Soya Chaap Butter Masala Recipe

It has a perfect meaty texture to compliment the rich and creamy Indian vegetarian curries such as Punjabi Soya Chaap Masala. For this butter masala recipe, you can use my pre-made, signature makhani masala or the no onion, no garlic Jain style butter masala gravy. My cookbook has a vegan soya chaap tikka masala recipe that you can easily cook in an instant pot.

Ingredients Required For Gravy

Soya Chaap: I use fresh or canned soya sticks for this curry recipe. Curry Base: Onion, Tomato, Garlic, Ginger Creaminess: Cashew, White Poppy Seeds, Fresh Cream Tomato Ketchup: It gives a delectable sweet taste to the butter masala gravy. You can use tomato sauce or tomato paste instead of ketchup. Spices: Kashmiri Red Chilies, Red Chili Powder, Salt, Kasuri Methi, and Garam Masala Cooking Oil: You can use butter, ghee, or refined oil for cooking the masala. Other Ingredients: Salt, Water

How To Make Soya Chaap Makhani

This Soya Chaap Butter Masala Recipe is a two-step process.

Marinate and Fry the Soya Meat Prepare the Gravy Assemble the Curry

Marinate and Fry the Soya Meat

Remove wooden sticks from the soya meat and cut the chaap into bite-size round or oval pieces. Marinate chaap with salt, ginger-garlic paste, curd, red chili powder, and turmeric powder. Mix to coat each piece with the marinade masala (images 1 & 2). Keep aside for 30 minutes to 1 hour. You can marinate them overnight as well. Heat oil in a pan for shallow frying. Once the oil is hot, fry the soya chaap till crisp and golden from both sides (image 3). You can air-fry them as well. Transfer fried soya chunks to a bowl and set aside.

Prepare the Gravy

Heat oil in a heavy bottom kadhai or wok over medium flame. Add dried red chili, poppy seeds, onion, ginger, garlic, and cashews. Fry the masala till the onion turn light brown (image 1). Add chopped tomato and season with salt. Cook the tomatoes until they are mushy and the oil separates from the masala. Once tomato masala is ready, add water and stir to mix. Simmer for 1 minute. Turn off the heat. Transfer the tomato masala to a blender. Grind to a smooth paste (images 2 & 3). Transfer the butter masala gravy to the pan after blending. For a silky smooth texture, pass it through a sieve (image 4).

Final Simmer and Season

Turn on the heat. Once the gravy starts simmering, add red chilli powder, tomato ketchup, garam masala, fresh cream, and kasuri methi. Stir to combine. Allow the butter masala gravy to simmer for 5 minutes over low heat. Taste and adjust the seasoning according to preference. Add the fried soya chaap meat to the butter masala gravy. Combine. Cover the pan with a lid, and simmer the curry over low heat for another 5 minutes. Garnish soya chaap butter masala with fresh cream and fresh coriander.

Serving Suggestion

This is a truly restaurant-style curry that tastes perfect with whole wheat naan, paratha, roomali roti, lachha paratha, or jeera rice. Store the leftover soya chaap butter masala in the refrigerator for 2 – 3 days. While reheating, add ¼ cup of milk to get a curry-like creamy consistency.