Marwadi Mangodi Mattar, A Classic Rajasthani Dish

If you are married women you will surely relate to my post today. The house where you were born, the house where you spent your childhood, the house where you parents live, the lanes, the neighborhood all is very very close to your heart and no other place on this planet can be like that. Agree?? There is something so special about your childhood house isn't it? The feel of the veranda, the freshness in the rooms, and the smell in the kitchen everything makes it no less than a heaven. Now, you might have your own house, the one you decorated yourself but the happiness and bliss you feel when you go to your first house is something inexpressible.

I used to come back from my tuition class at about 7pm, the time when my maa would be in kitchen preparing dinner. When I close my eyes, I can visualize everything very clearly. My mom is clad in a printed chiffon sari ,is adding spices in the curry and after a quick mix she covers it and lets it cook. In the meantime, she is kneading the dough, I can hear her bangles making noise; suddenly she turns and say to me-beta tu aagayi, chal garam garam khana kha le. I am sure it is the story of every house, no one in this world can love you so selflessly.

Whenever I try my maa’s specialty dishes, I give her a call and take all the instructions. Instant mango pickle, green tomato chutney, chilli pickle, gond ke ladoos and baigan ka bharta are some of my mom’s recipes that I shared in my blog (do take a look). Just few days back when I was planning to make Marwadi Mangodi Mattar, I rang her and asked her about the authentic marwadi way of making this subji.

Those of you don't know, mangodi or badi is sun dried lentils dumplings. Mangodi is another classic example of Rajasthani or marwadi cuisine. The shortage of rains and water always made Rajasthanis think out of the box and thus they commenced using gram flour to make gatte; lentils to make mangodi and flour to make papad- and these final products were used in curries-Mastermind ideas. Totally brilliant-isn't it??? So the days when you are out of veggies think about this recipes- Papad ki subji or Gatte ki subji.

There are ofcourse many ways to prepare this subji, but I will go ahead and claim that this the authentic way of making it. All the households in Rajasthan make this subji in the pressure cooker and they add only peas and tomato in it-no potatoes, carrots, garlic or onions. The mongodi are broken into small pieces which is later roasted the in ghee(clarified butter) with hing(asafoetida) and jeera(cumin). Finally all the spices are added and subji is garnished with spoonful of lemon juice and chopped coriander leaves. There goes the recipe.

Ingredients:

Green peas - 2 cups

Mangodi - 1 cup

Tomatoes -2 (medium size)

Green chilli - 2

Ginger - 1 inch piece

Ghee – 4 tablespoons

Asafoetida – 1/4 teaspoon

Cumin seeds - ½ teaspoon

Turmeric powder - ½ teaspoon

Coriander powder - 1 teaspoon

Red chilli powder - ¼ teaspoon

Salt - as per taste

Lemon juice-1 teaspoon

Green coriander – 4 tablespoon (finely chopped)

Method:

Chop green chillies, tomatoes and ginger finely.

Break Mangodi into small pieces. You can do this in mortar and pestle.

Heat ghee in pressure cooker. When ghee is hot turn the flame to slow, add in cumin seeds, asafoetida and broken mangodi pieces. On a slow flame roast till cumin seeds become brown and release aroma.

Add in turmeric powder, salt, red chilli powder, coriander powder and green chillies. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of water and mix well.

Throw in peas and tomatoes. Mix and 3 cups of water. Cover the pressure cooker and increase the flame to medium.

Let it cook till pressure cooker releases 3 whistles.

Open the cooker and mash peas from the back of the spoon.

Mix in lemon juice and garnish with chopped coriander leaves.

Notes:

Ghee is the best option, but if you want you can use oil as well.

Make sure you don’t break mangodi into very small bits.

The consistency is semi liquid. Adjust water as per your preference.

I used mangodi that was made with yellow moong dal, you can use any type.

Serving suggestions:

This recipe serves 4-5 family members.

Goes well with parathas or rotis.

To make rajasthani thali,  serve it with bajre ki roti, marwadi lehsun ki chutney and marwadi Bharwa Bhindi.