Gatte ki Sabzi
Gram flour dumplings boiled, sliced and dropped into a yoghurt gravy. A Rajasthani dish designed around having no fresh vegetables at all.
- Prep
- 20m
- Cook
- 35m
- Waiting
- 10m
- Total
- 1h 5m
- Serves
- 4
- Effort
- Moderate
Method
Tap a step number to mark it done. Tap an ingredient once for got it, twice for need it.
| 1 1/2 cups | Knead a stiff dough, roll into 4 ropes, and rest 10 minutes 12m Stiff, like pasta dough. A soft dough disintegrates in the water. | Boil the ropes for 12 minutes, cool, then slice into 2cm pieces 15m They float and firm up. Keep the cooking water, it is the base of the gravy. | Slide the sliced gatte into the gravy and simmer 5 minutes to let them drink it in 6m Five minutes, no longer. They keep swelling and eventually go spongy. | |
| 3 tbsp | ||||
| 2 tbsp | ||||
| 1/2 tsp | ||||
| 1 tsp | ||||
| 1/4 tsp | ||||
| 3/4 tsp | ||||
| a pinch | ||||
| 1.5 litres | ||||
| 3 tbsp | Crackle the whole spices in ghee 3m | Bring the yoghurt mixture to a simmer, stirring one way, without letting it split 12m Stir constantly until the first bubble breaks. After that it is stable and you can leave it. | ||
| 1 tsp | ||||
| 1/4 tsp | ||||
| 3 | ||||
| 1 | ||||
| 2 | ||||
| 1 cup | Whisk the yoghurt with gram flour until there is not a lump left 3m The gram flour is the insurance policy against curdling. | |||
| 1 tbsp | ||||
| 2 tsp | ||||
| 1 tsp | ||||
| 1/2 tsp | ||||
| 1 tsp | ||||
| 1 1/2 cups | ||||
| 1/2 tsp | ||||
| a handful | ||||
-
Knead a stiff dough, roll into 4 ropes, and rest 10 minutes
12m- gram flour 1 1/2 cups
- thick yoghurt 3 tbsp
- neutral oil 2 tbsp
- carom seeds 1/2 tsp
- red chilli powder 1 tsp
- ground turmeric 1/4 tsp
- salt 3/4 tsp
- bicarbonate of soda (optional) a pinch
Stiff, like pasta dough. A soft dough disintegrates in the water.
-
Boil the ropes for 12 minutes, cool, then slice into 2cm pieces
15m- from 1 Knead a stiff dough, roll into 4 ropes, and rest 10 minutes
- water 1.5 litres
They float and firm up. Keep the cooking water, it is the base of the gravy.
-
Crackle the whole spices in ghee
3m- ghee 3 tbsp
- cumin seeds 1 tsp
- asafoetida 1/4 tsp
- cloves 3
- bay leaf 1
- dried red chillies 2
-
Whisk the yoghurt with gram flour until there is not a lump left
3m- yoghurt 1 cup
- gram flour 1 tbsp
- ground coriander 2 tsp
- red chilli powder 1 tsp
- ground turmeric 1/2 tsp
- salt 1 tsp
The gram flour is the insurance policy against curdling.
-
Bring the yoghurt mixture to a simmer, stirring one way, without letting it split
12m- from 3 Crackle the whole spices in ghee
- from 4 Whisk the yoghurt with gram flour until there is not a lump left
- reserved gatte water 1 1/2 cups
Stir constantly until the first bubble breaks. After that it is stable and you can leave it.
-
Slide the sliced gatte into the gravy and simmer 5 minutes to let them drink it in
6m- from 2 Boil the ropes for 12 minutes, cool, then slice into 2cm pieces
- from 5 Bring the yoghurt mixture to a simmer, stirring one way, without letting it split
- garam masala 1/2 tsp
- coriander leaves a handful
Five minutes, no longer. They keep swelling and eventually go spongy.
Keeping the yoghurt from splitting
Yoghurt is a fragile protein gel. Heat it fast and the casein contracts and squeezes out water, which is the grainy, weeping mess everyone has produced at least once. Two things prevent it. The spoonful of gram flour supplies starch that gelatinises around the proteins and physically gets in the way of them clumping, and constant stirring until the first simmer keeps any one patch of the pan from running far ahead of the rest. Once it has boiled, it will not split again.
Notes
- Boil the ropes whole and slice after. Sliced first, they lose their edges in the water.
- The cooking water is thick with leached gram flour. Using it instead of fresh water gives the gravy body for free.
- Leftover gatte, fried in a dry pan until blistered, are very good on their own with a squeeze of lemon.