Ragada Patties

Another popular Indian street food is the Ragada Patties. I love the different flavors and textures in this dish. This ragada is my favorite. I adapted this dish from Raghavan Iyer's book 660 Curries. I love this book and the extensive index of Indian recipes it  contains. The only thing I would say is to taste the dish as you make it, as Raghavanji does like his dishes a tad on the milder side. So when he adds things like butter and cream to his dishes, do go easy on it and adapt it to your taste.

The ragada should not be too thick as you want the gravy to kind of soak into the patty. Also do not make the patties too thick.

Makes 5 servings ( each serving has two patties )


Ingredients

For the patties

4 medium sized potatoes ( approximately 1 pound ), boiled, peeled and mashed
4 -5 slices of bread ( the recipe called for white bread, I had whole wheat bread and that worked out well too )
2 green chilies, finely chopped
2 tbsp cilantro, finely chopped
1/4 tsp cumin seeds / jeera seeds
1 tsp salt  ( I used sea salt )
2 tsp oil, for pan frying the patties

For the Ragada

1 1/2 cup uncooked safed vatana /  whole yellow peas, soaked overnight in water
2 tsp cooking oil
1/4 tsp cumin seeds
1 big red onion, finely chopped
3 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped
1 tbsp of white sugar
2 tsp coriander powder / dhaniya powder
1 tsp cumin powder / jeera powder
1- 1 1/2 tsp cayenne / lal mirchi powder ( depending on how hot you want it )
1/2 tsp turmeric powder / haldi
2 tbsp cilantro, finely chopped
1 1/4 cup water
salt, to taste

For serving

Tamarind chutney / imli chutney
Some finely chopped red onions
Some finely chopped cilantro leaves
Some thin sev ( very thin noodles made with bengal gram dal, available in Indian grocery stores )


Method

For the patties

• In a mixing bowl combine the mashed potatoes, cumin seeds, salt, green chilies and cilantro.
• Soak the bread slices in a bowl of room temperature water and then press the slices to squeeze out as much of the water as possible. Crumble this moist bread over the potato mixture. Repeat with the remaining slices. The bread helps bind the potato together and prevents it from disintegrating during cooking.
• Mix the bread into the potato mixture and knead it together to make a slightly sticky dough. Divide this dough into 10 balls. Using the palms of your hand pat down these balls slightly to form  2 1/2 - 3 inch disc.
• In a heated non-stick pan, add the oil and toast the patties till they get light golden in color on both sides. Remove and set aside.

For the Ragada

• In a pressure cooker cook the vatana.
• In a large saucepan heat the oil and when hot add the cumin seeds to it. When they start to sizzle and turn brown ( about 5 -7 seconds ) add the garlic and onions. Saute till onions begin to brown.
• Next add the turmeric powder, cayenne, coriander powder, cumin powder and sugar and stir for about 5-10 seconds. This step brings out the aroma in all the spices, perfuming the onions and the oil with it.
• Immediately add the vatana and water. Stir it all together. Cover and cook on low heat for about 15-20 minutes. Add the cilantro just before you remove it from the heat.

Assembly

• Ladle some of the cooked ragada in a plate. Lay a patty on it and cover with some more sauce.
• Drizzle some tamarind sauce over it, about 1/2 tbsp - 1 tbsp.
• Sprinkle some chopped onions, cilantro and sev over it and serve while the ragada is still hot.