Ragda is an Indian spicy curry made using dried white peas. It is a component of many chaat dishes like pani puri, radga pattice, samosa chaat, or ragda puri. Here is how to make it (vegan).

About Ragda

Made with dried white peas (safed matar), Ragda is a flavorful, slightly tangy, and spicy gravy, an important component of many chaats (Indian street food) dishes.

This versatile white peas curry is filled in golgappa, topped on potato patties to make ragda pattice, topped over samosa for samosa chaat, and over puri to make masala puri chaat.

Matar Kulcha, which is soft kulcha (bread) served with ragda, is a very popular combination served on the streets of Delhi.

To make this one-pot ragda recipe, dried white peas are soaked overnight and then cooked with ginger until tender. The cooked peas are then mixed with spices and spicy chutneys like Green Chutney and Tamarind Chutney.

Some people add different ingredients like coriander powder, red chili powder, garam masala, roasted cumin powder, chaat masala, etc to their ragda recipe, but I like to keep it simple and let the flavor of peas shine.

Despite using very few ingredients, I can very confidently say that this is the best ragda recipe that you will ever taste.

You can also try my White Matar Chaat recipe which is very similar to this ragda recipe but still very different in taste and texture.

This recipe can be made in an instant pot or a traditional pressure cooker. I use my 3-liter pressure cooker or a 3-quart instant pot, but if you are scaling the recipe, use a bigger pressure cooker or instant pot. The time of pressure cooking will remain the same.

Here are some chaat recipes that you may like

• Samosa Chaat
• Papdi Chaat
• Aloo Tikki Chaat
• White Matar Chaat
• Bhel Puri

Ingredients

Dried White Peas – This dish traditionally uses dried white peas (white vatana, safed matar). You can also make it with dried green peas for a taste change.

Chutneys – To give ragda a spicy, tangy, and sweet flavor, you will need Green Chutney and sweet Tamarind Chutney. Both chutneys can be made ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator. You can also buy the chutneys to save some time.

Other – You will also need turmeric powder, fresh ginger, and oil.

To top the ragda before serving, you will need chopped cilantro, chopped red onions, and chopped green chilies.

How to Make Ragda Recipe

Soak The Peas

Rinse 1 cup of dried white peas and soak in 4-5 cups water for 5-6 hours or overnight. Drain the water and rinse the peas once again. You can now cook them in a traditional pressure cooker or instant pot.

Cook The Peas

Cook In Instant Pot

Add the soaked white peas to an instant pot along with

• 1 cup of water
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon grated ginger
• 1 teaspoon oil
• ⅛ teaspoon turmeric powder

and stir gently.

Close the lid and set the valve to the sealing position.

Press PRESSURE COOK and set the timer to 25 minutes on high pressure.

Once the timer goes off, let the pressure release naturally for 10 minutes. Release the remaining pressure manually and open the lid of the pot.

Mash the peas lightly using the back of the ladle. This step makes the curry creamy.

Stir in 1 teaspoon coriander mint green chutney and 2 tablespoon sweet tamarind chutney.

Garnish with fresh cilantro and chopped onions, and serve.

Cook In Traditional Stovetop Pressure Cooker

Add the soaked peas to a pressure cooker along with

• 2 cups of water
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon grated ginger
• 1 teaspoon oil
• ⅛ teaspoon turmeric powder

Pressure cook for 3-4 whistles on high heat. Remove the pressure cooker from heat and let the pressure release naturally.

Open the cooker’s lid and mash the peas lightly using the back of the ladle. This step makes the curry creamy.

Stir in 1 teaspoon coriander mint chutney and 2 tablespoon tamarind chutney.

Garnish with fresh cilantro (coriander leaves) and chopped onions and serve.

Pro Tips By Neha

Dried peas tend not to cook evenly. Check multiple peas for tenderness before adding the remaining ingredients to them.

If the ragda has not cooked evenly, pressure cook for another 4-5 minutes. The peas should be very slightly mushy when cooked perfectly.

Remember that it will not cook further once tamarind chutney is added to it how much ever you pressure cook it. That’s because of the sugar in the chutney.

Ragda tends to thicken as it cools down. Add some more water and heat it if it has thickened too much.

Most of the time, boiled potatoes are also needed while making chaat dishes. So you can boil them along with ragda to save time and resources. Keep a trivet over the ragda and place the potatoes over the trivet. Now cook them both together.

Frequently Asked Questions

Serving Suggestions

You can serve warm ragda topped with chopped onion, a drizzle of chutneys, and sev or top it over aloo tikki to make Ragda Pattice.

It can be filled inside the golgappa which can then be filled with spicy and tangy Pani Puri Pani or topped over masala puri.

Ragda kulcha or matar kulcha is a very popular combination and you will find many street carts selling it on the streets of Punjab and Delhi.

Instead of topping your Samosa while making Samosa Chaat with spicy Chole, you can top them with hot ragda.

Serve ragda curry with toasted buttered pav.

Storage Suggestions

Store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

You can freeze ragda in a freezer-safe airtight container for about 2 months. Thaw, reheat, and serve!

If the ragda has thickened, add some water and heat.

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