The soy and pea stew with curry comes from the desire not only to reinterpret a fairly common dish in our kitchen in a vegan key but also to reinvent it by giving it “an extra touch”! And then .. the curry! Since I discovered it a couple of years ago I would put it everywhere .. or almost! I don’t know why, but it really seems that it goes well with everything, especially with legumes! It is also ideal for flavoring all those slightly neutral ingredients typical of vegan cuisine. Just like tofu or seitan, soy, in flakes to be rehydrated, takes on the flavor of the spices, condiment or marinade that we decide to use.

Preparation

1

First you will need to rehydrate the soy morsels.

2

We prepare a quick broth by dissolving a vegan nut in a liter of boiling water and pour in the soy bites and let it boil for 10 minutes. We turn off and let it rest for half an hour. Of course, if you like and you have time, you can prepare a quick vegetable broth with fresh onion, carrots and celery!

3

After this time, drain the morsels in a colander and lightly crush them with a spoon to release the excess broth (which we are going to put aside anyway).

4

At this point, cut an onion and let it dry with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil in a nice hot pan.

5

Add the drained soy bites to the pan, evaporate the water which it will naturally release and add half a glass of white wine.

6

Once the wine has evaporated, add the peas drained from their governing liquid and a ladle of broth that we will have kept aside and let it cook for about twenty minutes with the lid, stirring occasionally and adding more broth if necessary.

7

After about 15 minutes of cooking, when the peas are almost ready, let’s dissolve a teaspoon of curry in a cup of broth. Pour it on our stew and let it reduce for another 5 minutes. When the peas are tender and the broth is gone, we can turn off and enjoy our vegan soy and pea curry stew.

Tips and curiosities:

There soy it is a legume used since the dawn of the centuries in oriental cuisine. Thanks to its high protein content it is ideal in the diet of those who have chosen to give up, for one reason or another, animal proteins. From soybeans is obtained soy flour. This, suitably processed, is used, among others, for the preparation of dehydrated soy bites or flakes. Once rehydrated and flavored, they are a valid substitute for meat.

We often hear that the curry it is a spice. In reality it is a mixture of more or less spicy spices and a more or less intense yellow-mustard color. There are, in fact, many different types of curry based on the percentage of spices contained in it which therefore determine different flavors, aromas and colors. If you don’t particularly like spicy, I advise you not to overdo it the first time you use a certain type of curry!

If you love to make the classic “scarpetta” you can leave the stew more “soupy” by withdrawing less the high addition of broth!

For an oriental lunch or dinner, you can accompany the stew with basmati or pilaf rice!