Nutrela- Nutri Kulcha, Soya Nuggets Recipe

I have loved Nutrela since childhood. Especially Nutrela pulav. Whenever the parents went out for a party in the evening, I'd cook nutrela pulav and egg curry for my brother and me, and boy, were those some really awesome, memorable TV Dinners! We'd spread newspaper on the floor, place the hot cooker with pulav, and kadhai with egg curry on the newspaper, get our plates and spoons, sit on the floor, and eat away, with the television on. Mm, really really enjoyable, memorable, and delicious dinners. Thankfully my kids love nutri nuggets too.

The other day, a new friend on Quora introduced me to what sounded like a really delicious dish- Nutri Kulcha, a street food that he simply loves to gorge on when he visits his hometown, Udhampur in Jammu. It's the perfect kind of food, especially on cold winter days- hot, spicy, tangy, flavorful, buttery, and simply delicious. After I read the description, I of course got all excited, and I just had to make it. So I did. And I was extremely pleased with the result. Here's the recipe. Do note that I am not including measures for all ingredients, because well, one- I made this a few weeks ago and I have forgotten the exact measures I used (lol!), and two- I feel like unless you are a complete novice at cooking, one doesn't really need to know exact measures- it's all about experimenting, and creating something that YOU like!

Ingredients: 

1. Nutrela or Soya nuggets
2. Tea bags- 2 or 3
3. Onions- finely chopped
4. Tomatoes- finely chopped
5. Ginger garlic paste- 1-2 tsp
6. Green chilies- according to your heat level preference
7. Garam Masala
8. Red chili powder
9. Amchur (dry mango) powder- a pinch
10. Anardaana (pomegranate) powder- a pinch
11. Chaat masala (for the end)
12. Cumin seeds
13. Good Yellow Butter- such as Kerry Gold
14. Black pepper- a pinch
15. Salt to taste
16. Water to cook nutrela, and some to adjust thickness of final dish
17. Cooking oil
18. Soy sauce- for that final umami

First of all: 

Cook nutrela or soya nuggets in water infused with tea. I simply took a pan with water, placed a tea infuser filled with some loose tea leaves in it, and then cooked the nuggets in this tea infused water. Basically it imparts a lovely deep color and (tea) flavor to the soya nuggets.

Then drain water, squeeze out any remaining water from the cooked nuggets, and chop it all up into tiny pieces.

Next:

1. Take a few teaspoons of oil in a kadhai or a pot/pan, get the heat going, temper a teaspoon of cumin seeds.

2. Add finely chopped onions, tomatoes, green chilies, and ginger garlic paste. Fry it all until you see oil kind of "floating" on top. 

3. Add garam masala, chili powder, and salt to taste, stir it all.

4. Add cooked nutrela into this, mix it all. Add a teaspoon of soy sauce. If it looks a bit too dry, add some water. The nutri should be more on the thicker side, easily spreadable on thick bread. Add the remaining masalas- amchur, anardana, as well as black pepper. Taste, add some more masala and or salt if required. Cover. Simmer for a good 30-45 minutes. Do not rush- for you want all of the flavors to marry really well.

5. Add a good pat of butter in the end. Sprinkle chaat masala on top, garnish with fresh green cilantro, and serve nice and hot alongside some thick bread such as kulcha, or naan.

I spread some in a bun, sprinkled extra chaat masala, and ate it. It was SO GOOOOOOOOD!!!! It was hot, spicy, tangy, peppery, and the nutri nuggets were juicy, and well, what can I say- it was deeeelish!!!

Thanks, my new foodie buddy from Quora, for the inspiration! This nutri truly rocks! The next time around, I shall be sure to serve it with kulcha.