Name: Soya Chunks Biryani
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 70 min
Yield: 2 servings
Cuisine: Indian
Ingredients: ¾ cup Basmati Rice, soaked and drained; ½ cup Textured Soy Protein Chunks, boiled, fiercely squeezed, and marinated; ¼ cup Indian-Style Yogurt, for marinating soya chunks; ¾ tbsp Biryani Masala, divided for marinade and cooking; 1 Onion, thinly sliced (one for birista, one for cooking); ½ Tomato, finely chopped; ½ tbsp Ginger-Garlic Paste; 1 Green Chili Pepper, slit; ½ Assorted Whole Spices, bay leaf, cardamoms, cinnamon, cloves; ⅛ tsp Ground Turmeric; ¼ tsp Red Chilli Powder; ⅛ cup Mint Leaves, chopped; ⅛ cup Coriander Leaves, chopped; 1⅛ cup Water, hot; ¾ tsp Salt, to taste; 1½ tbsp Ghee, or oil

1 hr 10 mintotal

50 min hands-on20 min hands-off

Prep 20 min · Cook 30 min

Serves: 2
Difficulty: Medium
Spice: Medium

Add to your week

Method

Marinate the soya: in a mixing bowl, combine the well-squeezed soya chunks with the curd, some of the biryani masala, a little red chilli powder and salt. Set aside to marinate.
Heat the oil or ghee in a heavy pressure cooker. Add half the sliced onions and fry them over high heat until they are deeply caramelized and crisp (birista). Lift them out and set them aside for the garnish.
Using the flavoured fat left in the pan, add the whole spices. Flash-sauté for 10 seconds to release their aroma.
10 sec
Add the remaining raw onions. Sauté them patiently until they turn translucent and pale golden.
Add the ginger-garlic paste and the slit green chillies. Fry for 1 minute to cook off the raw notes.
1 min
Add the diced tomatoes, turmeric, red chilli powder and the rest of the biryani masala. Cook it down until the tomatoes break apart completely and the oil separates out.
Add the marinated soya chunks to the pan along with all their marinade. Stir-fry over medium heat for 3-4 minutes to brown them and cook off any raw curd smell.
3–4 min
Add the roughly chopped mint and coriander. Stir them through quickly.
Drain the soaked basmati thoroughly and add it to the pot. Fold it through very gently for 1 minute so the grains take up the masala.
1 min
Instantly quench the pan with the measured volume of hot water and final salt seasoning. Demand an immediate rolling boil.
Close the cooker. Cook under pressure for exactly 2 whistles over steady medium heat, or cover an ordinary pot and cook for 15 minutes. Let the pressure release naturally.
15 min
Uncover, fluff the grains very gently, and top generously with the reserved crisp onions. Serve piping hot.

How to tell it's done

Light, well-spiced, separate long grains hiding juicy pieces of soya that release a burst of savoury flavour when you bite into them.

Getting it right

Tip

Soya chunks have almost no flavour of their own. Squeezing them out properly after boiling is what lets them take up the spiced yogurt; otherwise they stay bland.

What to serve it with

Rich and filling. Serve it with an icy cucumber-mint raita, an onion salad, or a good mirchi ka salan.

Akkha Masoor Bhaat

Akkha masoor bhaat cooks rice with whole brown lentils and Maharashtrian spices.

1 hr 25 minvegan

Aloo Matar Pulao

Aloo matar pulao cooks rice with potato and peas and little else.

50 minvegetarian

Classic Aloo Pulao

Aloo pulao cooks rice with potato and onion, plain and filling.

55 minvegan

Anda Bhurji Pulao

Anda bhurji pulao folds a spiced egg scramble through cooked rice.

30 mineggetarian

Andhra Gongura Rice

Gongura rice tosses cooked rice with sour gongura leaves, sharp enough to need nothing else.

45 minvegan

Andhra Kodi Pulao

Kodi pulao cooks chicken and rice together from raw, thinner and hotter than a biryani.

1 hr 30 minnon vegetarian

Ingredients