Ghatte ki Subji (Steamed Chickpeas Flour Dumpling in Onion-Tomato Gravy)

Moving from one royalty to another, from the Mughals to the Rajputs. The recipe I am sharing with you all today is a Rajasthani dish called ghatte ki subji. Rajasthan being a desert and all has limited availability of fresh veggies and water. Hence the cuisine is greatly influenced by ingredients that were readily available such as dried lentils, flour. Besan (gram flour) is widely used to make ghatta (pl. ghatte), pakodi etc. Ghattes can be used in subji, kadi or even pulao. Once the ghatte are ready, the whole dish can be made within 20-30 min which makes this a wonderful dish for a busy weekday meal. To boost its nutritional value, I have added bell peppers; vegetables such as carrots, cauliflower etc can be also added.

Ingredients:
For Ghatta:
2 cups besan
1 tsp ajwain
1 tsp chilli powder
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp Dhania-jeera powder
1/2 tsp amchoor
2-3 tbsp vegetable oil salt to taste
For gravy:
1 onion
3 tomatoes
2 bell pepper (cut into big pieces)
1 clove garlic, minced
1 inch ginger, minced
11/2 chilli powder
2 tsp dhania-jeera powder
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp amchoor
1 tsp jeera
1 tsp fennel
2 tsp thick yogurt or sour cream
1 tsp kasoori methi
cilantro for garnish

Method:
Ghatta:

1. Mix all the ingredients for the ghatta with enough water to form a tight dough (like that of a chapathi dough).
2. Roll it out into an inch thick cylinder and cut into bite size pieces.
3. Drop the pieces into salted boiling water and let it cook for 10-15 min or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.
4. Drain them and let it dry for a few mintues.
5. Shallow fry or saute these ghattes in a few tablespoon of oil.

At this point, ghattes can be frozen and they stay good for a month or so.

Gravy:

1. Heat oil in a saute pan, add fennel and jeera.
2. Add ginger, garlic and onions. Saute until the onions are golden brown.
3. Now add the tomatoes, turmeric and salt. Cook until the raw smell of tomato disappears.
4. Add chilli powder, dhania-jeera powder, amchoor and let it cook until it becomes thick.
5. Now add the yogurt/sour cream and mix in bell peppers.
6. Add 1/2 cup water and let it boil for 5 min or until the bell peppers are cooked but firm.
7. Now add the ghatte and let it boil for 10 more mins or until the ghatte are soft.
8. Sprinkle the kasoori methi and cilantro.

Serve with hot rice or roti.

This post is my contribution for the "curry mela" blog event hosted by Srivalli of Cooking 4 all seasons blog. Hope you all like it :-)