Gatte Ki Sabji / Gram Flour Dumplings in Spicy Yogurt Gravy

Gatte ki sabji is a popular Rajasthani gravy dish where boiled spiced gram flour roundels (gatte) are simmered in a curd based gravy. This is a mildly spicy flavorful dish made with onion-tomato and curd as the base. Gatte ki sabji makes a delicious meal when served with chapati or steamed rice. You can make this dish at home easily with ingredients that are always present in any Indian kitchen. I agree, the recipe is a bit time consuming, but trust me the end results are worth the efforts and time.

Here in this recipe, at first gatte ( spiced besan roundels) are made and then cooked in water so they become soft and easily take up the flavor from the curry in which they are further cooked and simmered. There are many variations to the Rajasthani Gatte ki sabji. Some recipes are onion-garlic free while others call for use of either onion or garlic or both. Some recipes do not use tomato at all while others do. But one thing that is common in all the variations is the use of curd. A full fat curd gives the gatte ki sabji the creamy smooth gravy like consistency. In this recipe, i have used both onion garlic and tomato puree along with curd to make this gravy. Both whole spices like bay leaf, clove, black pepper , cinnamon and cumin seeds are used along with the powdered spices to make this flavorful gravy. You can easily adjust the amount of spices going in this gravy as per your taste and spice tolerance. You can also make the gatte ahead of time and refrigerate and then use them when you want to make the curry.

                               

Rajasthan literally meaning " The Land of Kings" or "King's Abode" is the largest North Indian state in terms of area. Its capital is the pink city, Jaipur. More than 60 % of the Thar Desert ( The Great Indian Desert) lies in the state of Rajasthan making it dry and arid. Rajasthani Cuisine was influenced by both the war-like lifestyles of its inhabitants and the availability of ingredients in this arid region. The food that could last for several days and could be eaten without reheating was preferred. Scarcity of water and fresh green vegetables had a great impact on the cooking ingredients and methods. That is reason behind extensive use of milk products like curd and ghee in the cooking here. Most of the vegetarian dishes are lentil based. According to a survey released by the registrar general of India, Rajasthan has 74.9% vegetarians, which makes it the most vegetarian state in India. Rajasthani Cuisine is also influenced by the Rajputs, who are predominantly non-vegetarians. The Source.

I have got a chance to sample authentic Rajasthani food in many food exhibitions, restaurants and also in Jaipur, at chokhi Dhani. I have tried out Dal Baati Churma, the signature dish of Rajasthan also at home and the recipe is on the blog as well. I also loved the Pyaaj kachori, i tasted in Jaipur and wish to make it sometime. This gatte ki sabji is also close to my heart as this was among the dishes I cooked for a cooking competition conducted by Tata Sampann recently. Along with this gatte ki sabji I made Paneer Makhanwala, Chocolate Halwa and Matkichi Usal for the first round of the contest. I won first prize there and got a chance to cook live for the final round of the competition where i competed with 12 other winners from the tricity. I am very happy to share that i was the winner there too and won the prestigious title of Tata Sampann Super Chef of Chandigarh. Next month I will get a chance to meet Chef Sanjeev Kappor and learn culinary skills from him, as a part of my award.

It is month end again and the time for my regional Indian post for our Facebook Group, Shhhhh cooking Secretly Challenge, started by Priya of Priya's Versatile Recipes and taken further till date by Mayuri di who blogs at Mayuris Jikoni. In this group, each month we select an Indian state depending upon the alphabetical order and partners are assigned for the challenge. The chosen partners then exchange a set of secret ingredients among themselves and cook a dish with those ingredients from the regional cuisine of that month. The other group members who are not aware of the secret ingredients, then take turns to guess the ingredients just by looking at the pic of the dish. Doesn't this all sound interesting ! If you are interested in joining this exciting group, leave a message in the comment section below.

So, this month we are on our virtual trip to the beautiful Indian state of Rajasthan. My partner for the theme is Aruna who blogs at Vasus Veg Kitchen. Aruna who started blogging just 1 year back, dedicates her blog to her Appa. She has a lovely vegetarian blog with many authentic South Indian recipes. What i love about her blog is the simplicity of the detailed recipes with step wise pictures. For this challenge she wishes to do a sweet dish as she was planning to travel to her parents place and wanted to cook something with simple ingredients. So, i gave her ghee and raisins as the secret ingredients and she made delicious Rajasthani Moong Dal Halwa using the ingredients. In return she gave me ginger and turmeric. With these set of ingredients i could make many dishes, but i had this gatte ki sabji on my mind since a long time so finally made it.

