Aloo Paratha with Cauliflower and Meal-maker (Soya chunk) curry

I am not a huge fan of meal maker (soya chunks) but that may be because I’ve rarely ever tried it earlier. My family is however quite fond of meal-maker. Surprisingly this time, I liked the curry too. The cauliflower added texture and added a nice twist to a plain meal-maker curry. I served this curry alongside onion raita and crispy fried bitter gourd fritters with Aloo paratha. The meal-maker curry was a huge hit and so was the meal combo.  Aloo paratha was such a delicacy in hostel. Mondays use to be Aloo Paratha if I am not wrong. Our mess served terrible food (except a few select items, breakfast was usually tolerable) was also terribly strict about the timings, you wouldn’t get anything after 9:30 am. Even if we didn’t have a class in the morning, we’d be up Monday mornings in time for the Aloo Parathas. There barely was any Aloo in the Aloo paratha (should have been called Al paratha), but we were such a starved lot, we’d hog these size zero Al parathas as well.

At home I always over-indulge, my parathas are not neat, they’re usually bursting with Aloo with some of the aloo oozing out at places. I like it that way. Hearty and calorie-packed! I butter my toasts the same way, I slather a ½ inch layer of butter on my toasts. I know you are trying to imagine how fat I must be.  I am not very fat. Just slightly.

Preparation time: 20 mins
Cooking time: 30 mins
Serves: 5

Ingredients - Aloo Paratha

Potatoes – 3 large boiled, peeled and mashed
Green chillies – 4-5 chopped fine
Cumin/Whole Jeera – 2 tsp
Turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp
Salt to taste
Chapathi dough – kneaded and kept covered (I used around 3 cups flour)

Ingredients – Meal maker curry

Meal maker/Soya chunks – 3 cups
Cauliflower – 1 small, blanched whole and then chopped into bite sized pieces
Onion – 2 large chopped fine
Tomatoes – 2 large chopped fine
Ginger-garlic – 2 tbsp (1 inch ginger, 6-8 garlic cloves)
Red chilli powder – 2 tbsp
Black Pepper powder – 1-1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp
Salt to taste
Oil – 2 tbsp + 1 tbsp

Method

1.      For the paratha filling, combine together, mashed potatoes, turmeric powder, chopped green chillies, cumin, turmeric powder and salt and mix well.

2.      To make the parathas, take a ball of chappathi dough and roll out into a disc. Place around 2 tbsp of the potato filling in the centre and bring together the ends of the chappathi and pinch at the centre to make a round momo style ball. Flatten and roll out again into a disc, now a little smaller in diameter and slightly thicker. Use a little oil to grease the rolling pin, rolling board and the paratha ball to avoid sticking.

3.      Place the paratha one at a time on a hot tawa, drizzle oil or some butter around the edges of the paratha. Flip after half a minute or so. Cook on medium-low heat till brown spots appear on each of the sides. Use butter/oil generously for nice, rich parathas.

4.      For the meal-maker curry, bring water to a boil in a large shallow vessel. Drop in the soya chunks/meal-maker and switch off. Let soya chunks soak in the hot water for about 20 minutes by which time they would have absorbed the water and swollen up in size. They’d be nice and soft now. Now drain the water and squeeze out the water from the soya chunks using your hands. Cut into halves or quarters and set aside.

5.      In a large kadai/skillet, heat oil and when hot add the chopped onions and sauté till they turn translucent. Then add the ginger garlic paste and fry for a minute. Throw in the chopped tomatoes and sauté till the tomatoes are soft.

6.      Add the spice powder – red chilli powder, turmeric and salt and mix well. Pour around 1/2 cup water. Add the chopped blanched cauliflower and the meal-maker pieces and mix well. Cover and cook till the water is absorbed and the cauliflower is cooked through – about 15 minutes.

7.      When the curry is dry, drizzle 1 tbsp oil along the edges of the kadai. Add the black pepper powder and mix well. Simmer for 5-8 minutes. Switch off and serve hot.