Today, a new cuisine makes its advent here as Culinary Hoppers decided to visit West Bengal to enhance their culinary skills. The past few days have been pretty exciting for me. Bengali cuisine is tasty and elaborate, they are good chefs who spend a lot of time in planning and cooking ( source : internet). They have a wide range of dishes from sweets to savoury. And my journey begins with Ghugni chat.
Mustard oil is used in their cooking. A blend of five spices is often used in cooking. The names of the dishes too are invariably different , well, this is what makes our country unique and splendid. Luchi, Cholar,Mishti doi, Dum Aloo ,Sandesh, Mishti doi and Rasmalai are a few vegetarian dishes. After much thinking. thanks to my friend Piyali Mutha who voluntarily guided me, I decided to go with Ghugni Chat.
Ghugni Chat is a popular street food of West Bengal and neighbouring states. It is one of the cherished dishes of these regions. It is made of dry white peas (motor) with a blend of spices. My recipe is adopted from Bong Moms Cookbook and can be found here . I have modified the recipe according to my needs.
ghugni chat
- dry white peas 1/4kg
- ginger 1/2 inch
- turmeric powder 1/4tsp
- bhaja masala
- kasuri methi 1/2 tsp
- chilli powder 2tsp
- ginger garlic paste 1/2tsp
- onion 1 finely chopped
- tomato 1 finely chopped
- potato boiled 1
- salt to taste
- For the bhaja masala:
- cumin seeds 1tbsp
- coriander seeds 1tbsp
- red chillies 3
- For garnishing :
- tamarind chutney
- green chutney
- fine sev
- chopped onions
- chopped tomatoes (optional)
- Soak the dry peas overnight in hot water.
- Next morning, discard and wash the peas in running water, Add water and cook in pressure cooker for two whistles.
- To make the masala, dry roast the ingredients, until you get a pleasant aroma. When cool,grind them.
- Once the pressure releases, remove the flaky skins that are settled on top. Add grated ginger, kasuri methi, half a tea spoon of chilli powder and cook directly for ten minutes.
- Keep it aside.
- Take a pan and add oil to it. Heat it. Add cumin, as it splutters, put the chopped onions and saute for sometime.
- As it turns translucent, add the ginger garlic paste and mix. Throw in the tomatoes and continue to saute.
- Then add the prepared bhaja masala, chilli powder and mix well. Put salt according to the taste.
- Mash the potato and stir into it. This gives consistency to the gravy.
- Add the cooked peas and cook on a low flame for sometime. Allow the flavours to blend together.
- To serve:
- In a bowl, add three tablespoon of ghugni, and put a little of tamarind chutney and green chutney. Over it, decorate with some sev and onions
Step-wise pictorial reresentation of Ghugni Chat
dry white peas
white peas soaked
boiled peas
dry masalas
roasted spices
veggies and masala
oil with cumin
onions added
tomato and later bhaja masala
ghugni ready
ghugni chat
Here are the other recipes of my bloghop friends.
shorshey dharosh vegetarian bengali thali by Piyali
Nimki by Vani
Bengali cuisine by Shubha
Luchi, Mishti Doi, Cauliflower Curry by Padma
Sweet potato pesto by Parvathy
Dhokar dalna by Poornima
Cholar dal and Alur Dum by Swati
Aloo Kumro by Shobana
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perfectly explained recipe …and it should be super delicious for sure
Many thanks Vani
Perfectly described recipe…loved it J!
Many thanks Shubha
J I am so delighted that you tried this absolutely favourite dish of mine. Looks yummy J. Thank you for the mention and a delicious dish.
Many thanks Piyali
Love ghugni any time , all time favourite !!! Lovely recipe and beautifully explained as well
Many thanks Parvathy
Very well explained recipe and the chat looks delicious.. Such an appealing combination of spices and so flavorful.
Many thanks Poornima
New to me.looks grt
Thankyou Vidya
Hi jayshree, this is very yummy post and I never heard about that before…. This recipe is totally new to me… I am gonna try this…. Love to visit your space
Thankyou so much Priya you are so generous !
Any chaat is an all time favourite and this looks so delicious Jaya…you have tempted me …gonna make it soon!!
Thankyou Padma
This is such a wonderful chaat.Everyone will love it and its healthy too.
Thankyou Shobana