Ghugni is a flavorful street food from Eastern India made with dried white peas simmered in a spiced onion-tomato curry. Often cooked in mustard oil with whole spices and bhaja masala, it’s topped with onions, green chilies, coriander, and lemon. Served as a snack or light meal with bread, poori, or as Ghugni Chaat with tamarind water, sev, and puffed rice.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 10 minutes
  • Cook time: 25 minutes
  • Total time: 575 minutes
  • Yield: 4
  • Category: Side Dish, Snacks
  • Cuisine: Bengali

Ingredients

  • 1 cup dried white peas ((yellow peas) soaked in water overnight or for 9 hours - yields about 4 to 4.5 cups of soaked peas)
  • 3 cups water (- for soaking, or add as required)
  • 2 tablespoons mustard oil
  • 1 inch cinnamon
  • 2 cloves
  • 1 green cardamom
  • 1 dry kashmiri red chili (- seeds removed and broken)
  • ⅓ cup onions (- finely chopped, tightly packed)
  • 1 teaspoon ginger garlic paste (- tightly packed)
  • ½ cup tomatoes (- chopped)
  • 1 teaspoon kashmiri chilli powder
  • ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
  • 1 teaspoon cumin powder
  • 1 teaspoon coriander powder
  • ½ to ⅔ cup potatoes (- chopped in a 1.5 to 2 inches cubes or chunks)
  • ¼ teaspoon sugar
  • salt (add according to taste)
  • ¼ teaspoon bhaja masala (or ¼ teaspoon garam masala)
  • 2½ cups water (- for pressure cooking)
  • 1 to 2 tablespoons coriander leaves (- chopped)
  • 2 tablespoons tamarind (- soaked in ½ cup hot water - to make tamarind water)
  • 1 lemon (- medium to large)
  • ¼ cup coriander leaves (- chopped)
  • 2 to 3 teaspoons green chillies (- chopped)
  • ½ cup onions (- finely chopped)
  • 1 to 2 teaspoons bhaja masala (or chaat masala, add as required)

Method

Soaking White Peas

  1. Firstly rinse the dried white peas in water several times.
  2. Soak the rinsed white peas in water for 9 to 10 hours or overnight.
  3. They will plump up in size the next day. Drain the water. Rinse the dried peas a few times again with fresh water. Drain all the water and set the soaked peas aside.

Making Ghugni

  1. Place a 3 litre pressure cooker on the stovetop.
  2. Keep heat low or medium-low.
  3. When the oil becomes shot, add cinnamon, cardamom, tej patta, dry red chilli and cloves. At this point you can also add ½ teaspoon cumin seeds if you do not add cumin powder later.
  4. Allow the spices to crackle on low to medium-low heat ensuring they do not burn.
  5. Add in the finely chopped onions. Sauté until onions are softened or a light golden.
  6. Add ginger garlic paste and sauté for about 20 to 30 seconds on a low heat or until their raw aroma dissipates.
  7. Add the finely chopped tomatoes and sauté for about 2 minutes on medium-low to medium heat.
  8. Next add the ground spices - Kashmiri red chilli powder, turmeric powder, cumin powder, coriander powder.
  9. Mix thoroughly and sauté until the onion-tomato masala looks glossy with the tomatoes softened completely. You will also see a bit of oil separating at the sides.
  10. If the masala starts sticking onto the cooker, add a splash of water and mix. It is important that the ground spices cook well.
  11. Add the soaked and rinsed peas, chopped potatoes and season with sugar and add salt according to taste.
  12. Stir and mix to combine.
  13. Add water and mix again.
  14. Let this mixture simmer for 2 to 3 minutes on medium-low heat.
  15. Seal the cooker tightly with its lid and pressure cook for 15 minutes on medium heat.
  16. Once the pressure drops naturally in the cooker, then only open the lid.
  17. Check if the peas have softened well. Also check the consistency of the ghugni.
  18. If the peas are al dente or undercooked, pressure cook again for 5 minutes or more. Add water if needed when pressure cooking the second time.
  19. If the consistency is runny, keep the cooker on stovetop and simmer ghugni until the consistency thickens.
  20. The peas must be softened well and there must not be any bite to them.Remove the red chillies when simmering further as they can soften too much and disintegrate into the curry.
  21. The consistency of ghugni is medium—not too runny or thick. It has enough gravy to coat the peas, giving it a smooth, slightly saucy texture that's perfect for serving with poori, paratha, or as a chaat with puffed rice and other toppings.
  22. Lastly add bhaja masala or garam masala powder.
  23. Add chopped coriander leaves. Mix well and set aside. Check the taste and add more salt if needed.
  24. Keep in mind that the consistency will thicken as ghughni cools. So you will need to add some water when you reheat it.

Making Tamarind Water

  1. Rinse and then soak the dried tamarind in ½ cup hot water for 20 to 30 minutes.
  2. Squeeze the softened tamarind and extract its pulp in the water itself.
  3. Strain this tamarind water and set aside.

More Preparation

  1. Also chop finely onions, green chillies and coriander leaves. You could also consider adding tomatoes, cucumber and unripe green mango, when in season for the topping. Chop the lemon in quarters.

Assembling & Serving Ghugni Chaat

  1. Pour ghughni in serving bowls. Top with some chopped onions, green chillies, tamarind water, coriander leaves, and sev. Do not forget to sprinkle some bhaja masala or chaat masala on the ghughni.
  2. Drizzle some lemon juice. Mix and enjoy the Ghugni Chaat
  3. You can enjoy Ghugni on its own or serve with lightly toasted bread, luchi or poori.
  4. If you like some sweet taste, instead of tamarind water, use sweet and tangy Tamarind Chutney.
  5. You can also add some sliced or chopped coconut. Fry the chopped coconut in some oil and add to the ghughni.
  6. Optionally, drizzle a bit of mustard oil or ghee on the ghugni while serving.

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.