Ragda Patties
Serves 6-8 people
Ingredients
Ragda
Safed vatana: 1 lb (approx 4 rice cups), soaked overnight
Oil: 2 tbsp
Salt, turmeric (haldi)
Potatoes: 2 large
Chickpea flour (besan): 2 tbsp
Directions
Add safed vatana, water (see Note 3), oil, salt and haldi to pressure cooker and boil 15 minutes. Boil additional time if chana is hard after cooking. (See Note 1).
Boil potatoes (see Note 2), peel and cube. Sprinkle salt per taste.
Mix the besan with water and make a smooth paste.
Add potatoes and besan paste to safed vatana and cook on a simmer for 10-15 minutes.
To serve, garnish with chopped onion, imli-gud chutney and kokum chutney per taste (see separate recipe for different types of chutneys).
Patties
Potatoes: 3 large (½ lb yields 8-10 patties)
Sliced white bread (edges removed): 2, soaked, squeezed and crumbled
Red chili powder: 1 tsp full
Garam masala powder: ½ small tsp
Lime juice: ½ lime
Cilantro (kothmir): use plenty
Salt to taste
Directions
Boil potatoes (see Note 2) and mash well. Add remaining ingredients and taste for spice, sourness and salt. Adjust as necessary. Make flat kababs (approx 2 x 3 in). Shallow fry in a pan with a little bit of oil, so patty is browned on each side.
Directions for Ragda Patties:
Follow directions to make ragda, but do not add cubed potatoes. Instead put 1-2 tbsp ina bowl, top with one patty, imli-gud chutney, dry garlic chutney (store bought), chopped onion and cilatro. Serve warm.
Notes:
In NJ, I boil 4½ minutes after whistle and 1 ½ after before releasing pressure. If the chana is still hard, add 2 minutes additional pressure cooking time.
To boil potatoes quickly, cook in microwave for 2 minutes per medium sized potato
Do not add too much water when cooking the vatana. Just cover the vatana with ½ inch water. Otherwise conistsency will be too watery and burning it off takes a lot of time and effort, as you stir the mixture continuously to prevent sticking to the bottom of the pot.
