Ragda-Patties

Weekends are times for family and fun, and there's nothing more satisfying than preparing a nice delicious meal that all of you would enjoy together. But if you don't want to spend most of your time cooking in the kitchen, a bit of prudence and planning can get you both, fun time with your family and loads of compliments for your cooking!! Here's one of my husband's favourite dishes: Ragda (curry made of dried white peas) poured over delicious Potato Patties (cutlets). Hope your family enjoys it as much as mine!!

Ingredients

For Ragda
3 cups dehydrated white peas, soaked overnight or at least for 3-4 hours
3 cup water

2 tbsp tamarind paste (or lemon juice)

2 tbsp oil
3 green chillies

1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tbsp chopped coriander
Spices: 2 tsp red chilli powder, turmeric, sugar (optional) and garam masala, salt - to taste

For Patties
4 potatoes boiled, peeled, mashed

1/2 cup peas boiled
1/4 cup semolina (rawa) or cornflour
1/2 cup bread crumbs
8-10 green chillies
1/10th piece of a medium ginger
3-4 large tbsp oil
Spices: 1-2 tsp salt, garam masala, and lemon juice

Method

The Ragda

Wash and pressure cook the peas till well done. Heat oil in a pan, add the cumin seeds, green chillies and the tamarind paste. Now add 1/4th of the cooked peas and mix well. Mash these with a large ladle or spoon. Alternately, you could even blend them first, but I prefer mashing them in the pan with the tamarind paste. This way they soak up more flavour. Add the dry masalas and salt and cook for 2-3 minutes. now add the remaining peas, add water to form a thich curry and bring to boil. Cook covered or uncovered on medium flame for about 10 mins till the gravy thickens.

The Patties
Mash the potatoes and peas separately and then mix them in a bowl. Grind the ginger and green chillies to form a paste and add this alongwith all other spices to the mixture. Mix in the bread crumbs and finally the semolina (rawa) one spoon at a time, only to make the mixture hold together firmly. Grease your palms and roll a small amount of mixture into cutlets or patties. Roast 3-4 at a time on a greased hot griddle on medium-high flame.Flip onto the other side till both sides are crisp and golden brown.

To serve, place 2 patties in a shallow dish or bowl, pour ragda on the top, add Green Chutney and Tamarind chutney, sprinkle some sev, chopped onions and chopped coriander and eat it hot!...Hmm...I can't wait to have one of these myself!!!