Ingredients
The base of ragda, as mentioned, is dried white peas also called vatana. It is quite easily available in most Indian stores if you live outside India and I have a picture below to give you an idea of what to look for. Since these are dried, you do need to soak the white peas for a few hours, ideally overnight, before making ragda. The rest of the ingredients are quite straight-forward. You need some basic spices like cumin, chilli powder, asafoetida and turmeric. Of course some ginger and garlic for extra punch and green chillies that are ground and roasted for an additional kick. While ragda is typically prepared to make ragda patties, you can also serve this with poori, chapati, or even dosa.
Step by Step Pictures to Make Ragda
Soak the white peas overnight or for a minimum of 8 hours Drain, transfer to a pressure cooker pan, and add enough fresh water to cover it completely by 1/2 an inch. Add turmeric powder and chilli powder to this. Mix well. Pressure cook for 15 mins or 4-5 whistles until the peas is cooked nice and mushy. Let the pressure release naturally. Smush it further with the back of a spoon or potato masher and set aside. Grind the green chillies and ginger to a coarse paste (or you can just chop the two very fine). Heat oil in a pan and add the cumin powder, asafoetida. When the cumin seeds turn a shade darker, add the chilli garlic paste. Fry for 30 seconds or until fragrant. Add the cooked peas and salt. Mix well adding enough water to bring to the right consistency. Bring to boil, let it simmer for a minute, and remove from heat. Serve hot with poori, chapati or add to ragda patties!
