Converting Indian chicken dishes to vegetarian dishes.?

you cant substitute Tofu as it's a Soya based product, due to a compound in the soya that mimics the female hormone Oestrogen, which can effect your unborn baby.

if your vegitarian, why even go through the bother of finding a substitution for chicken, Indian cooking has a huge variety of different dish's that can be found easily online.

if you really want to substitute for chicken with vegetables, your not going to get the same/intended outcome of flavour, because the chicken would add a certain amount to the dish, you could try potato's, but to be honest, you can sub with any vegetable, they will give a unique outcome, most substitutes will work very well with indian dish's, because the recipe's are usually universal, and a 'main ingredient' can be subbed for anything.

You can't.

Chicken has a major impact on the taste, you can't just switch in a new protein and expect it to taste at all the same. Despite what the Vegan people claim, there is no substitute for the taste of the chicken.

I'd say just buy a new cookbook.

Walk along the vegetarian food aisle in an Asian market and you will find several kinds of MOCK vegetarian abalone, duck, chicken, pork etc in cans. They use the by products of tofu to simulate the texture and spices like Chinese 5 spice powder for its taste. Those canned vegetarian foodstuff already come with a soy sauce base which you can right away or drained it off (sodium) then add Indian curry to substitute the sauce. You can add your curry with vegetables like potatoes, egg plant, okra, green beans, carrots, beans, lentils, dhall etc You can add tamarind juice (can), milk, sour cream, yogurt, coconut milk, lemon juice etc for the gravy which is all very healthy for you and the baby.

I was going to say tofu, but I actually think you are supposed to limit intake of tofu while pregnant (could be a myth but pretty sure I read that). Eggplant will take on whatever flavor you want to cook with it. Mushrooms may work well too. You could try some marketed chicken-substitutes: http://www.today.com/food/try-vegan-chicken-tastes...

I'm 'surprised' that your Indian cookbook has no recipe for a vegetable curry. Try this ...

POTATO & PEA CURRY (ALOO MATAR)

Serves 2

INGREDIENTS

250g of potatoes

1 clove of garlic

2cm (1 inch) piece of fresh ginger

2 onions

1 tablespoon of oil

200g (½ a 400g tin) of chopped tomatoes

½ a teaspoon of chilli powder

1 tablespoon of garam masala

½ a teaspoon of ground turmeric

250ml of water

125g of frozen peas

METHOD

Peel the potatoes and chop them into 2cm (1 inch) pieces. Peel the garlic and chop it into tiny pieces. Peel the ginger and chop it into tiny pieces. Peel the onions and chop them into tiny pieces.

Put the oil into a saucepan on a medium heat. Fry the garlic, ginger and onion for 3 minutes until they are golden. Stir frequently to stop it sticking.

Add the tomatoes, chilli powder, garam masala and turmeric. Add the potato and water. Stir thoroughly.

Bring to the boil, then turn down the heat until it is just boiling. Put the lid on and cook for another 10 minutes.

Add the peas. Continue to cook for another 5 minutes until the potatoes are cooked and the sauce has reduced.

ADDITIONS & ALTERNATIVES

The quantity of chilli powder above makes for a medium curry. For a mild curry, decrease this to ¼ of a teaspoon. For a hot curry, increase this to ¾ of a teaspoon. For a very hot curry, increase this to 1 teaspoon.

There are a LOT of vegetarian indian dishes out there. Why not just use those?

Yes you can buy vegetarian chicken from the supermarkets