Rajasthani chickpea dumpling curry

Simple dumplings cooked in a tasty yoghurt and tomato sauce - count us in!

Credit: Quadrille / Martin Pool

• serves

  3

• prep

  20 minutes

• cook

  30 minutes

• difficulty

  Mid

Once I got married, my mother-in-law made me her, proper Rajasthani, version of a dish my own mother’s family had been cooking for years. Rajasthan is a desert, so you can’t always find fresh ingredients and dishes would often be conjured up from larder ingredients. These little dumplings (gatta) based on my mother-in-law’s are cooked in a simple but incredibly tasty yogurt and tomato sauce which is based on the one my mother made. It is fun to make, easy, cooks in 20 minutes and is exquisite. I crave it if I haven’t eaten it for a while. I eat this with simple plain rice; any other dish just distracts me from my pleasure. 

Ingredients

Gatta

• 125 g (1 cup) chickpea (gram) flour
• 1½ tbsp vegetable oil, plus more to make the dumplings
• 2 rounded tbsp plain yogurt
• ½ tsp salt
• ¾ tsp cumin seeds
• ½ tsp ground turmeric
• ¼  tsp chilli (chili) powder, or to taste
• ¼ tsp ajwain seeds (carom seeds)

Curry

• 1 medium-large tomato
• 2 rounded tbsp plain yogurt
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• ¾ tsp cumin seeds
• ½ tsp ground turmeric
• ¼ tsp chilli (chili) powder
• 1½ tsp ground coriander
• ⅓ tsp garam masala (fresh if possible)
• handful of coriander (cilantro) leaves (optional), to serve

Instructions

Knead together all the ingredients for the gatta. The dough should be of a medium firmness. Bring a large pot (around 700 ml/3 cups) water to a rolling boil and salt it. Meanwhile, rub some oil onto your hands, take small portions of the dough and roll into long ropes, 2 cm (¾ in) in diameter. The length isn’t important; mine are usually 8–10 cm (3–4 in) long.

Add the dumplings to the boiling water and simmer for 10 minutes; they will rise to the surface. Remove with a slotted spoon and pour the cooking water into a measuring jug. Slice the ropes across into ½–1 cm (¼–½ in) thick “coins”.

For the curry, blend the tomato and yogurt to a fine purée. Heat the oil in a non-stick saucepan over a low heat. Add the cumin seeds and, once they redden (around 20 seconds), add all the remaining spices and cook gently for another 15 seconds. Add the tomato mixture and a little salt and cook, stirring, until it has reduced to a thick paste and you can see oil droplets coming out at the sides, around 10 minutes.

Add the gatta and 500 ml (2 cups) of their cooking liquor into the pot. Bring to the boil and simmer for 6–7 minutes. The gravy will be only lightly creamy and will thicken further as it sits so, if need be, add a little more of the gatta “stock”. Taste and adjust the seasoning and serve hot with rice or Indian breads, scattering with coriander if you like.

Recipe from I Love India by Anjum Anand, photography by Martin Pool (Hardie Grant Books, hb, $39.99). Read Anjum’s essay on the many regional variations of Indian food here.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.

Once I got married, my mother-in-law made me her, proper Rajasthani, version of a dish my own mother’s family had been cooking for years. Rajasthan is a desert, so you can’t always find fresh ingredients and dishes would often be conjured up from larder ingredients. These little dumplings (gatta) based on my mother-in-law’s are cooked in a simple but incredibly tasty yogurt and tomato sauce which is based on the one my mother made. It is fun to make, easy, cooks in 20 minutes and is exquisite. I crave it if I haven’t eaten it for a while. I eat this with simple plain rice; any other dish just distracts me from my pleasure.