Ragda Patties

This dish actually makes a complete meal and one that takes very little cooking, especially if you have planned ahead and soaked the peas a day before. You can use a filling of your choice for the patties like peas, French beans, paneer, corn etc. I also like to eat just the ragda topped with the onion and chutneys with pav instead of the patties. Preparation Time: 15 mins Cooking Time: 90 mins Makes 6 servings

Ingredients
For The Ragda Filling
1 cup safed vatana (dried white peas) (dried white peas) 2 boiled potatoes , cut into small pieces 1/4 tsp turmeric powder (haldi) (haldi) 1/2 tsp chilli powder 2 tsp ginger-green chilli paste 1/2 tsp garam masala 2 tsp grated jaggery (gur) (gur) 1 tbsp tamarind (imli) (imli) , soaked salt to taste For The Tempering (for The Ragda) 1/4 tsp mustard seeds ( rai / sarson) ( mustard seeds ( rai / sarson) / sarson) 6 curry leaves (kadi patta) (kadi patta) a pinch of asafoetida (hing) (hing) 2 tbsp oil

For The Patties

1 kg potatoes 2 tbsp cornflour salt to taste (for The Patties) 1 cup chopped mint leaves (phudina) leaves (phudina) 1/4 cup chopped coriander (dhania) (dhania) 12 ginger (adrak) (adrak)

1/2 tbsp lemon juice 1 tsp sugar salt to taste

Other Ingredients
Oil for deep-frying To Serve 1 recipe of green chutney 1/2 recipe of fresh garlic chutney 1/2 recipe of khajur imli ki chutney 1 cup sev or nylon 1 cup onions , chopped

Method For the ragda

Soak the dried peas overnight. 1. Drain, add approximately 3 to 4 cups of fresh water and pressure cook for 4 whistles or until the peas are soft. 2. Prepare the tempering by heating the oil, adding the mustard seeds, curry leaves and asafetida and stirring till the mustard seeds crackle. 3. Add in all the other ingredients for the ragda adding more water if required. Mix well mashing the peas slightly so that the gravy becomes thicker. 4. Simmer for 10 minutes and keep aside.

For the patties

1. Boil, peel and grate the potatoes. 2. Add the corn flour and salt and knead to a soft dough. 3. Divide into 12 equal portions and keep aside. 4. Roll out each portion into a 75 mm. (3") diameter circle. Place a portion of the ground filling mixture on each circle. 5. Bring together the edges in the center to seal the filling inside the potato. 6. Press lightly on top to make a patty.

7. Repeat to make the remaining 11 patties. 8. Shallow fry on a non-stick pan till the patties are golden brown and crisp.

How to proceed
1. For serving, place 2 patties on a plate and pour the ragda over. 2. Top with all the chutneys. Sprinkle the sev and onions on top. 3. Serve immediately.

Tips
1. For crisper patties, use old potatoes or a variety commonly called "chips" or "wafer potatoes". 2. You might need to add some more cornflour to the potatoes if they are not dry enough.