Rajasthani Gatte Ki Sabji. A popular gluten-free and vegetarian dish from Rajasthani cuisine.
Rajasthan. My Mom’s home state. It is the land of the desert(s). Dry, minimum water, and barely any fresh vegetables. Grains and red chilies are used predominantly here. I remember Mom sharing stories of their diet and meals when she was young. Alternate grains like bajra, jowar, besan along with a hot garlic, chili chutney used to be a part of their meals.
Gatte ki Sabji is ideal for days when you run out of fresh produce. All you need here are some chickpea flour, curd, some spices and oil. The curd doesn’t have to be tangy/ sour for this in my honest opinion. Whipped well and a decent amount of heat from the red chilies in a ghee tadka/ tempering does wonders to this dish.
To start, I make a dough here using besan, curd and spices. Thereafter, I then make cylinders out of the dough which I steam in boiling water. Once cooked, small pieces or roundels are cut that are the gatte for the sabji. A spiced gravy is then made using plain curd that is tempered with red chili and the gatte are then simmered in this gravy.
Rajasthani Gatte ki Sabji is so good for warm summer days especially Teej, a monsoon festival in North India. Hariyali Teej is a monsoon festival that celebrates the symbolic reunion of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati. Women celebrate Hariyali Teej with much fervor; they adorn traditional attire, apply henna on their hands and enjoy good food. Mom has always shared stories of her childhood with us; her grandfather would hang swings from trees in their backyard, of bangles and mehendi on their little hands and how they feasted on kheer-pooda after all that fun.
Every family/ region in North India may have its own version of gatte ki sabji. There are versions with an onion-tomato gravy also in many families. This is the version I’ve grown up to love thanks to Mom’s recipe. Hope you do try it out and love it as much as we do.
Rajasthani Gatte Ki Sabji is equally good with ghee rotis and rice. A pro tip is to add extra ghee-chili tadka if you like heat in your food. Enjoy!
Rajasthani Gatte Ki Sabji – Recipe
Ingredients
For making the Gatte
- 2 cups Besan/ gram flour
- 2 tbsp Neutral oil (I used avocado oil)
- ½ tsp Kashmiri red chili powder
- ½ tsp Turmeric powder
- 1 tbsp Kasuri methi leaves
- 1 tsp Coriander powder
- ¼ tsp Black pepper powder
- ½ tsp Ajwain/ carom seeds
- Salt (to taste)
For the Sabji/ Curry
- 1½ Cups Thick curd/ Plain yogurt (at room temperature)
- 2 tbsp Mustard oil (preferably or any other neutral oil)
- ½ tsp Ajwain
- ¼ + ½ tsp Kashmiri red chili powder
- ½ tsp Turmeric powder
- ½ tsp Coriander powder
- Salt (to taste)
- ¼ cup Chopped coriander leaves
- 1 tbsp Ghee (optional)
Instructions
- Take 2 cups of besan in a mixing bowl. Add in turmeric powder, ajwain, kashmiri red chili powder, coriander powder, black pepper, kasuri methi and salt to taste.
- Add 2 tbsp oil and mix well. Rub this mixture well with your palms for about 2 minutes so that everything comes together well.
- Now start adding water slowly, mixing well and make a smooth dough. You will need just about less than half a cup of water. Cover the dough and keep aside.
- Separately, put water to boil in a pan, about 5 cups.
- Divide the dough into 6 equal parts, and roll out each part into a smooth cylindrical shape.
- Place these into the boiling water; cut each into two if they do not fit into the pan.
- Once they're cooked, the gatte pieces will develop bubbles and start floating on top. At this stage, take them out and let cool on a plate. Reserve around a cup of the gatte water. Cut the cylinder logs into equal, smaller pieces later and keep aside.
- In the meantime, take 1.5 cups of plain thick, white curd (at room temperature), coriander powder, 1/4 tsp kashmiri red chili powder and salt in a bowl and whisk everything very well.
- Heat 2 tbsp mustard oil (preferably) in a deep bottomed pan. Lower the flame when the oil becomes smoking hot and add 1/2 tsp ajwain, 1/2 tsp turmeric powder and 1/4 tsp kashmiri Red chili powder. Be careful to not burn.
- Add the spiced curd and keep stirring at the same time. Continue this process on low flame for about 7-9 minutes so that the yogurt cook well and doesnt break/ burn. Mix in the reserved water and let this come to a boil.
- Cover and cook on low-medium flame for about 5-7 minutes or till the mixture thickens slightly.
- Now gently add in the gatte pieces and let them simmer in the gravy. Cover and cook on low-medium flame for about 5-7 minutes or till the mixture thickens slightly. Check for seasoning.
- Once cooked, garnish with chopped coriander leaves and a tbsp of ghee (optional) before serving hot with either rotis/ rice.
