Gatte ki Tehri (Rajasthani Pulao with Chickpea Dumplings)

This was part of a dinner of desperation. We ran out of onions and I couldn't make the dinner I'd been planning. We were out of a lot of stuff since I hadn't been grocery shopping in over a week. So I had to find something I could quickly put together with the ingredients I had on hand. I found a simple onion-less tomato curry and picked this biryani to go with it as it seemed like it would provide a little protein a well as act as a substrate. And, even better, I had made a batch of gatte (chickpea flour dumplings) a few months ago and frozen half of them, so I could skip that part of the recipe and just go straight to making the pulao and add my thawed dumplings at the end!

For me, this isn't one of those knock-your-socks-off amazing curries, but it is dead simple to put together if you have the dumplings on hand already and it's tasty enough, especially if you have some other curries and/or a raita to complement it. Overall, I was really pleased with this as one of those something-from-nothing sort of meals.

Gatte ki Tehri topped with Sorshe Tamatar

Gatte ki Tehri

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

Dumplings

• 2 c. chickpea flour
• 2 tsp. coriander seeds, ground
• 1 tsp cumin seeds, ground
• 1 tsp. ground cayenne
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1/2 tsp Rajasthani garam masala
• ~1/4 c. warm water
• ~1 Tbsp. canola (or other neutral) oil

Pulao

• 1 c. long-grain brown rice
• 3 c. water
• 2 Tbsp. ghee
• 1 Tbsp. cumin seeds; 2 tsp. whole, 1 tsp. ground
• 1/2 tsp ground asafetida
• 1 tsp. ground cayenne¹
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/2 tsp. ground turmeric
• 1/2 tsp. Rajathani garam masala
• 1/2 c. boiling water
• 1/4 c. chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

Dumplings

1. Combine chickpea flour, coriander, cumin, cayenne, salt, and garam masala.
2. Drizzle with water and bring together into a ball (preferably with your hand).
3. If it won't come together yet, add an extra Tbsp. or two or warm water. Dough may be quite sticky.
4. Remove as much dough as possible from your fingers and wash your hands.
5. Add oil and knead until smooth.
6. Shape dough into a 30cm (12") long log ~4cm (1.5") in diameter.
7. Cut the log crosswise into four pieces.
8. Bring a pot of water to a boil over medium-high heat.
9. Add the dough pieces to the boiling water and reduce heat to medium.
10. Simmer, uncovered, turning occasionally for 45 minutes.
11. Remove dough pieces from water with a slotted spoon and submerge in cold water for a few seconds.
12. Scrape off the pale outer skin with a butter knife or the edge of a spoon. The dough should be darker and firmer underneath. Discard the pale bits of dough you've trimmed off.
13. Slice each dough piece in half lengthwise.
14. Cut each piece crosswise into 5-10mm thick² nuggets.
15. Set half the nuggets/dumplings aside for this dish. Place the other half in a freezer bag and freeze for future use.

Pulao

1. Rinse the rice and set aside.
2. Heat ghee over medium-high heat.
3. Add cumin seeds and sizzle for 10-15 seconds.
4. Add rice, asafetida, cumin, cayenne, salt, turmeric, and garam masala.
5. Stir in water and bring to a boil.
6. Cook, without stirring, until water has evaporated and craters are starting to appear in the surface of the rice (~20 minutes).
7. Stir in dumplings and boiling water, being sure to mix the rice well.
8. Cover and reduce heat to low.
9. Cook, covered, without stirring, for 10 minutes.
10. Remove from heat and allow to sit, covered and undisturbed, for a further 10 minutes.
11. Remove lid, fluff rice, sprinkle with cilantro, and serve.

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Variations

Vegan

Ingredients

Dumplings

• 2 c. chickpea flour
• 2 tsp. coriander seeds, ground
• 1 tsp cumin seeds, ground
• 1 tsp. ground cayenne
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1/2 tsp Rajasthani garam masala
• ~1/4 c. warm water
• ~1 Tbsp. canola (or other neutral) oil

Pulao

• 1 c. long-grain brown rice
• 3 c. water
• 2 Tbsp. coconut oil
• 1 Tbsp. cumin seeds; 2 tsp. whole, 1 tsp. ground
• 1/2 tsp ground asafetida
• 1 tsp. ground cayenne
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/2 tsp. ground turmeric
• 1/2 tsp. Rajathani garam masala
• 1/2 c. boiling water
• 1/4 c. chopped fresh cilantro

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¹ For a less spicy option, substitute an equal amount of ground Kashmiri chilies. ^Back
2 Iyer says to slice them quite thick. I've found I prefer smaller, thinner dumplings. ^Back