Best whole veg alternative to chicken in a curry?

[BewareTheBeardedDragon]

Dc likes chicken curry (we haven't always been a meat free household) and I'm looking for the best whole veg (ie. not processed fake meat - obv I will cut the veg up) alternative that might satisfy?

He likes cauliflower and potatoes - but I'd like to include something a bit more 'meaty' - mushrooms are sadly out. He is not keen on the fake chicken chunks - we have tried loads of brands without success.

Any ideas, and how I could make them taste more 'meaty'? I have tried smoked paprika and nutritional yeast dusted over before frying to get a bacon flavour with some success.

Sweet potato, cauliflower and chickpeas

@BewareTheBeardedDragon

What's really annoying is that it's knowing it's not meat which is a huge part of the problem. Before taking the plunge I used to feed them meat free meals with meat substitutes and they just accepted them thinking they were meat. Now they know that nothing will be they are more fussy. Ffs.

Sorry that made me if you marinade paneer for an hour or two and shallow fry it so it's crispy on the outside it has a meaty texture and absorbs the flavours. Don't just Chuck it into the sauce or cut it too big(I do about 1cm)

Just looked up homemade paneer - will definitely try that out!

I wonder if you can flavour the paneer while you make it? I wonder if the magic smoked paprika/nutritional yeast mix might work inside it, as it were?

sparkl I have to laugh or I'd cry. Over the summer i invested a LOT of energy into making 'sausages' and I got pretty good at it, to the point where dc in question complained that they tasted too much like real sausages and he's gone off real sausages 😂🙄

@BewareTheBeardedDragon

sparkl I have to laugh or I'd cry. Over the summer i invested a LOT of energy into making 'sausages' and I got pretty good at it, to the point where dc in question complained that they tasted too much like real sausages and he's gone off real sausages 😂🙄

Stop I actually laughed out loud

I actually think Quorn and the like should not be marketed as "just like meat" as you'll always compare it to meat, and it never measures up. It's ok (most of the time) but it's nothing like meat.

The Linda McCartney mozzarella burgers are btw (don't tell DS)

Why not just give him chicken if that’s what he likes? Am I missing something?
You’re complaining that he’s fussy and stressing yourself to out trying all these alternative....
Is he vegetarian or just you?

ACE! bloody auto correct

twilight I made a decision based on ethical and health grounds that I would no longer buy meat. If they want to eat it elsewhere then I'm fine with that, but I am not serving it at home. I find my reasons sufficient to justify the effort

Aubergine, sweet potato, white potato, chickpeas all work well!

@BewareTheBeardedDragon I really admire you for making that decision.

Chickpea, jackfruit, aubergine, pumpkin, swede, peanuts, quorn, ....

My DH is vegetarian, I use seasonal veg. He likes the fake bacon flavoured dust, I can’t remember it’s name.

Basically, seasonal veggies.

There are 2 types of sweet potato, the orange flesh and the white.

The white one is firmer and doesn't go soft like the orange one does.

Ah yes - I used to be able to get the white ones when I lived in London - but only the orange is available here. There are cassava in the local Tesco though, I wonder how sweet they are?

We had curry tonight with paneer, broccoli and sweet potato - was delicious. Stir fry tomorrow loads of veggies plus cashews. Broccoli and cauliflower are both lovely in curries imho

Thanks @Trut

@Elllicam it's delicious, especially as a replacement for panner in Sag dishes. The salty flavour sits so well with the spinach and spices.

And you can spice coat it as you would meat. Dh comes from a big meat loving culture but I'm slowly turning him Veggie 😂

Whoever suggested Falafel is a genius! I'm going to try that next!

Mera Sodha (guardian) does some excellent vegan curries. Made a cumber curry and it was fabulous. Chunky, tasty and filling.

I got into a paneer habit but we over did it and I’ve abandoned. I did a simple chickpea, spinach and sweet potato and it felt meaty. I can only tolerate sweet potato in a curry.

I’m not a fan of meat substitutes.

I'm veggie, rather than vegan for full disclosure!
I'm not a fan of a "veggie curry" - I think it becomes a homogenous mush of bottom of fridge blah. I would much prefer a mushroom something, a cauliflower something, a dhal etc.
We eat a LOT of katsu curry, sauce on rice with panko breadcrumbed sweet potato, aubergine, squash. Or the sauce with mushroom or paneer or cauliflower.

I think my problem appears to be the generic 'vegetable ' .

I really didn’t like jackfruit, so I don’t blame him there! I also don’t like sweet potato by itself, but it’s lovely in curry. Squash is great too, or cauliflower. I don’t mind paneer, but it’s really, really easy to over eat and get fed up of; in my experience.

You could try making vegetable koftas as in malai kofta but felafal would be easier!

greatcurryrecipes.net/2017/04/19/malai-vegetarian-kofta-curry/

I’ve tried cassava a couple of times. It was quite starchy and bland. Yet strangely satisfying 😊. My dh doesn’t rate it at all!

@BewareTheBeardedDragon

We tried jackfruit this week - ds didn't like it Eldest dc did though, which was great.

You need to marinade it. (Paneer too). For it to taste good. As for cassava - it needs to be boiled first in lots of salted water - then marinaded before being cooked in curry. It tastes savoury like potatoes but is really dense.

Well - thank you every one!
I made paneer last night, then marinated it today in smoked paprika, nutritional yeast, garlic oil, yoghurt salt and pepper for a few hours. Fried it till golden all over and cooked in a 'butter chicken' spice mix and sauce.
Served with rice cooked in the whey from the paneer making, and roasted cauliflower, boiled carrots, green beans and broccoli on the side, and turmeric roasted potatoes.
It went down well, with dc picking which veg to add to theirs, and ds asked if the the paneer was chicken 👍
I made him tell me if he liked it or not (he did) before admitting it was cheese 😂😂

Well lush dinner!

Substitute the chicken pieces for paneer in your curry. X