Soya snack for My Legume Love Affair Event

This is my entry for the “My Legume Love Affair” event hosted by the Well Seasoned Cook.

Happily, my sis R has just returned from a trip to Bagdogra where she learnt a nifty soya bean snack recipe. Our common friend Madhu P cooked this up in a jiffy one cold evening and they had a great time gobbling it up in between R’s singing and Anand's (Madhu’s husband) strumming the guitar!

I was a bit worried if soya bean is a lentil (poor knowledge). But I have proof that they indeed are. “Peas, beans and lentils are known as pulses. They are the seeds of plants belonging to the family Leguminosae, which gets its name from the characteristic pod or legume that protects the seeds while they are forming and ripening. With approximately 13,000 species, the family Leguminosae is the second largest in the plant kingdom...”. More here at the Vegetarian Society.

You will need:
(This is what I used, the proportions can be varied)

Soya beans: 1 cup full
Pepper corn: 10
Mixed herbs (oregano, thyme, rosemary): 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Water: 4 cups
Oil for sautéing

How to:

1. Bring the water to a boil in a saucepan and remove from fire. Add 1 tsp salt to the water.
2. Add the soya beans, cover and let soak for 20 minutes. Drain.
3. Grind the pepper corn. I used a good old fashioned steel ham-dista (mortar and pestle).
4. Heat 2 tbsp oil in a frying pan.
5. Add the soaked and drained soya beans and stir.Sprinkle the herbs, crushed pepper corns .
6. Stir well and fry over high heat for 5-7 minutes, adjust seasoning.

Hey presto! Your snack is ready.
I tried it yesterday and although A and I didn’t sing or strum the guitar, I enjoyed it too, huddled under a warm blanket watching TV on a cold winter night.