Kolkata Street Food - Chicken Ghugni
Ghugni is one of the most popular Bengali snacks. It’s a very popular dish from the eastern part of India. Bengalis are extremely fond of this hearty food. We serve it as snack or chaat or even as a meal. If you have visited Kolkata, you must have come across this dish even on roadside. It is sold by some local street food vendor. You can prepare Ghugni vegetarian or add ground meat to it. You can serve in different style. Sometimes in the form of chaat with green chutney and tamarind chutney or with pav (dinner rolls) in the form of quick breakfast. But my favorite way to enjoy Ghugni is with luchi, especially if it’s Chicken Ghugni.
Ingredient Notes:
Yellow Whole Peas (Holud Motor in Bengali) - We prepare Ghugni with the yellow whole peas. These are sold dried, which you need to soak overnight before you boil. Ground Chicken - Ground chicken makes the dish more filling. If you like chicken, you will sure enjoy this combination of chicken with peas. You can make a vegetarian version by not adding any chicken at all. Potatoes - Bengalies are extremely fond of potatoes, and we like to add it in all our comfort food. Onion - The pure vegetarian version doesn’t call for onion or garlic. But since this is Chicken Ghugni, I had to add onion. Tomato - For most beans or pea stew I like to add a lot of tomatoes and often use tomato can as it adds that rich color. BUT, for this particular dish, I always prefer using a small quantity of fresh tomato. It mainly to add some sweetness to the dish.
Spice Notes:
Bengali five spice (paanch phoron) - Panch phoron is a mix of 5 whole spices and is very easy to make at home. We add this spice mix always at the beginning of the cooking, in hot oil to release the aroma. Spice paste by mixing regular Indian spices with water - My Mom will always add spices with water before adding to the hot pan. This technique mixes the spices evenly to the rest of the ingredients. Here, we use cumin powder, coriander powder, turmeric, fennel powder and chili powder with little water. Bengali Gorom Moshla - The dish is ended with a little sprinkle of Bengali Gorom Moshla. Bengali Gorom Moshla is mellow and not spicy like the North Indian Garam Masala.
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Important Point on how to boil the yellow peas
These yellow peas are tricky! Just like most dried peas, you need to soak them overnight. The yellow peas are quite easily available in any Indian store. These appear white or pale white but when soaked, it puffs into a yellow shade. It’s very common in India to use a pressure cooker to boil peas or lentils, but with these peas in this particular dish, you want it to retain the shape. It’s tricky to use pressure cooker because these can turn mushy very easily. I prefer to use a heavy bottom pan with a tight lid, so I can keep an eye as it boils. It typically will take about 30 minutes to soften and yet retain the shape. It should be tender but still hold its shape. Perfect texture of Ghugni should be a mouthful and have a bite and not soupy or mushy. You definitely need the texture. You can serve Ghugni in various different ways. Turn it into a snack as chaat, or breakfast with bread, but my favorite is with luchi or with Koraishuti Kochuri for weekend lunch. It’s very comforting and perfect for cold days.
