Tandoori Soya Chaap in Air Fryer

Our tandoori soya chaap in air fryer, is a no-guilt recipe! It's a super easy recipe but is loaded with tandoori flavors, minus all the deep-frying. You don't have to wait for a special occasion to enjoy this street style soya chaap. Enjoy it as a main course or stuff it in a wrap or simply serve it as an appetizer at your next party, you are sure to impress the crowd. This recipe is perfect either ways.

What is Soya Chaap?

Soya Chaap is a popular plant-based protein source from Northern India. It's a mock meat derived from soybeans and flour and offers a meat-like texture, making it an appealing choice for vegetarians and vegans. It also has a unique resemblance to a meat leg piece, as soya meat is wrapped around wooden sticks

Tandoori Soya Chaap

Tandoori Soya Chaap is a flavorful and aromatic dish that brings together the health benefits of soya and the robust flavors of classic Indian tandoor spices. Essentially, soya chaap gets marinated in a unique blend of tandoori masala and other spices, and then it's grilled to perfection, traditionally, in a tandoor oven.

But with modern cooking devices like an Air Fryer, you don't need to worry about not having a tandoor and the same rustic tandoori flavor can be achieved at home, without a hint of smoke or an actual tandoor oven. The result is a delicious, tender, and succulent soya dish that can easily be mistaken for a chicken dish

Tandoori Soya Chaap Video Recipe

Ingredients to make Tandoori Soya Chaap

It might seem like you need a lot of ingredients for this recipe, but it's mainly just the chaap and ingredients for the marinade.

• Soya Chaap, a can of Soya chunks on sticks in brine. Can be easily found at a local Indian grocery store or on Amazon.
• Hung Curd and cream.
• Lemon juice.
• Mustard Oil or any other oil with a high smoking point.
• Ginger garlic paste.
• Spices like turmeric, Kashmiri red chili powder for the color, coriander powder, cumin. powder, kasuri methi, salt, chaat masala.
• Cilantro and sliced red onion for garnish.

How to make Tandoori Soya Chaap in the Air Fryer

1. Begin with discarding the brine from the soya chaap container. Rinse the chaap in running water and add the chaap sticks to a pot of boiling water. Boil for 10 minutes, this will help open up the chaap layers enabling the marination to coat.
2. Once the chaap is boiled remove it from the pot using tongs and place them in a line on a tray or plate. Pat dry with a paper towel and remove the excess water from all sides.
3. Allow the chaap to cool for a couple minutes until you ready to comfortably remove the chaap from the stick. Once you remove the chaap from the stick, cut the chaaps into 4 to 5 bite size portions.
4. In a large bowl, add all the bite size chaaps, yogurt, cream, lemon juice, ginger garlic paste, spices like turmeric, Kashmiri red chili powder, coriander powder, cumin. powder, kasuri methi, salt and mustard oil.
5. Coat all the bite size pieces evenly with the mixture and keep aside for atleast 30 minutes minimum for the marinade flavors to absorb into the chaap. For best flavors keep aside for 6 hours.
6. Next layer the air fryer basket with parchment paper and arrange the pieces in the air fryer baster in a single layer without over crowing them.
7. Air fryer for 10 mins at 390 F for 10 minutes flipping sides half way through. Repeat for the remaining batch. Please note cokking times can vary depending on the air fryer.
8. Arrange in a platter of plate, garnish with chaat masala, lemon juice and freshly chopped cilantro. Serve it with green chutney and red onions.

Tips to make the best Soya Chaap

• Boiling the soya chaap is not mandatory but it definitely opens up the layers of the chaap specially when you are not deep drying the chaap.
• Marination matters: the longer you let your Soya Chaap marinate, the more flavorful it will be. Aim for at least 4-5 hours, or even better if left overnight.
• No overlapping: To provide even cooking, make sure the chaap pieces don't overlap in the air fryer. If they’re overcrowded, they will not cook evenly.

Substitutions & Variations to Try

• If you don't have yogurt and cream handy, you can use sour cream instead.
• You can add fresh malai for Malai Soya Chaap
• Ofcourse you can substitute Paneer for Soya.
• For a vegan marinade, skip the dairy and just marinade in lemon juice and spices.

How to serve Soya Chaap

The beauty of Tandoori Soya Chaap is its versatility. You can serve it as:

• An Appetizer: This dish can be a great starter. Serve your Tandoori Soya Chaap as an appetizer with tangy mint chutney or tamarind chutney. You can also add slices of onions and wedges of lemon on the side.
• A Main Course: For a hearty meal, pair your Tandoori Soya Chaap with naan, steamed rice, or even a pulao, like mushroom or soya chunks pulao. Add a side of dal tadka, or dal makhani or boondi raita for that restaurant-style display.
• In Wraps and Rolls: Get creative and make a filling for wraps and rolls. Roll up soya chaap chunks in a paratha or roti, toss in some crisp lettuce and onions, drizzle some avocado cilantro sauce, and you have a delicious wrap!

Frequently Asked Questions

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Tandoori Soya Chaap Recipe in Air Fryer