I am finally back to blogging after a long long break.. Thank you everyone who have been visiting my blog. I will start posting recipes for all the pictures that have been sitting in my camera and computer forever.....
When I saw Nupur from One Hot Stove announced the RCI for this month I knew that this was the best way to come back to blogging. So when I decided that I called my friend Meena for a potluck with Maharashtrian dishes that we wanted to post on our respective blogs. Everyone loved the recipes. She made Kothimbir vadi and you can get that recipe on her blog and I made Ragda Patties.
And coming to the recipe... Ragda Patties as I understand is a very well known dish from the state of Maharashtra ( or so I would liketo think!!!). Maharashtrian cuisine has a lot of similarities with Andhra cuisine I feel- in the method of cooking, the simplicity of the ingredients and method, etc...or probably I feel it has a lot of similarities just because I like it!!This was the recipe I wanted to try from the time I ate it at my cousin S's house. The taste still lingers in my mouth and the sad part is that I couldn't get the recipe from her before she left Portland so I searched the Internet for some recipes. I found quite a few and this a concoction of all the recipes with a few variations (probably not very traditional) -My take on Ragda Patties-
INGREDIENTS- All the measures are approximate- Adjust them according to your taste
For the Patties:
Outer Filling:
3-4 Large Potatoes
2 tbsp cornflour
Salt to taste
1/2 cup of chopped mint leaves
1 tsp of Chilli powder
Inner Filling:
1 medium potato
1 cup fresh/frozen peas
1/2 large onion or 1 medium onion
1-2 tsp garam masala powder
1 tsp chilli powder
1/2" piece grated/finely chopped ginger
salt to taste
Oil for shallow frying the patties
For the Ragda:
Ragda Tempering:
1/2 tsp of mustard seeds
4-6 curry leaves
1 pinch of asafoetida
2 tbsp of oil
Ragda:
2 cups dried yellow peas
1 large boiled potato- mashed
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/2 -1 tsp chilli powder
3 tsp green chilli- ginger paste (just grind them together)
1/2 - 1 tsp garam masala
2 tsp - sugar/ jaggery (optional)
1 medium lemon size tamarind soaked and juice extracted
salt to taste
Ingredients for Green Chutney:
2 cups mint leaves
1/2 a large onion or 1 medium onion chopped
1 cup cilantro
juice of 1 lime
1 tsp sugar (optional)
4 green chillies (adjust according to how spicy the chillies are)
salt to taste
Imli Khajur ka chutney (Tamarind- date chutney)- Store bought
Sev
1 medium onion chopped
some Cilantro leaves for garnish
METHOD:
For Green Chutney:
Grind all the ingredients for Green Chutney in a blender to a fine paste.
For Ragda:
Soak the dried peas overnight
Boil them with 4-6 cups of water till peas are soft (You can use a pressure cooker for this).
Heat the 2 tbsp oil for tempering and add the mustard leaves. Fry for a minute and then add the curry leaves just torn with your hand to release the juices. After the mustard seeds crackle add the asafoetida.
Add in all the ingredients for the ragda. Add more water as required as the gravy starts to thicken,
Simmer for about 12 mins.
For the Patties:
Boil and mash the potatoes for the outer filling.
Add all the ingredients for the outer filling and mix well to a soft dough.
For the Inner Filling, take 2 tbsp of oil in pan and fry the onions till translucent.
Add the all the ingredients except the potato and peas and saute for a couple of minutes.
Then add in the mashed potato and peas and saute for about 3-5 mins.
Now take the outer filling pat into a circle about 3" in diameter. Place some inner filling mixture in the center and carefully close the ends sealing the filling inside.
Flatten the patty a little so it looks more like a burger.
Shallow fry the patties in oil a few at a time until they are crisp and brown on the outside and drain them on paper towels and keep them aside
To Serve:
Take a patty or two (depending on how you like it) in a cup (easier to eat than in a plate I feel), pour ragda over it. Garnish it with the chutneys, chopped onions and cilantro and enjoy... This tastes good when it is served nice and hot, just like it served on the roadside food carts in India... mmmm yummmm
Phew.... That was a really long post and hope you all like it!!!. Thanks for reading the post.
