ashu’s- Ragda Patties
I returned last week from Mumbai, few hectic/busy days in my motherland, spent in the company of my mother and siblings, attending a family function, zooming around the neighborhood on a two-wheeler, and yup clicking loads of pictures too! And I also relished the Pani Puris, an all time favorite street food. As I just returned from Maharashtra, a state in India, so today I bring to you all the Maharashtrian dish called Ragda Patties. This is a wholesome dish that could be a breakfast, or a weekend brunch, or a light & bit different dinner menu. I made it this weekend as our Friday morning brunch menu, yeah, we have a Friday/Saturday weekend here in the UAE, with Sunday being the first day of the week.
Ragda Patties is enjoyed by the kids and hence always makes it to the table as a weekend menu when all members of the family are relaxed and the mood is happy with fun and laughter around the household. This dish is a two in one snack, one is the potato pattie and the other is the Ragda, the legume curry, and together they make what we call as the Ragda Patties. It requires a little pre-preparation, the legume that is used for curry needs to be soaked for 6-8 hrs before they are boiled to make the Ragda.
It also happens to be a favorite Indian street food too, sold on the road side food joints that dole out the piping hot potato patties on the big tava right in front of us, with us drooling till the vendor serves it to us. When one makes it at home, the taste sure differs, the freshness of the ingredients and the love of the person making it contributes to make the dish something that is always welcomed. I am a more particular healthy foodie and hence my cooking uses far less quantity of cooking oil as compared to the general Indian family standards back home. I also try and give the recipe a healthy twist incorporating new ingredients, but at the same time taking care not to change the taste of the recipe as far as possible.
This ashu’s recipe of Ragda Patties uses cooking oats along with the boiled potatoes to make the crisp tikkis or patties that forms one part of the dish. The rest of the ingredients used remain the same. I prefer to use either Canola oil or Extra virgin olive oil in my cooking, but you could use any cooking oil that you use at home.
INGREDIENTS:
For Patties:
Potatoes: 4 Medium
Cooking Oats: 3 tbsp
Breadcrumbs: 50 gm
Salt & Chili Powder : As per taste
Turmeric: 1/2 tsp
Green Chili: 1 (finely chopped)
Chopped green Coriander: 1 Tbsp
Oil: 2 Tbsp
For Ragda:
Dried White peas : 250 gm
Cumin: 1 Tsp
Onion: 1 Big
Tomatoes: 2 Medium
Olive oil: 2 Tbsp
Ginger & Garlic paste: 1 tsp each
Turmeric powder: 1 tsp
Chili Powder: 2 Tsp (As per taste)
Coriander powder: 1 Tbsp
Garam masala powder: 1 Tsp
Dry Mango Powder: 1 Tsp
Toppings:
Green chutney
Sweet Tamarind chutney
Barik (fine) Sev
Finely chopped onion
Finely chopped coriander
METHOD:
Soak the dried white peas in enough water so as to cover them overnight. Pressure cook the soaked legumes to three whistles, this cooks them to soft and mushy consistency.
Boil the potatoes and remove the skin and mash them to smooth texture.
Finely chop the onions, tomatoes, green chili and green coriander.
For making the patties, take the mashed potatoes in a bowl, add the cooking oats, the chopped green chili, green coriander, salt, and mix well. We can also add a pinch of dry mango powder to it.
Take breadcrumbs in a plate. Give shape to the mixture to form patties, coat them with the breadcrumbs. We can either make round ones by hand or use the mould to make heart-shaped ones, as I have done here. Dust away the excess breadcrumbs.
Keep a fry pan on the gas stove and heat, put 1 Tbsp oil and heat. Cook the patties in the fry pan, turning over and cooking evenly on both sides. Remove them when they are cooked on both sides and crisp. Do keep the gas flame from medium-to-slow to ensure that the outer covering does not get over cooked and burnt while the inside remains uncooked. Use more oil if required to make them crisper. Remove and keep the patties on a serving plate once they are done.
TO MAKE THE RAGDA:
Heat a karahi or round bottom pan on the gas stove. Heat the oil in it and then add the cumin, then the chopped onions and fry. When the onion turn pinkish then add the ginger garlic paste, saute and then add the chopped tomatoes. Cook the tomatoes and then add the turmeric, chili powder, coriander powder, dry mango powder, and salt. Then add the boiled white peas and mix thoroughly. Add a glass of water, or as required, to make it in a curry consistency. The peas usually dry up the water when boiled, we want the ragda curry with medium thick gravy and hence adjust the water to add. Let this gravy simmer for 10 minutes, then sprinkle the garam masala powder on top and the chopped coriander and cover the pot with the lid and switch off the gas flame. Our Ragda is ready to be used.
(I do not have any pictures to upload as I never took them when I was making the Ragda, I will click and re-upload them on a later date when I again make the Ragda :))
SERVING: Take a deep dish, put 2-3 ladles of the Ragda curry, then place the pattie in the center. To get a sweet and sour taste we can put teaspoonfuls of the green chutney and the tamarind chutney. Sprinkle on top finely chopped onions, fine gram flour Sev and green coriander leaves.
One could also use lemon juice instead of the tamarind chutney, if one does not wish to make it sweet but want it to be tangy. The quantity of toppings used depends on personal preference, hence I have not mentioned the quantity in the ingredients list.
The chutneys add more or enhance the flavors of the dish, making it a Chaat recipe and one usually enjoys it more by adding lots of Sev on top.
NUTRITIONAL CONTENT: Legumes are a good source of vegetarian proteins and rich in fiber. The potatoes form the carbohydrate part but when we add the oats we increase the fiber content of the Potato patties and make it a more healthy version.
Hope you all enjoyed going through the recipe, do give it a go to find out if your taste buds get tickled by the combination of flavors used.
Wishing you all a happy Wednesday 🙂
ashu
ashstylegourmet's Blog 
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