Wednesday, December 09, 2009

Kung pao Nutrela

I just realised that much as I love to cook, I have never shared any recipes on my blog! Sheesh! This one doesn't count as the recipe is in the comments section, and was produced upon request. Will try to have one recipe post every month from now on. :)

***

Kung pao chi is one of my all-time favourite Chinese dishes. However, there are two problems with it. The one you get outside contains MSG, and there's no point making it at home only for myself (Viv is a vegetarian).

So when I spotted a box of Nutrela soya chunks at the supermarket during my recent visit to India, I grabbed it for experimenting. I was apprehensive about the soya chunks turning out rubbery and too chewy, but they were perfect (just follow the instructions on the box, the hindi ones. Yes, the hindi instructions are slightly different from the English ones. Strange, yes.)

The eggs rolls I made with the Nutrela chunks turned out yummy, and the natural next step was to try to make Kung pao Nutrela.

I followed this recipe, substituting the chicken with the soya chunks. I don't have Chinese rice wine or sesame oil at home so I used regular vinegar and regular vegetable oil instead.

Towards the end, I threw in a bunch of roasted cashewnuts and a dash of green chilli sauce (it just wasn't hot enough!).

The mistakes I made were adding the spring onions too early (they wilted). Add them at the last possible minute before turning off the gas. I also didn't make enough sauce for the amount of soya chunks I had (serves me right for my 'andaz se' measurements!) so I had to top it up in the pan. The sauce didn't turn out very thick so I used some cornflour dissolved in water to thicken it. Since the spring onions had disappeared, I cut some fresh ones as garnish.

After all the repair work, I finally managed to make it look and taste like Kung Pao chi.





Click for a larger image.


Try it! :)



15 comments:

Love LJ Joshi said...

looks and sounds interesting! will be tried at home sometime soon :)

LoSt iN tHe cRoWd said...

so next recipe can be fish head curry ;)

Anonymous said...

brava! :D

Maryum said...

OMG OMG OMG!!!!!!!!
my first without cheating ka GOLD. no one claimed it right? anyways thanks for the recipe.. will try it .. post the next one soon..
OMG OMG OMG
cant believe... sona mera hooya:D::D:D:D

Swapna Raghu Sanand said...

Looks very yummy

Manasi said...

A dish every month.. wow! It was nice reading about your experimental dish.. :)) Keep it up!

nidhi said...

Wow its raining blogs!! I check your blog everyday and am so happy to see a new post almost each time for the last couple of days.
The way I work is to tell myself "oh i am checking just for the heck of it and there's unlikely to be anything new so soon", so that I dont feel bad if you haven't had the time to post. And then when I see a new header I get all happy (this sounds so weird when I read it myself, but its true!! And one doesn't feel awkward sharing crazy thoughts with You...he he)

Anyways, thanks for being more regular. Makes for a good beginning to the weekdays

God bless!
Nidhi

Tejal said...

arre wah! nice :)
i loved the experimenting and the substituting :P

Thousif Raza said...

looks scrumptous ummmmm lage raho bhai..... love the pics :)


take care and keep writing...........

Urv said...

Looks yummy :)

Ek parcel idhar bhejo na ;)

Porkodi (பொற்கொடி) said...

oh wow what is with this sudden rain of posts bhai? and just imagine bhai cooking with her chef hat..!!! :O

Unknown said...

Looking forward to all your recipes!

Sayesha said...

#Love,
Hope it turns out well! :)

#Lost in the crowd,
Oh boy! I can't cook non-veg at all! :(

#starbreez,
:D

#Maryum,
Hahahahaha! :D

#Swapna,
Thanks. :)

#Manasi,
Thanks! :)

#nidhi,
Thanks for the encouragement yaar! I want to write more but sometimes it just doesn't happen. And that's when I read words like yours and feel so motivated. :)

#Tejal,
:D

#Thousif,
Thanks. :)

#Urv,
Tu khud parcel hokar yahan aaja, roz ghar ka khana milega. :))

#Porkodi,
Hehehe! :P

#Padma,
Thank you! :)

teddlesruss said...

Kung pau chana? That's vegetarian too, and would taste sensational.

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