WHITE PEAS GHUGNI from Kichu Khon

The blog-sphere is full of this dish called Ghugni and in its many forms. It is mainly made from Chhole ( chick peas) or Matar (white pleas). Matar is  the matured form of green peas we eat.

My problem has been, I rarely succeeded in making this.  The reason is, no matter how I try, it becomes over boiled most of the time and the only option is to through the mushy stuff. ( Of course I made some dishes with the rejected stuff sometimes.)

So this time I again tried with Matar, just a little quantity. Great tips came from Sahrmila and Deepa too  on boiling the peas. The taste of a very simple Matar  ghugni has been lingering in my mind for decades. I got it at Sahrmila's blog. The recipe suited me. It did not require any elaborate preparation of spices. So I did not have the risk of throwing the spices along with the over boiled Matar.

So friends, if you want to take an excursion from our spicy cooking world , try this. The faint aroma of the Matar, coupled with the nice aroma of ginger, cumin  and red chili will give you a great satisfaction. There is no riot of Ginger, garlic, onion, tomato, chhole masala , garam masala et al) 

Please see the details at Sharmila's blog.

I am just giving you some idea here with a little suggestion on variation.

INGREDIENTS

White peas ( Matar) 1 cup

cumin 1 tsp

red chili dry 2

chopped ginger or Julienne 1 tbsp 

turmeric powder 3/4 tsp.

Cooking oil 1 tbsp ( Mustard oil or any other).  I have used 2 tbsp Ghee (clarified butter )

Sugar 1  tsp ( for taste and not for sweetening )

Green chili ( optional. I have added few, I like lot of green chili)

PROCESS
Soak the white peas in water overnight or for 4-6 hrs ( Sharmila has recommended about 1/2 hour, but I had already put it for soaking )
Heat oil / Ghee and add cumin seeds and red chili , don't brown.
Add soaked peas, turmeric, salt and fry.
Add green chili and ginger, sugar and mix.
Add 3 cups of water and pressure cook to 2 whistles, which was 2 1/2minutes. The Matar was not done . So I pressurized for another whistle . Total time under pressure was 41/2 minutes. It was done. I shall use this timing next time.
After opening the cooker, adjust water by adding a little or boiling off.
The taste and look was perfect except that, in my excitement  I forgot to focus the camera and the camera was not in ladies' mode :-)

Of course you can garnish chopped  onion, green chili, lemon juice and coriander leaves after serving on a plate.

If you find the taste is too bland, dont worry, just proceed from here with the usual ones,i.e. onion garlic, ginger, tomato, spices etc etc.

My ultimate destination is to make Mangso ghugni ( Ghugni with small pieces of red meat and befitting spices).

Deepa of Hamaree Rasoi gave me useful tips, " It is very difficult to predict exact boiling time...as the peas vary in their grade, moisture content etc. So it is always better to under cook, check and reboil..experienced people who cook these often, generally make it right in one go. "

If you want to cook this, please read the original recipe 
This awesome recipe is taken from Sharmila's blog   http://kichukhonn.blogspot.com/2008/05/ghoogni.html