Soya Moong Sprouts Tikki
Soya Moong Sprouts Tikki is a protein-rich and healthy kebab/ tikki made using Soya Chunks, Green Moong Sprouts and Spinach. This tikki/ kebab resembles the popular Hara Bhara kebab, but differs in taste and much nutritious as well. You can enjoy these tikkis guilt-free as these are shallow fried and much less in calories. So if you are on a diet and looking for a protein-rich yet tasty snack, look no further than this tikki!
When it comes to vegetarian food, one of the biggest challenges that vegetarians encounter is ways to include enough protein in their food. Though, lentils and pulses form the primary source for protein, but sometimes it is just not enough when you are targeting a protein-rich and low-carb diet. Soya is an excellent source of protein and soya chunks are the most commonly available form and used for making pulav, sabzi and many other dishes.
Though soya is a perfect choice for vegetarians to make a protein-rich diet, but many do not like the taste and texture of soya chunks. It is a bit chewy and it does not absorb the spices and flavours as good as the other lentils. I personally like it in pulav and sabzi (especially the mini soya chunks), but I know many who wish to include soya in their diet, but avoid it just because the taste does not please them. This is where this recipe comes in handy and is an excellent way to completely mask the texture and taste of the traditional soya chunks.
Though Soya and Moong sprouts are the key ingredients of this tikki, I have added spinach to this recipe, not just for the added colour but for nutrition. If you have readymade sprouts, this tikki can be made in no time! You can also make this recipe just with soya chunks and skip moong sprouts. Alternatively, the moong sprouts can also be replaced with green peas. I have shallow fried this tikki, but you can also deep fry it. But trust me, the tikkis turn equally good and crispy from outside, just by shallow frying it as well.
This is a fairly simple recipe, however would like to call out couple of tips that are to be taken care of, else the dough could become sticky and runny. Soya chunks are processed food, so it is important to thoroughly clean it in water. It is to be first soaked in boiling hot water for 5 to 6 minutes, and then drained and rinsed in clean water for 3 more times. Since soya retains a lot of water, it is important to squeeze out the chunks thoroughly, else the dough would turn quite sticky. Similarly, the spinach is to blanched and then thoroughly squeezed before grinding.
I have added onion and garlic in this recipe for taste, but if you do not eat them, you can skip them. An array of spices is added to the tikki dough makes it quite flavourful and also blends well into the soya. Fresh mint and coriander leaves adds to the freshness and the taste of the tikkis.
Serving Suggestion
These tikkis can be served as a starter or snack along with some mint and coriander green chutney, or it can be even turned into a Kathi roll to make a complete meal. I also love making a simple dip for this tikki using veg mayonnaise and the green chutney. Soya tends to be bit dry, so this dip works great. For kathi roll, cook the roti on one side completely and partially on the other side. Arrange 3 to 4 tikkis on the completely cooked side, top it with some onion, cucumber and tomato slices, and drizzle green chutney mayonnaise generously and wrap it. Cook the roll on medium flame in tawa with some ghee.
Soya Moong Sprouts Tikki
Ingredients
- 1½ cups Soya Chunks
- ½ cup Green Moong Sprouts
- 150 grams Spinach or Palak
- 1 Onion
- 5 cloves Garlic
- 1 inch Ginger
- 2 Green Chillies
- 3-4 tbsp Rice Flour
- 3 tbsp Gram Flour or Besan
- 1 tbsp Corn Flour
- 1½ tsp Red Chilli Powder
- 1½ tsp Coriander Powder
- 1 tsp Jeera Powder
- ½ tsp Garam Masala
- ½ tsp Kitchen King Masala
- ½ tsp Chaat Masala
- ½ tsp Rock Salt or Kala Namak
- Handful Fresh Coriander Leaves
- Handful Fresh Mint Leaves
- Salt to taste
- Oil for shallow-frying
Instructions
- Boil 2 cups water in a pan and switch off the flame. Add the soya chunks and let it soak for 5 to 6 minutes.
- Drain the water from soya chunks and now rub and rinse in clean water for 3 times.
- Squeeze the soya chunks thoroughly and get rid of all the excess water in it. Keep it aside.
- Blanch the spinach in boiling hot water for 2 minutes. Drain the water and transfer to ice cold water to stop the cooking process and retain the colour.
- Squeeze out all the excess water from the spinach and keep aside.
- In mixer jar, add the chopped onion, garlic, ginger, green chillies, coriander and mint leaves and grind.
- Next add the green moong sprouts and pulse grind.
- Finally add the soya chunks and blanched spinach/ palak. Grind well to a smooth paste. Do not add water.
- Transfer the ground paste to a bowl and add all the dry spices, salt, rice flour, gram flour and corn flour. Mix well and bring it together into a smooth and non-sticky dough.
- Let the dough rest for 5-10 minutes.
- Now take a small chapati sized dough and roll and then flatten. Roll the edges over counter top. Prepare tikkis with the remaining dough.
- Heat a skillet and add oil to it (for shallow frying). Place the tikkis in skillet with gap in between. Cook on low to medium flame till one side is golden brown.
- Now carefully flip the tikkis. Cook the other side as well till golden brown. Transfer to a tissue paper to absorb any excess oil.
- Cook all the remaining tikkis in same way. Serve with green chutney and mayo dip and a salad by side.
Notes
- Soak soya chunks in boiling hot water for 5 minutes and rinse thoroughly three more times to get rid of the processed smell from soya chunks.
- Make sure to squeeze out all the water from soya chunks and spinach thoroughly. If there is excess water, dough will be sticky and will be difficult to roll them.
- If your dough is still sticky, add one or two additional tablespoons of rice flour.
- Rice flour gives the crispness to the tikki, so do not skip this ingredient.
- You can also make spinach puree separately and mix with the dough.
- These tikkis can be deep fried or air-fried as well.
- You can make a complete meal out of these tikkis by adding them into a kathi roll.
