wanna enjoy the rice without sweating it out, there is a one pot version of the same.
Cool Raita to go with aromatic soya pulao
Note: I used kolam rice, but basmati rice can be used for more flavour and richer texture.
One Pot Version: In a deep pot, after sauteing the whole spices, onion and green ground paste, you can add raw chopped veggies, tomatoes, along with the said masalas, salt and raw rice. Add 2 cups of water. Cover and cook till the rice is done and vegetables tender. If need arises, add water appropriately. Garnish with chopped coriander and serve hot with cold raita.
Nutrition and Taste
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