Ragda Patties (Indian Street Food/ Chaat) Recipe

Ragda patties is my second most favourite dish of Mumbai street food or chaat after pani puri. It is a very elaborate dish that has many components - soft potato patties, a spicy curry made of dried white peas (ragda), two tangy chutneys- the date-tamarind (khajur-imli) chutney and corriander and mint chutney and garnishing of chopped onions, chopped corriander and sev (very thin fried small noodles of chickpea flour).

The Components of Ragda Patties

Ragda pattice is a very filling and healthy dish. It has all the essential nutrients in one bowl - carbohydrates (and not much fats) from the shallow-fried potato patties, proteins from the dried white peas and various vitamins and minerals from the ingredients of the chutneys like dates and corriander and mint. It can make for a complete meal in itself and is one street food you can't fill guilty about indulging in!

Ragda Patties: The Final Dish

In this recipe, I will share  the recipes of each of the individual components - the potato patties, the ragda (dried white peas curry) and the date and tamarind chutney... I have already done a post on my attention stealing corriander and mint chutney and its recipe can be found here. Apart from this I will also give step-by-step instructions with pictures as to how to serve it in the traditional manner.

It is a long recipe, but worth every minute of the effort. So as the song goes, "Let's start at the very beginning, a very good place to start".

Ragda Patties Recipe (Indian Street Food/ Chaat)

Preparation Time: 45 minutes

Cooking Time: 45 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

For the Patties

8-10 medium sized potatoes

2 green chillies

1/2 piece of ginger

3 tbsps cornflour/ potato starch powder

2-3 tbsps peanut or olive oil for shallow frying

Salt to taste

For the Ragda (Dried White Peas Curry)

2 cups dried white peas (soaked 7-8 hours)

6 cups water

2 tbsps peanut or olive oil

2 tsps cumin seeds

1/2 tsp asafoetida

1 medium or 2 small tomatoes finely chopped

1 tsp turmeric powder

2 tsps red chilly powder

2 tsps garam masala powder

2 tsps corriander powder

1 tsp cumin powder

Salt to taste

For the Date-Tamarind  Chutney

1 cup red/brown dates deseeded

1/2 cup water

3 tbsps tamarind pulp

1 tsp red chilly powder (optional)

Salt to taste

For Serving

2 medium onions finely chopped

1/2 cup loosely packed corriander leaves

1 cup sev

Method

The Patties

Potato Patties for Ragda Patties

Grind the green chillies and the ginger into a fine paste without any water.

Boil or pressure cook the potatoes and mash them.

Add the ginger-chilly paste and the salt and mix well with your fingers and hands.

Shape into rounds of around 2 inch diameter, flatten a little between both palms and coat with cornflour  or potato starch powder.

Heat the oil on a pan and shallow fry the patties till they turn golden brown on both sides. 

The Ragda (Dried White Peas Curry)

Ragda: Dried White Peas Curry

Pressure cook the soaked white peas with the water for 4 whistles on high flame and around 10 minutes on a low flame. This will ensure that the peas cook through completely.

In a deep frying pan, heat the oil and temper with the cumin seeds and asafoetida.

Turn the flame down to a medium high before adding in the tomatoes. Fry them for about two minutes. 

Now add the turmeric powder, the red chilly powder, the garam masala powder, the corriander powder and the cumin powder and fry with the tomatoes on a low flame for about 4-5 minutes till they start releasing the oil.

Now add the cooked white peas, the salt and some water (if needed to adjust consistency) and mix well.

Bring to a boil and then lower the flame and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes so that the spices blend well with the white peas and make a thick curry.

Date-Tamarind Chutney

Date-Tamarind Chutney

In a pressure, cook the dates with the water for one whistle.

Blend together the cooked dates (minus the water used for cooking if there is any left over), the tamarind, the salt and the red chilly powder (optional) till they form a smooth thick chutney.

For Serving

To serve, first take a deep dish or bowl and put in two of the potato patties.

Serving Ragda Patties Step 1

Pour about 3-4 serving spoons of ragda (dried white peas curry) on the patties to cover them.

Serving Ragda Patties Step 2

Next add the chutneys - the date-tamarind chutney and the mint-corriander chutney.

Serving Ragda Patties Step 3

Now garnish with the chopped onions, sev and finally the corriander leaves.

Serving Ragda Patties: The Final Dish

Enjoy some Mumbai chaat (street food) in the comfort of your home!