Gatte ki Kadhi

One of my fav preparations for my onion and garlic free days. I remember eating it first time at one of my Marwari friend's place. I liked it so much I ended up befriending her Mom to get the recipe. Since I've started cooking, it has been one of my staples. Gatte ki Kadhi is typically a Rajasthani dish and it has many variations of preparing. The 'Gatte' can be flavored with different spices, and the gravy can be prepared many ways. Here I am making the plain Gatte with the simple yogurt base gravy that my friend's Mom made that time.

Making Gatte
1 cup Besan(Chickpeas flour)
1tbsp Canola Oil
1/4th cup water, approximately
1tsp Turmeric powder
Pinch of Hing
Pinch of Baking Soda
Chilli Powder to taste
Salt to taste
Mix the dry ingredients and sieve to make sure there are no lumps. Add in oil and water to make a stiff dough. Brush oil all over the dough and let it rest for an hour. 

After resting time, shape the dough into cylinders by rolling them. Even though it is a stiff dough, it is a little bit sticky. So oiling both the working surface and palms will make it easier to work with.

Boil water in a flat saucepan and drop those Gatte rolls. Cook them till it starts to float on the top, which takes about 5 minutes. Drain them out of the water and cut them into smaller pieces.

For Making the Gravy we'll need
1tbsp Canola Oil
1/2 tsp Nigella seeds 
Pinch of Hing
3 or 4 Tomatoes chopped
1tbsp Ginger crushed
1/2tsp Turmeric Powder
1/2tsp Chilli Powder
1/2tsp Dhania crushed
1/2tsp Jeera crushed
1tsp Roasted Besan
1/2 cup Yogurt 
1tsp Kasoori methi
Pinch of Roasted Methi powder
1tsp Sugar
Salt to taste
Heat a little oil in the pan and stir-fry the Gattes for a few minutes then keep aside.
Grind the Yogurt, Ginger, Green chilli, Roasted Besan, Sugar and salt together with about 1 cup of water and set aside. 
Again heat oil and add kalonji to it. Wait until the seeds stop crackling then add the chopped tomatoes. Cook the tomatoes covered for about 5 minutes. Then add Jeera, Dania, turmeric, Chilli and Hing. Cover it and cook till the oil separates, stirring in between.

Add about 1 cup of warm water let it come to boil. Then add the Gattes and the yogurt mixture. Stir it till the gravy comes to a boil. Simmer it for 5 more minutes then add the kasoori methi. Finally switch off the heat and sprinkle roasted methi powder and mix well.
Serve hot with Plain rice, Paratha or Naan.