Ghugni (dried yellow peas) Recipe in Bengali Style

No matter which part of the world we Indians live in, the taste and the flavours of Indian food always dominate our taste buds. In India, every region has its own set of popular traditional street food. In this post, I will share one of the popular Kolkata street food - Ghugni (dried yellow peas) recipe in Bengali style.

As we grew up eating Indian food, sometimes I have a strong craving for Indian street food. In India Pani puri, samosa, noodles, chole kulche all of them are easily available everywhere. To satiate this craving I occasionally enjoy making samosas, Indian style noodles and chole bhature at home. I can’t deny that whenever I have tried my hands on these street foods, it’s not always possible to cook like those Indian street food vendors. But living in a foreign land, something is better than nothing.

Read here: cauliflower stem recipe in Bengali style.

What is Bengali Ghugni

Ghugni is a popular vegetarian snack in West Bengal. It is made with dried yellow peas usually called matar in Bangla. We often eat Ghugni for our breakfast with Bengali luchi (poori made with all-purpose flour).

In north India, this recipe often called matar chaat and usually served with samosas and poories.

How to cook perfect Ghugni

A perfect ghugni is one in which the matar is well-cooked, but remains whole. It should not leave its skin after boiling. To achieve this make sure to not overboil matar. Once cooked, the consistency also needs to be just right. It should not be watery but not totally dry as well.

Bengali Style Ghugni Recipe - Spicy Yellow Peas Curry

Photo ©The Blissful Aura

Bengali ghugni is easy to make and tastes delicious too. The best part is that you only need some basic spices that are easily available in any Indian household.

• 200 g Dried Yellow/White Peas (Matar) (soaked for 6 hours)
• 1 medium potato (diced)
• 1 medium onion (sliced)
• 1 medium tomato (diced)
• 1 inch ginger (grated)
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• 1 tsp coriander powder
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp red chili powder
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 bay leaf
• Coriander (Dhania) leaves (finely chopped)
• 1 tbsp oil
• 1½ tsp cumin seeds (Jeera)
• 1½ tsp coriander (Dhania) Seeds

Bhaja Masala (roasted spice)

1. Roast the cumin and coriander seeds until dark brown. Roast on low heat, so it does not burn and turn black. Remove from heat and keep it aside.

2. Combine the roasted ingredients and blend into a fine powder.

Prepare peas

1. Soak the yellow peas overnight or for atleast 6 hours

2. Cook in the pressure cooker along with 2 cups of water and a pinch of salt, clove, cardamom, cinnamon for about 5 whistles. Allow the pressure to release on its own.

Ghugni

1. Heat a tbsp of oil in a pan; add in the cumin, and bay leave.

2. Add chopped onion and salt and sauté until golden brown.

3. Add grated ginger and stir for about a minute

4. Add chopped potato and stir for about a minute

5. Add chopped tomatos, followed by turmeric, cumin powder, coriander powder, salt and red chili powder.

6. Stir for another minute.

7. Add cooked yellow peas along with water.

8. Cover and let it simmer for 10 minutes.

9. Give the ghugni a quick boil, then stir in the chopped coriander leaves and turn off the heat.

10. Add bhaja masala(roasted spices) and lemon to enhance the taste.

11. Serve the Bengali style Ghugni along with onion, mix namkeen and green chillies (optional) on the top as a tea time snack or even along with bengali luchi or poori for breakfast.

Let me know

Did you ever have Bengali style Ghugni? Did it taste different from North Indian style matar chaat?