November 5, 2007

Fit 'n' Fine Meals # 2 - Soya Eggplant Moussaka

'Moussaka' means 'moistened' and 'Vegetable Moussaka' is a traditional Greek dish made with lots of vegetables. I changed few ingredients from the original recipe - soya chunks instead of chickpeas to make it more nutritious and healthy. It is also a nice winter comfort food.


This dish is adapted from "Vegeterian - the best ever recipe collection" by Linda Fraser. It has an awesome collection of vegetarian recipes neatly sub-categorized as soups, salads, main course and side dishes. I got to know about this book when I happen to visit my friend, then I quickly noted down some nice recipes to experiment in my kitchen...:D.



Soya Eggplant Moussaka
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Ingredients:

1 medium Eggplant
2 Tomatoes
2 tbsp olive oil or PAM spray
1 cup Spaghetti sauce or tomato puree
1 Onion
1 tbsp chopped green chillies
1 Green Bell Pepper
1 cup toor dal (or any other lentils)
1 tbsp chopped Garlic
1 Bayleaf
200g Soya chuks
3 tbsp of chopped coriander
3 tbsp of low-fat yogurt
1 Egg
3 cups Vegetable stock
1/2 tbsp Garam Masala
1 tbsp Corinader powder
Salt and pepper
Parmesan cheese (optional)

Step-by-Step Preparation:

1. Sprinkle the eggplant pieces with salt and place in a bowl. Cover and place a weight on top. Let it sit for atleast 30mins, to allow the bitter juices to be extracted.


2. In a pan, boil vegetable stock, lentils and bay leaf, cover and bring to boil and simmer for about 20mins until the lentils are tender but not mushy. Drain thoroughly and keep aside.



3. Soak the soya chunks in warm water for about 5 minutes or until they become soft.

4. Heat little oil in a skillet, add chopped garlic, boiled lentils, Soya chunks, tomatoes, chopped onions, spaghetti sauce(or tomato puree), coriander powder, garam masala and little water. Boil and cover and simmer for 10min. Stir occasionally and keep aside.

5. Preheat oven for 350F.

6. Rinse the Eggplants slices, drain and pat dry. Heat remaining oil in a pan and lightly fry the slices in batches for 4 mins, turning once so both sides are browned on low heat.

7. Arrange a layer of eggplant slices in the bottom of a shallow, oven proof dish or roasting pan then spoon a layer of soya mixture over the top. Continue layers until all the eggplant slices and lentil mixture is used up.



8. If desired, sprinkle some grated Parmesan cheese.

9. Now, beat the low-fat yogurt, egg and salt and pepper together and pour the mixture over the vegetables.



10. Bake for about 45 minutes or until the topping is golden brown and bubbling.



11. Squeeze some fresh lemon juice for a nice tangy taste and garnish with coriander. Serve immediately. This main course dish usually served with warm fresh bread for a hearty and satisfying meal...:)



Its my pleasure to send this recipe to Cate's ARF/5-A-Day Event.

25 comments :

  1. looks delicious, veg moussaka is one of my fav dishes, never had the soya version though! gotta' make it soon :)

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  2. This is new to me .... looks very tasty...thanks for recipe

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  3. Soya and egg plant- seems to be a nice combo. Very nice. Viji

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  4. its been a while since i made soya chunks.. should try..

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  5. Thats really looking delicous..;)

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  6. i didn't know greek dishes uses garam masala. looks and sounds really wonderful. got to check that cookbook u mentioned:)

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  7. @ Richa: Thanks gurl. the original recipe is with chickpeas and eggplant, I made few variations and made with Soya..it was equally good and delish...:) do try it sumtime..:D

    @ EC: It is very tasty EC. do try it and thanks for dropping by..:)

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  8. @ Vcuisine: It is an awesome combo Viji. Couldn't believe, how tasty the dish came out to be..:DD

    @ Nags: I love Soya chunks nags.. for some reason, I love the crunchiness and texture of Soya, I always have a box of "Nutrela" chunks in my pantry..heheh..:)

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  9. I have a packet of soya chunks in the pantry, may be its time to dish up something. Your dish looks amazing!!
    nice recipe!!

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  10. @ Rajeshwari: Glad u liked the recipe dear and thanks for dropping by..:)

    @ Sia: Oh no no, the original dish didn't have garam masala dear..I added to make it spicy.."Our way" u see... hehe..:) and the cookbook is awesome and loved the veg collection..:D

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  11. @ Padmaja: Thanksandi..:D . Though its a bit time-consuming.. u would love the end-product for sure.. do try it padmaja..:D and thanks for dropping by and for ur sweet comments..:D

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  12. Looks great but I never liked Soya anything, I might skip that!:))

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  13. @ Ashaji: I love Soya ashaji, so intentionally made with that. If u don't like Soya, one can use chickpeas instead as the original recipe...:)) then it would be "Chickpea - Eggplant Moussaka" which tastes equally good..:D

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  14. Wow! the new look is stunning!!:)

    HAPPY DEEPAVALI TO YOU DEAR!!:)

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  15. Your moussaka looks yumm...never had it with soya though..will deffinitely give it a try.

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  16. Siri...Nice recipe as always :-)) I like the new look of ur blog :-))

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  17. A very Happy Diwali to u and family dear :-)

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  18. I love soy but never paired with eggplants yet. Looks like a good idea.
    Liked your Halloween post. Did you dress up too ?

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  19. Never heard of it, but it looks delicious though. Since there is eggplant in it, I must try it without fail.

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  20. @ Lathamma: Glad u liked the new look amma. I was so bored of the old one..:)).. HAPPY DIWALI TO YOU AND YOUR FAMILY !!

    @ Sugarcraft: Thanks dear. Do try it. Its a nice, healthy comfort food..:)

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  21. @ Sirisha: Vanakkam Sirishagaru, Thanksandi for ur sweet comments..:) and HAPPY DIWALI TO YOU AND YOUR FAMILY !!

    @ Sandeepa: Even I love soya dear.. and believe me, with Eggplant, it tastes even better and healthier. No yaar, I didn't dress up for Halloween. What abt u?

    @ Hima: Thanks Hima for dropping by, do try this recipe sometime, I am sure u wud want for more..:) tc and cya..:D

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  22. Interesting dish. The colder it gets, the more of these hearty dishes I'll need.

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  23. This looks really good. I've never made moussaka and never used soy (I'm assuming that's what soya is!) but I LOVE eggplant. It's one of my favorites to roast and put in a wrap at lunchtime. Anyway, if I work up my nerve, this looks like a good one to try. Glad you came to Cate's ARF Tuesday...it's always fun!

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  24. @ Kelly: Thanks for dropping by dear..:)

    @ Claire: Thanks for ur sweet comments Claire. It was my pleasure to participate in Cate's ARF Tuesday. Will try to be a regular contributor..:)

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  25. Hi Siri, Perfect timing I saw this recipe as i had a big piece of egglant and soya and wanted to use them together:) Thanks a lot for the recipe!

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Siri

 
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