Marwari food or Rajasthani Cuisine is famous for this Gatte ki subzi Spicy Dumplings in yogurt gravy. With the arrival of family, comes the joy of cooking authentic Marwari/Rajasthani cuisine. And what makes the effort even more worth while is the reward in terms of high appreciation of the efforts made.
I did have to rely for basic recipe from Ms. Tarla Dalal, which I have adapted to our taste, to replicate the taste that I often savour on my trips to Jodhpur for this wonderful dish. The first time I was exposed to this cuisine was at the famous Chetana Restaurant in Fort Area in Mumbai,which serves excellent Marwari and Gujarati Thalis. This version of the gravy and gattas is spicy and colorful with lot of different flavours and fragrance due to a variety of spices in it. Also it uses some gram flour in the gravy too, which makes it easy to cook, as compared to the other method where no gram flour is used. This way, this recipe also does not need that much of time attention, when multiple things are being cooked, and hence I tend to find this recipe practical and tasty too!
And I can say with confidence that this is very similar to the original taste to Jodhpur region, as that is where my in laws are from, and they had two thumbs up for this recipe!! Am happy to have been exposed to Marwari Cuisine, as it just helps me to extend my Jain Diet menu to interesting food dishes. and Gatte ki subzi Spicy Dumplings in Yogurt Gravy is one that is easy to cook, quick to make, extremely rich in taste and looks ! Winning points in all categories for sure and definitely a recipe for a dumpling fan!!
Recipe makes for 4 people
Preparation Time: 10 min
Cooking Time: 25 min[shopeat_button]
Ingredients
For the gattas
- 1 1/2 cup besan or bengal gram flour
- 4 tsp red chilli powder
- 2 tsp fennel seeds or lucknowi saunf
- 1/4 tsp ajwain or carom seeds
- 2 tbsp curds
- 2 tbsp oil
- salt to taste
- up to 2 tbsp water to bind
For the gravy
- 4 cups curds, blended well
- 2 tbsp bengal gram flour
- 2 tsp jeera or cumin seeds
- 1 tsp rai or mustard seeds
- 1 tsp lucknowi saunf or fennel seeds
- 1/4 tsp asofoetida or hing
- 2 big bay leaves
- 4 cloves
- 2 big sticks of cinnamon
- 3-4 cardamoms or elaichi
- 6 tsp red chilli powder
- 4 tsp coriander powder
- 1 tsp turmeric powder
- 1 1/2 cup of water
- 6 tbsp oil
- salt to taste
For the Puris
- 2 cup atta
- 2 tbsp oil
- salt
- water upto 4-6 tbsp to bind
Method
For the gattas
- Mix all the dry ingredients into the flour and taste for salt and spice levels.
- Knead a firm dough using just about 2-4 tbsp water.
- Divide the dough into 6 equal parts.
- Boil about 1 litre of water in a broad pan.
- Add some salt to the boiling water.
- Roll the five parts of the dough into an even cylindrical roll. Just thought of statistical calculation
- Drop the rolls into boiling water and cook for 10-12 min, till bubbles form on the outside.
- Lift the gattas with a frying ladle, and keep them aside, removing the excess water.
- Once they cool, cut them into small pieces
For the gravy
- Mix turmeric, chilli , coriander powders and salt into the blended yogurt .
- Mix in 2 tbsp of water to the bengal gram flour and make a paste.
- In a broad and deep pan, put oil to heat.
- Add the spices one after the other, as they crackle or become brown and big, – bay leaves, cinnamon sticks,cloves,cardamom, mustard seeds, cumin seeds, asafoetida and fennel seeds.
- Add the spiced yogurt to the seasoned oil and stir continuously
- After 2-3 min, add the bengal gram flour paste.
- Add salt to taste and boil for 10 min on medium high flame, stirring frequently.
- Once the gravy boils, add the cut gatta and boil for another 8-10 min on medium-high flame.
- Garnish with coriander(optional)
- Serve with puris, parathas or nan or any bread of your choice.
For the Puris
- Knead the ingredients into a soft but firm dough and refrigerate the dough for at least half hour.
- Make a tbsp size dough balls, and using a roller pin, make 5-6 inches round circle for puris.
- Put oil to heat for frying.
- When the oil is well heated, insert the puri upside down and fry on high to medium flame and cook on both sides.
Tips
Check if the gatta rolls have been cooked well by piercing a fork or knife into the roll. If the dough sticks to the fork or knife, then it needs a few minutes of further cooking.
The gravy will thicken a bit, if kept for more than an hour or so, so adjust the water before or add water while warming up to serve
Extra plain boiled gattas, can be eaten as it is, or fried a bit, and topped with salt and red chilli powder.
Instinct Factor
If the gatta rolls are sticking in your hand, apply some oil to your palms, for smoother finish.
What was a pleasure to watch was the hexagonal pattern forming in the gravy while being boiled. I just happened to watch and episode on TED talk on efficiency in nature, where hexagonal patterns are one of the most efficient patterns in nature which maximises the resources available to nature. Interesting and instinctive coincidence for sure!
Feel Factor
Brings back the good food memories from the Land of Rajasthan, the place for spicy colorful vegetarian cuisine!! Specially from the town of Jodhpur, my favorite, as far as food is concerned. This is definitely the place to go on binge eating and people often do, as the water in this town is so conducive to overeating, if that is legit!
The Gatte ki subzi Spicy dumplings in Yogurt Gravy, makes one appreciate the spices of many different kinds and the fragrance of carom, bayleaf and cinnamon along with chilli powder and cloves, cardamom! It is so rich one can relish this by itself, with rice as it has enough gravy or the quintessential puri or paratha. And if you have left over, the left overs are going to taste even better as the taste further deepens over time. These are my favourite dumplings from Indian Cuisine at the moment, and is similar to the dhokli subzi in Gujarati Cuisine. If you are a dumpling fan, this is a must on your recipe list
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