Learn how to make Bengali Ghugni Chaat ~Calcutta style vegan yellow peas curry garnished with assorted fresh toppings
My love for Indian street food has no beginning and no end… This ongoing affair with street food is unparalleled to any other food, including the comfort foods, and I can quite happily go on living just eating street food for rest of my life. As much as I love deep fried, calorie loaded foods which I like to binge on occasionally, it’s the nutritious, delicately spiced street foods bursting with big flavours I am enslaved to. Apart from being highly addictive, these Indian street foods are packed with nutrition, nourishing and guilt-free. And there are couple of street food that screams comfort food, which wraps you in a warm blanket on a cold, cold night. One such recipe is Ghugni Chaat, a delicious yellow peas snack is a popular street food of Eastern Indian states of West Bengal, and some parts of Orissa, Assam and Bihar.
Ingredients for Calcutta Style Ghugni Chaat
To make Ghugni Chaat, dried yellow peas are soaked overnight and pressure cooked until soft and almost mushy and then simmered in a spicy and sour gravy of finely chopped onions, tomatoes, ginger and a special spice blend called Moodi/Bhaja Masala. A traditional Ghugni is made with dried yellow peas, sold as vaTana in Indian groceries in the lentil and bean aisles. Although there are other versions of Ghugni made with black or white chickpeas or dried green or white peas, I personally prefer the dried yellow peas which easily takes in layers of flavours added to it. Some versions of Ghugni Chaat also included meat, such as lamb, and some are made without garlic and onions during the festival times.
