Ragda Patties

Starting Out...

So today being the first day of my year long experiment, I faced the challenge head on with no preparation, what-so-ever. I soon realized what a big mistake it was. I started searching for recipes online. Recipes that I could cook in about 45 minutes, were vegetarian with Indian flavours and a bit different that the regular rice and paratha dishes. And of-course,those that required limited supplies of potatoes and....I guess some more potatoes, as I have not gone grocery shopping for a while. And Oh My Word....I was out of luck of finding anything that fitted my criteria. I searched and searched to the point of quitting this whole excersice and feeling ashamed of making it public too soon.

But I didn't want to give up so quick and so, finally, unable to find any recipes that required mainly potatoes and which could look and taste somewhere close to a main course meal, I settled down on making Ragda-Patties - a Mumbai speciality. The recipe is my own (of course, with a lot of guidance from Mom). It took me an hour to make. This was a bit longer than I expected, but then I was cooking for 6+ people. It should take a bit less time if you are cooking for a smaller family. But no complaints, as today being a Friday, no one was in much of a hurry.

So here is the recipe and other details -

Time Taken : One Hour
Serves : 6
Kids-O-Meter : 2 thumbs up, though it was a bit high on the spice meter. But that's how my little one likes it.
Satisfaction Meter : 8 out of 10 (as it took a bit longer to cook than anticipated)

Photo Courtesy : Kanchan Raste

For the Patties -
5 Medium Potatoes
3 cloves of Garlic
5-6 Green Chillies
1/2 inch of Ginger
Salt to Taste
Sugar - 6 tspns

Aamchur Powder - 4 tbspns
Cilantro - Finely chopped
2 slices of bread
Rice flour- 6 tbspns
Oil to shallow fry

For the Ragda
Dried White Peas (Vatana) - 3 cups
Coriander Powder - 3tbspns
Cumin Powder - 3 tbspns
Red Chillie Powder - 2 tbs
Salt to taste
Oil 2 tbspns
Mustard Seeds- 1/2 tspn
Asafoetida - 1/2 tspn
Turmeric - 1/2 tspn

Directions -

Boil the potatoes  and mash them with a masher. Make a paste of Garlic, Green Chillies and Ginger. Add this paste to the mashed potatoes along with Aamchur Powder, Sugar, Salt and Cilantro. Soak the bread slices in water. Once soft, take out all the water and add to the potato mixture. Make medium sized tikkies.Dust them lightly with rice flour and shallow fry them in a frying pan.

For the ragda - Boil the white peas in a pressure cooker. (It would take less time if you soak the peas in water for 4-6 hours before cooking them). Once cooked, take 2 tbspns of oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds, asafoetida and turmeric. Add the cooked peas and one to two cups of water. Next add the chillie powder, coriander powder, cumin powder and salt. Bring it to a boil.

To Serve -

Place 2 patties in a shallow bowl.  Add 2 ladles of ragda. Serve with chopped onions, chopped cilantro, green chutney and tamarind chutney. (If in time crunch, get readymade chutneys. I personally like Maggie tamarina which substitues nicely for tamarind chutney. Alternatively, you can make these chutneys in bulk whenever you make them and store them in the refrigerator for future use.)

As for today, the chutneys are made by Mommy Dearest....So, thank You Mom.


And that brings us to the end of day one. And it was good all in all.