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Ghugni with a Twist
Ghugni is an Indian snack, most popular in the Bengal region of India. It is served with puffed rice or pakodas or served just itself with a lot of garnish. You would find street vendors selling various interesting forms of ghugni in the streets of some Eastern Indian cities.
The Bengali form of ghugni uses dried peas which is soaked overnight and cooked in a gravy. The north Indian version of ghugni uses green peas or black chickpeas.
I used to visit Kolkata every year during our summer vacations growing up. One thing that I have always done during the trips is eat ghugni at a stall in the Belgharia area. The owner cum chef who runs this small stall has been selling ghugni since I can remember and the taste of his ghugni has not changed a bit in years. Interestingly, he still sells it for 4 rupees a plate which is $0.5 , yes it is dirt cheap and I wonder how he manages all that with such a low rate. He is so content with what he does that he hasn’t even moved to a shop or a restaurant in all these years and prefers to sell in street only. The stall is always heavily crowded and his ghugni is just WOW. He still talks to me when I go there asking how are things in America and all, he even asked my wife the first time he met her “Maa do you speak Bengali or I talk to you in Hindi, my English isn’t good you know” when I took her there for the customary visit during our vacations.
Unfortunately, during my last visit, I could not go there due to my self-imposed Covid restrictions and I can really feel how big a miss it was while writing about it.
Anyways this recipe here is a different form of ghugni, I have used the dried peas as Bengali’s would use with Potatoes as the main ingredient for the dish. The only variant here is the spices which is heavily inspired by the chickpea blend from Anar Gourmet Foods. I used their spice once and liked it and wanted to build a spice blend like theirs which everyone can try in ghugni and hence this recipe. Again you can always go and buy the spice blend from their website, this one is just another variant.
It is an Instant pot recipe too and hence is easy, do try it and let me know in the comments below.
Do check the YouTube video for better understanding of the recipe and follow me in Instagram and Facebook.
Cuisine – Indian, Bengali
Course – Main Course
Keywords- Indian, Ghugni, Peas curry, Spice, Tasty, Cooking, Recipe
Prep – 15 mins
Cooking – 30 mins
Ingredient:
Some mustard oil is preferred but canola oil is fine too.
1 Onions sliced thin
1 Tablespoon of ginger garlic paste
2 Green chili’s sliced long
Some fresh mint leaves chopped small
Salt to taste
1.5 Tomatoes diced small
3 Potatoes cut into small pieces
1 Big bowl of green peas, soak them overnight if you are using dried peas.
Garnish –
Fresh lime – 1
Some tamarind water
One spoon of bhujia per serving
1/2 onions chopped small
Some fresh cilantro leaves, chopped small
Spice mix –
1 Teaspoon of turmeric powder
½ Teaspoon of red chili powder
1 Teaspoon of cumin powder
1 Teaspoon of coriander powder
1 Teaspoon of garam masala powder
½ Teaspoon of chat masala powder
1 Teaspoon of mustard seeds
RECIPE :
1. Pour some oil in an Instant pot and set it to Sauté mode.
2. When the oil heats up, add the onions in the pot and sauté them until they start turning into a golden-brown color.
3. Add the ginger garlic paste, mint leaves and green chilis and sauté for 3 minutes while stirring occasionally.
4. Take the ingredients listed in the “Spice mix” section above and mix them together in a bowl. Pour the mix into the pot and mix and sauté for 2 more minutes.
5. Add the tomatoes and salt and continue to sauté until the tomatoes starts to melt.
6. Add the potatoes and peas in the pot, pour 3 cups of water , mix them and close the lid. Pressure cook for 15 minutes.
7. Let the pressure release by itself, open the lid and check for salt and spices.
8. Garnish with some chopped onions, cilantro leaves,
tamarind water, lime juice, and bhujia (Indian crispy snack made of gram flour) and enjoy as a snack.
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