Ragda Patticeરગડા પેટીસ
Shallow-fried potato patties drowned in a hot white-pea ragda, then finished with chutneys, onion and sev. The most filling thing on any chaat cart.
Ingredients
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- Ragda: 1 cup dried white peas, soaked overnight
- Turmeric, ginger-chilli, salt, and oil, cumin and asafoetida for tempering
- Pattice: 4 boiled potatoes, 2 tbsp cornflour, salt
- Oil for shallow frying
- Chutneys: green, and date-tamarind
- To finish: onion, sev, coriander, chaat masala
Method
- Pressure cook the soaked peas with turmeric and salt for 4-5 whistles until soft.
- Temper cumin and asafoetida in oil, add the peas and ginger-chilli paste, and simmer 10 minutes. Keep the ragda loose.
- Mash the potatoes with cornflour and salt and shape into round patties.
- Shallow fry on a tawa until golden and crisp on both sides.
- Place the patties on a plate and ladle the hot ragda over them.
- Top with both chutneys, onion, sev, coriander and chaat masala, and serve at once.
Tips
- The cornflour is what stops the patties falling apart.
- If the ragda thickens, loosen it with hot water, never cold.
Storing and reheating
Ragda keeps three days in the fridge and about a month frozen. It thickens as it cools, so add hot water and bring it back to a boil. Shaped patties keep a day refrigerated and in fact hold together better on the tawa once they have firmed up. An assembled plate does not keep at all; the moment the chutney and ragda go on, the pattice start softening.
What you can swap
- No dried white peas? Dried green peas work. The colour changes but the ragda is the same.
- With tinned peas you can skip the cooking; add them straight to the tempering and simmer for ten minutes.
- In place of cornflour, use two tablespoons of powdered poha or rice flour. It binds just as well.
- No date-tamarind chutney in the house? Boil equal parts tamarind pulp and jaggery for five minutes with a pinch of chilli and cumin.
What to serve with it
An evening chaat, and one of the signatures of street carts in Gujarat and Mumbai. At home it becomes a whole Sunday-evening meal. At functions a pot of hot ragda sits on the chaat counter and plates are built to order.
Mistakes to avoid
- Do not overboil the potatoes. Once they split they take on water, and the patties then drink oil and fall apart.
- Mash only when the potatoes are completely cold, and never in a mixer, which turns them gluey.
- Do not lift the pattice off early. They need a genuinely crisp crust, or the ragda reduces them to mush on contact.
- The peas need a full eight-hour soak. Old peas stay hard however long you cook them; a pinch of soda in the soaking water helps.
Questions people ask
Why do my pattice break on the tawa?
Too much moisture in the potato is the usual culprit. Boil them whole in their skins, mash them cold, and add a little more cornflour if the mix feels slack. Chilling the shaped patties for half an hour also firms them up.
Can I make the ragda a day ahead?
Yes, and it is better for it, as the flavours settle. Keep it a little loose before refrigerating, since the peas absorb liquid overnight. Add hot water and boil it up again when you serve.
What can I use instead of white peas?
Dried green peas come closest. Chana dal works too, but the ragda then tastes and looks like dal. Kabuli chana are not right for this; they are too heavy.
