Soy BBQ Curry

Dang, I can't believe I made this. If you are a West LA local and a veggie who loves indian food, you probably know about Samosa House in Culver City. They make really good veggie indian food that I have had the pleasure to enjoy only a few times. My favorite dish of theirs is what they call "Soy BBQ" which is a curry full of soy chunks swimming in a dark red sweet and spicy bbq/curry sauce. After having it a few times, I was determined to make it. Only thing was I had no real idea what flavors I was tasting. It is sweet with slight curry flavors and a hint of spicy kick. Today I experimented and I think I came pretty darn close. Keep in mind these measurements are very loose as I was adding a little bit of this, a little bit of that as it simmered. You do what suits your palette.

Vegan Mouse Soy BBQ Curry

2 TB canola oil
1/2 a large onion, sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup chopped eggplant (optional)
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp allspice
2 tsp garam masala
2 tsp hot curry powder
1-14oz can diced tomatoes with juice
1-6oz can tomato paste
2-3 TB tamarind chutney
2-3 TB BBQ sauce (I used hickory bbq sauce)
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
2 cups water or more
1 cup chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 cup tvp chunks (use more if you are not using chickpeas or eggplant)
1 TB olive oil


Heat canola oil in a pot and saute onions and garlic until soft and fragrant. Add the eggplant and cook until semi tender. Add the spices, tomatoes, tomato paste, chutney, bbq sauce, sugar, salt and water. Stir to break up the tomato paste and bring to a boil.

Add chickpeas and tvp chunks. Stir to make sure tvp chunks are submerged in the sauce so they will expand and soften. Then lower heat to low, cover with lid and let simmer. Every 10 minutes or so, stir. If you need to add more water, go ahead and do so. The tvp chunks should always be submerged in sauce. Also the sauce should be medium consistency and not too thick.

Continue to simmer covered for an hour and adjust spices and salt as you go. At the end, drizzle about a tablespoon of olive oil and stir.

4th of July Food.

A very simple and understated menu: Broiled veggies and mushrooms, baked potato and salad with strawberry/jalapeno/balsamic vinaigrette. I marinated the veggies in a garlic/olive oil/vinegar marinade and broiled them on a skewer. I also made the "Backyard BBQ Sauce" from Veganomicon. I brushed some sauce on the veggies while they were broiling. It was the perfect sauce: tangy, sweet and smoky. This was a perfect meal for today which left lots of room for...(wait for it)...deep fried donuts!


I made these because they remind me of childhood. When I was little, my mom and aunts used to fry up pieces of dough for us kids and we just loved them. They didn't add any sugar or anything but these little nuggets of plain deep fried dough were so good. They were golden and crispy on the outside and soft and tender on the inside. I remember thinking they must have made their own special dough for this but found out it was actually Pillsbury Crescent refrigerated dough! It's not in the least bit healthy but I decided to go for it and make some today. (the dough is vegan by the way!) I made some plain like I remember and some of the donuts sweet by dipping them in cinnamon and sugar. The sweet ones tasted like churros!


And you have to have a cocktail to enjoy with all of this food. This is seltzer water, sour cherry syrup and vodka!