                                                    

Preparation Time: 20 minutes

Cooking Time: 30 minutes

Serves:4-5

Ingredients: Measurements used 1 cup = 250 ml

For making Gatte:

• 1 cup gram flour / besan
• 1/2 teaspoon red chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon roasted cumin powder
• Salt to taste
• 1 tablespoon oil
• 1 tablespoon curd
• 1/4 teaspoon asafoetida/hing
• 1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
• Pinch of cooking soda(optional)

For Making the Gatte Ki Sabji / Gravy

• 2 tablespoon oil / ghee
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/4 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 1 inch cinnamon stick
• 2-3 cloves
• 2-3 black pepper corn
• 1 teaspoon ginger garlic green chili paste(crush 3 cloves garlic, 1/2 inch ginger and 2 green chilies)
• 1 large onion finely chopped
• 1/2 cup tomato puree ( made from 2 blanched tomatoes)*
• 1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
• 2 teaspoon red chili powder
• 1 teaspoon coriander powder
• 1/2 teaspoon garam masala
• 1 cup curd
• Salt to taste

Method:

1. For making dough for the Gatte:

• In a mixing bowl take gram flour and add all the ingredients except curd (turmeric powder, red chili powder, roasted cumin powder, asafoetida, salt and oil). Mix well. Now add curd to it and blend well. Next add water in parts to form a soft dough. I needed around 2-3 tablespoon of water only so be careful while adding water to the flour. The dough should be soft and easy to work on. Cover and keep the dough aside for about 10 minutes.

2. Method for cooking the gatte:

• Before making gatte , place a large sauce pan on gas stove with 3-4 cups of water. Heat the water on medium to high heat. Now divide the dough into 6 equal parts. Roll each dough ball into a cylindrical log shape. If your sauce pan is small you may cut the logs into 2-3 pieces or into roundels. 

•  Once the water is boiling add the dough logs to the water.  Allow it to cook until they float up and you see small bubbles on them which means the gatte are light and cooked well. Remove the cooked gatte logs with a slotted spoon draining extra water. Reserve the water used for cooking gatte. We will use this cooked water in making the gravy. 

•  On cooling, cut the gatte into roundels using a knife and keep aside until use. 

3. Method to make the gravy

• Heat oil in a pan. add whole spices ( cumin seeds, bay leaf, cloves, cinnamon and black pepper corn. Once the spices sizzle, add the garlic-ginger-green-chili paste and saute for few seconds.

• Next, add  the finely chopped onions and saute for 1-2 minutes. To this add the tomato puree and stir fry the mixture until oil starts floating on the masala.

• Now, add the spice powders ( turmeric powder. red chili powder, garam masala and coriander powder. Stir fry the spices with the gravy masala for another 1 minute on low flame. Add 1 cup of water we reserved after cooking the gatte to this..

• Next, add the gatte roundels to this and mix well. cook the gatte in the masala for 1-2 minutes before adding the whisked curd to it. Mix well and add 1 cup plain water to the curry. You may add more or less water to adjust the desired consistency. The gatte absorb the water from the curry even after cooking, so adjust the consistency accordingly.

• Lastly add salt to the curry and allow it to boil. Simmer and cook the gatte ki sabji for 7-10 minutes.  

• Put off the flame and serve the lip-smacking gatte ki sabji with Jeera Rice or chapati and enjoy a flavorful meal with your loved ones.

Recipe Tips:

• You can make this gatte ki sabji without onion garlic or tomato.
• To make the tomato puree, i blanched 2 large tomatoes in boiling water, peeled them and pulsed in a grinder jar on cooling to get the puree.
• Use good quality curd in this gravy which is nether too mild nor too sour.
• You can decrease the amount of red chili powder to 1 teaspoon in this recipe if you want a mildly spiced gravy.
• You can make the gatte ahead of time and refrigerate it and use as required to make this curry.
• If you have left over curry, you can make yet another delicious dish with it, the gatte ka pulao where the gatte are toasted or fried and added to the green peas pulao.
• Gatte absorb water from the gravy even after cooking. So adjust the consistency and cooking time of the gravy accordingly.
• You can use ghee or oil to make this gravy.

If you ever try this recipe, do share your feedback with us in the comment section bellow. For more updates and new recipes, follow us on #Facebook #Instagram #Twitter #Pinterest and #Google+

Check out the following Rajasthani recipes from this blog

• Dal Baati Churma 

                         

• Malpua

                         

• Kachi Haldi Ki Sabji

                         

• Panchmel Dal / Rajasthani Panchratna Dal

                          

• Besan Wali Bhindi

                          

• Churma

                         

• Bajra Khichdi