Soy Chunk Upma

What do you need:
- Soya chunks (see picture below)

- half a teaspoon of Olive oil
- Salt
- Spices - mustard or jeera, turmeric and Rasam/Sambar powder/Garam masala
- Onions

- Tomatoes (Optional)

- Peas (Optional)

- Coriander (Optional)

Time needed: 15min work, 60 min soaking time

Kind: Very healthy, has a protein content of approx. 50%

How to do it:
- Soak soy chunks in hot water for at least an hour*
- Drain the water, gently squeeze the soy chunks to get the excess water out

- Use a blender or a food processor to grind the soy chunks to small pieces** (see photo - this is the one in the middle). Disclaimer: If you do not wash the mixer well later, I will not take responsibility for your apple juice smelling of soya.
- Take a pan, add olive oil and either mustard or jeera (depending on what you prefer) and allow them to splutter
- Add chopped onions and fry (I usually fry with some garam masala and turmeric too)

- Add chopped tomatoes and peas to the mixture
- Finally add the crushed soy chunks

- Add salt and sambar/rasam powder to taste

- Mix well, add a little water and allow the upma to steam

- Garnish with coriander

- Serve with anything with gravy like Rajma, Stew or even Raitha etc. (I usually eat it with anything that goes with rice like rasam, sambar, kootu, sabji, curd or just any sort of vegetable)

The last part of the photo shows my lazy version, it has only onions and nothing else, tastes good though :)

Soy upma with vegetables followed by a fruit for dessert is an ideal menu for dinner that fulfills all nutrional requirements and at a pretty low calorie content. What more can you ask for ??

If you are interested in crunchy soy nuts, you should read this.

*Soy chunks soaked in water stink, literally ! I find the smell so revolting that I actually keep the soaked soy in a different room (so you do not want to try this when you expect guests)

**Soy chunks are very often used as a replacement for meat. As a vegetarian, I find soy chunks (or commonly known as meal makers in India) unpalatable and hence the need for breaking the chunks and garnishing it with spices. If you prefer meal makers, you can simply add them to fried rice or kootu (vegetable stew) or dal (lentils) directly.

Crunchy Soya Nuts

I have been experimenting with many soya recipes recently. Soya and soya products are protein rich foods and hence are especially good for vegetarians who are not careful with their regular intakes of plant protein. There are conflicting opinions on how healthy Soya products are – Some believe they are the best while some others believe they are cancer-inducing! To me, the key is if my body gets along with Soya. It cannot really be cancer-inducing if more than a billion people in Asia use it without any issues but then again, they are used to it for generations. I think the best way is to try it out, see if one gets along with it, have no allergic reactions, no drastic changes in bowel movements, etc. In case of women, having no cycle-related issues would be a good indicator. The other thing would be to not over do it and replace all sources of protein purely with Soya for the rest of your life. Alavakku minjinal amudhamum nanju !

What do you need:
- Soya beans
- half a teaspoon of Olive oil/Butter
- Salt
- Baking oven
- Spices (Optional)

Time needed: <5min work, 35 min baking time

Kind: Very healthy, has a protein content of approx. 40%

How to do it:
- Soak soybeans in water at least for 4 hours
- Drain the water, wash the soybeans
- Grease the oven plate with olive oil/butter
- Spread the soybeans on it as a layer
- Bake them at 200 C for 30-40min (until they are dark brown)
- Add salt and spices (chilli powder or chaat masala) and mix well
- If you want to store it, do so in an air-tight container.

Result should be crunchy soya nuts that are ideal (to replace groundnuts) as 'a something to munch on' for a movie or a cricket match and will not push up your calorie intake too much :) !