Vegetarian Meat ball curry - seitan, the vegetarian meat substitute

This recipe is for all the vegetarians who like a little spice in their lives. We have all had to experiment in order to keep the texture of meat in our dishes in order to stay close to the tastes we grew up with.   I have tried baking the seitan in this recipe as opposed to the usual way of making the seitan in a broth.  I have also added a lot of spices right into the first step of the process so the seitan is infused with flavor. 

Seitan can be refrigerated or frozen if not used right away.  It is the closest makeover to meat texture that I have found.  It may seem like a long tedious process, but if it is done in 2 stages it is not too bad. The seitan can be ground up and saved frozen for many other uses where ground beef is called for in a recipe.

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Ingredients - to make the seitan

2 cups wheat gluten flour
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon jeera/cumin powder
1 teaspoon coriander powder
1/4 teaspoon clove powder
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon powder
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons of soy sauce
1 1/4 cup water
1-3 teaspoons toasted sesame oil (optional)

Method

Preheat the oven to 375 F
Add all the spices to the flour in a large bowl.  Mix well with a whisk.  Combine the liquids in a jug and then add to the flour mixture. Mix again with a fork till a dough forms. Now knead the dough with your hands about 15-16 times.
Let the dough rest about 5 minutes and then continue to knead it a few more times.
Let the dough rest another 15 minutes.

Now divide the dough into 2 halves. I form each half into a log and then slice about half an inch thick. Then cut into strips. Line a baking tray with foil and lightly oil.
Bake for 15-20 minutes. They will swell slightly and be nicely browned. Cool completely.

Put the liquids into the dry ingredients and mix

Knead and let it rest

strips cut and ready to be baked

To make the meatballs

Preheat oven to 375 F. Line a baking tray with foil. grease lightly.
Take the strips and cut into cubes, (I use a scissors) then grind them in a grinder or food processor to resemble large breadcrumbs.  You will get 4-6 cups of grounds which can be frozen for later use.  I used 2 cups of mixture.
To this mixture add
1/4 cup tomato paste
2 large shallots finely chopped
1 inch ginger finely chopped
3 cloves garlic minced
1 green chilly finely chopped
1 teaspoon curry powder (or your own spices to taste)
1 teaspoon salt
1 egg lightly beaten
2 heaped teaspoons of parmesan cheese
Mix well with a spoon or your hands and form into meatballs about an inch wide. Place on baking tray and lightly spray the meatballs with oil.  I got about 30 meatballs.  Bake for 15-20 minutes until brown.
Note:  These can be cooled completely and frozen for later use.

process the seitan to resemble large breadcrumbs

add your spices and other ingredients as listed

bake till browned

For the curry

1 heaped teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 large onions chopped
1 inch piece of fresh ginger chopped finely
3 large cloves of garlic
2 large tomatoes diced
1 green chilly halved
2 heaped teaspoons coconut powder

Heat a tablespoon of olive oil.  Add the onions, garlic, chilly and ginger. When the onion is soft and translucent add the tomatoes.  Cook on low to medium heat  till the tomatoes are soft and form a paste when smashed with spoon.  Add the ground spices and stir well. Let cook for about 5 minutes.  Now add a 1/2 cup to 1 cup of water. Heat till boiling and add the coconut milk powder and stir well.  Finally add the meatballs and stir. Let cook gently for about 5-10 minutes.  Add lime to taste and salt.