Soya Chaap has been a huge hit ever since it came to our country. India largely being a vegetarian country and with the western food chains/influence coming in, vegetarians didn’t have much of a variety to eat, especially by way of proteins. This void/substitute of non-veg was filled by Soya Chaap. Since then, a variety of Soya Chaap recipes have evolved from gravy to snacks. Amongst them, my personal favourite is Soya Chaap Tikka Masala. This dish has the best of both the worlds, gravy as well as the snacks. The beauty of this delicacy is that, halfway through its preparation, you can serve a portion of this dish as a snack as well.

Ingredients needed for Soya Chaap Tikka Masala

• ½ kg Soya Chaap
• 2-3 Chopped Onion
• 4-5 Pureed Tomato
• Ginger Garlic Paste
• Turmeric Powder
• A pinch of Cumin Seeds
• Kashmiri Red Chili Powder
• Salt to taste
• Coriander Powder
• Cumin Powder
• Garam Masala
• 1 Cup Curd
• ½ Cup Fresh Cream
• 1 Fresh Lemon
• Fresh Coriander for garnishing (optional)
• Desi Ghee
• Skewers
• Dried Fenugreek Leaves

 How to make Soya Chaap Tikka Masala

• For marinating the Soya Chaap, take a bowl and add 1 cup curd to it. Add some salt, 1 teaspoon Chili Powder, 1 teaspoon Garam Masala, 1 teaspoon Coriander Powder and juice of 1 freshly squeezed Lemon to the curd and mix.
• Take the Soya Chaap strips and take them out of their sticks. Now cut them into equal round pieces, and make sure they are not too small. Add these Soya Chaap to the curd paste and mix them thoroughly. Cover it and keep it aside in a fridge for minimum 1-2 hours.
• For the gravy, put a kadhai on medium heat on the stove. When the kadhai is hot enough, add 2 tablespoons of Desi Ghee to it.
• Add some Cumin Seeds to Desi Ghee, and when they start popping add 1 tablespoon of Ginger Garlic Paste to it. Cook it for a 1 minute to make sure the Ginger and Garlic are properly cooked.
• Add chopped Onions to the kadhai and sauté them till they are golden brown.
• Add ½ teaspoon Turmeric, 1 teaspoon Kashmiri Red Chili Powder, 1 teaspoon Coriander Powder, 1 teaspoon Cumin Powder, 1 teaspoon Garam Masala to the Onions. Cook the mixture till the spices are properly cooked, add some water if necessary.
• When this mixture starts to stick to the bottom of the kadhai, add the Tomato puree and cook properly.
• Now, on the other side there are two ways of cooking the Soya Chaap Tikka, either in a frying pan or an oven.
• For frying pan, turn on the heat under the frying pan and brush it with some cooking oil. Once the pan is hot enough, put the Soya Chaap tikka on skewers and put them in the pan. Keep rotating the skewers and make sure that the tikka is cooked from all sides
• For the oven, preheat the oven and set it at 200°C. Put the tikka on the skewers and set them in the oven with a tray under them. Brush the tikka with some butter in between.
• When the curry in the kadhai starts to dry, switch off the stove and let it cool off. Once it cools off, shift it into a blender and grind it into a paste.
• Now again take a fresh kadhai and brush it with some Desi Ghee. Add the curry paste to the kadhai once it is hot.
• Add the prepared Soya Chaap tikka to the curry and cook them on a low flame.
• Add ½ cup fresh cream to the gravy and cook it for another 3-4 minutes.
• Add dried Fenugreek leaves to the gravy and add water to the gravy if the consistency of the gravy is thick. Taste it and adjust the spices if required.
• Garnish it with some coriander leaves and it is ready to be served.