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India produces over 3.5 million tons of soy meal year, making it one of the major producers and consumers of textured soy protein, yet the country has an odd love-hate connection with soya nuggets. Many vegetarians steer clear of soy protein because of its texture, which resembles meat, whereas meat eaters frequently avoid it due to its bland flavour. Soya nuggets, however, managed to become a staple food in India in the 1980s and 1990s, thanks in large part to Mahatma Gandhi, two World Wars, and American missionary Robert W. Nave.
As a by-product of the extraction of soybean oil, defatted soy flour is used to make soy nuggets, also known as textured soy protein (TSP) or textured vegetable protein (TVP). Soya nuggets are made from the flour using an extrusion and drying process.
Since the early 1900s, soy has been popular as a plant-based protein. The Story of Soy by researcher and author Christine M. Du Bois claims that it was during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904 to 1905 that the western world first discovered the benefits of soy for human consumption. Fermented soybeans and tofu, which were easy to transport and high in protein, provided the majority of the Japanese soldiers' nutritional needs. Later, in World War II, the Hungarian food scientist Laszlo Berczeller invented a superior soy flour that assisted in supplying the German forces with food.
While soybeans were long grown in eastern Bengal, the Khasi Hills, Manipur, and the Naga Hills in India, only these areas consumed them. Soy is thought to have travelled from Central China to the northeast of India and remained in the Himalayan foothills, where it was known by a number of regional names, including bhat, bhatmas, and ramkulthi. Scholars and the Soy Info Center's founders, William Shurtleff and Akiko Aoyagi, note in their thorough research on the history of soy in India that attempts to cultivate Manchurian soybeans there started in the early 1900s at the Pusa Agricultural Research Farm in the state of Bihar and quickly spread to farms in different parts of the nation.
Maharaja Gaekwar of Baroda and F.S. Kale, who oversaw the state's Food Survey Department, began holding planting ceremonies to advertise soybeans around 1935. They demonstrated soy-based recipes and delivered talks on the topic's nutritional significance. Kale had been giving his infant soybean milk for two months and was aware of soy-related studies being done in Russia. He released a book in 1936 with more than 300 soy-based recipes, including ones for tofu and soy milk.
At about the same time, Mahatma Gandhi, one of the most well-known proponents of the vegetarian diet, developed an interest in soy because he saw it as a low-cost source of protein. Gandhi wrote extensively about the nutritional advantages of soybean in Harijan, a weekly journal focusing on India's social and economic issues, and was inspired by Narhar Bhave, the father of social reformer Vinoba Bhave, who used to eat 6 ounces of soybean every day. He wrote about Kale's book and included recipes for soybeans in an essay he published in 1936.
However, despite Kale and Gandhi's efforts, soybean consumption remained stagnant, partly as a result of their promotion of whole beans rather than soybeans as a whole. Soybeans were difficult to prepare and took longer to cook than other grains and legumes found in India. In addition, people disagreed on whether soybeans were better than the native beans of India. There may have been attempts to serve American-produced soy-based meat substitutes to Indian soldiers during World War II, as the majority of them did not consume beef or pork due to religious beliefs. However, the Indian troops did not take to this primarily foreign diet.
Robert W. Nave, an American missionary who was born and raised in India, is largely responsible for the introduction of soy nuggets to India. India contacted the U.S. Agency of International Development after declaring its independence in 1947 for assistance in setting up agriculture colleges to alleviate the nation's growing food insecurity. The Uttar Pradesh Agriculture University in Pantnagar was their first agricultural college. The protein deficit in the Indian diet grew as high-yielding wheat replaced less lucrative pulses, which prompted Pantnagar University to conduct the first comprehensive study on soy meals in 1971. Additionally, this served as a gateway for American businesses to enter India and sell their surplus soybeans. According to food historian Pushpesh Pant, "They had to develop a product that was easily available in the market, so they formed a research centre, encouraged the farmers to produce soybeans, and pushed soybean as a healthier oil."
With new companies imitating animal items like mutton, chicken, and even shrimp, plant-based protein and imitation meat are gaining popularity in India. Textured soy protein, the oldest and most contentious plant-based "meat" in India, is still widely used but is largely ignored. Some people have switched to soy nuggets as their primary source of protein as dal, lentils, and eggs prices have skyrocketed across the nation.
