Odisha Style Ghuguni Recipe

Odisha style Ghuguni is a very popular street food recipe in Odisha generally eaten as an accompaniment with idli, vada, puri, upma, or as ghuguni chat. The main ingredient of the Ghuguni is dried white peas. We can also eat ghuguni with roti, paratha or puri. In West Bengal, Ghuguni is locally called Ghugni, and is primarily eaten with muri or murmura, luchi or puri, or butter-toasted bread. Like chickpeas, or kabuli chana, which are widely used in North India, white peas, or ghuguni matar, are equally consumed in eastern Indian states like Odisha, West Bengal, and Bihar.

Dried white peas are called safed vatana in the western Indian states. A very simple curry of white peas called ragda is used as a filling in pani puri or golgappe in Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Goa.

Is Odisha style Ghuguni a healthy recipe for vegetarians?

White peas is the main ingredient Ghuguni or Ghugni recipe has plenty of amazing health benefits. Vegetarians, who are fitness enthusiasts, face major challenge to meet the daily protein requirement. Thus, they fall prey to commercially available protein supplements which are not organic and not very safe for our body. Let us see the health benefits of dried white peas :

• Protein- Rich and Zero Cholesterol : White peas or Ghuguni matar has approximately 10 gm of protein in 1/4th cup of white peas. As this is a plant based food so it has no cholesterol. Clearly, this is the best option for vegetarians to fulfill the protein requirement.
• Rich in Iron : 30 grams of White peas fulfill 7% of our daily iron requirement. Iron is very essential to increase the red blood cell count of our body and increase the hemoglobin levels. Deficiency of Iron leads to anemia, weakness and fatigue hence it is very important that we maintain good hemoglobin level in our body.
• Packed with B-Vitamins : White peas are rich in Vitamin B1(Thiamin) and Vitamin B3 (Niacin) which are extremely important for our body to function properly.
• Loaded with Zinc : Zinc is essential for our immune function, cell growth and cell division, enzyme reaction, protein synthesis and DNA synthesis. It is a very important micro nutrient required in our body but is rarely available in plant based food sources. White peas is rich in zinc. Zinc is a very important element required in our body to carry out the enzyme function properly.

White peas are nutrient dense legumes and it is highly recommended for the vegetarians to include Ghuguni or Ghugni in your diet.

Odisha style Ghuguni Recipe

A lip smacking white peas curry from the streets of Odisha generally eaten as an accompaniment with idli, vada, puri, upma, or as ghuguni chat. We can also eat ghuguni with roti, paratha or puri. In West Bengal, Ghuguni is locally called Ghugni, and is primarily eaten with muri or murmura, luchi or puri, or butter-toasted bread.

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Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 45 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 15 minutes mins

Course Main Course, Side Dish

Cuisine Bengali, Indian, Odisha

Servings 4 person

Ingredients

  

• 250 gm White Peas or safed vatana, washed and soaked in water for 10 to 12 hours
• 1 medium size Onion, roughly chopped
• 1 medium size Onion, roughly crushed in a mortar and pestle
• 1 tbsp Ginger Garlic paste
• 1 cup Diced Tomato
• 1 tsp Cumin Seeds
• 1 tsp Coriander Powder
• 1 tsp Red Chilly Powder optional
• ½ tsp Turmeric Powder
• 1 tsp Garam Masala Powder
• 1 tbsp Chopped Green Chillies
• Salt as per taste
• 50 ml Mustard Oil, recommended to use wood pressed or cold pressed oil
• 4 cups Water
• 1 tbsp Besan Mix it with 2 tbsp of water and make a slurry

Instructions

 

• Boil the soaked white peas or ghuguni matar with 4 cups of water in a pressure cooker. Keep it aside.
• Heat mustard oil in a heavy bottomed pan or kadai . Once the oil is hot, add cumin seeds and allow it to splutter
• Add the roughly chopped onion and fry till the onion becomes translucent.
• Now, add the roughly crushed onion and the ginger and garlic paste. Fry till the raw smell of these ingredients are gone.
• Add the diced tomato and salt as per taste. Give a good stir. Cover with a lid and cook on slow flame till tomatoes become soft and mushy.
• Open the lid and fry for 5 minutes more.
• When oil starts showing up, add red chilli powder, turmeric powder and garam masala powder. Fry the spices for 2 to 3 minutes more.
• Add the boiled white peas along with the water. Add the chopped green chilies. Stir well with the curry.
• Cover the curry with a lid and cook on medium flame for 20 minutes.
• Open the lid and check the consistency of the curry. Now, add besan slurry to the curry.
• Mix well and cook for 3 minutes on low flame.
• Add coriander powder and handful of chopped coriander leaves to the curry. Give a good stir and switch off the flame.
• Cover with a lid and allow it to rest for 5 minutes before serving. You can serve with upma and coconut chutney in breakfast.

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