Tuesday, May 03, 2011

Golya Cha Sambhar / Maharashtrian cuisine

I wanted to learn how to make this gravy since long. My aaji makes it sometimes, and today, I saw the recipe on a cookery show and decided to finally try it.


Golya cha sambhar consists of small, round dumplings made from chick-pea flour, lots of spices and tamarind or lemon for the tang. We add some jaggery too, but some prefer it completely hot.

Ingredients and method to make the dumplings:
About 4 cups besan (I assume it's chickpea flour in English. A friend is convinced I call it gram flour instead :)
1 cup of finely chopped onions
Finely-chopped coriander (optional)
1 tablespoon oil
Generous amounts of red chilli powder, dhana-jeeru powder, salt. And a pinch of turmeric, asafoetida, sugar.

Adding very little water, make dough using the above ingredients. Then, make small round dumplings as shown in the photo. Keep aside.

Ingredients and method to make the gravy:
1 cup finely-chopped onion
2-3 tablespoon grated fresh or dry coconut (I used dried coconut)
Oil, pinch of mustard seeds, cumin, turmeric, asafoetida, raw green chillies for tadka
Goda masala (A typical maharashtrian garam masala, easily found in Pune / Mumbai)
Coarsely-crushed black pepper
A lemon-sized ball of tamarind, soaked for sometime. Use the extract.
1 tablespoon jaggery (Optional)
About 700 ml water (Adjust depending on the number of dumplings you have made)
Chickpea flour to adjust consistency of the gravy. Use as required.

Method:
Heat oil in a heavy-bottomed pan. Add the ingredients mentioned for the tadka, in that order, and then add chopped onions. Saute for a minute or two and add grated coconut. Saute for about five minutes, or till coconut turns slightly brown. Add goda masala, dhana-jeeru powder, red chilli powder. Add water and bring to boil.

Add the chickpea dumplings to the boiling water and cover the vessel with a lid. Put some water on the lid so that the dumplings are steamed faster. It will take about 15 minutes for the dumplings to cook. The dough should be tight, otherwise dumplings may break apart when added to water.

Add a tablespoon of chickpea flour to the gravy is required. (On my first attempt, the gravy became a little more dense than is required, but tasted just fine) When the dumplings get cooked, they float above. Now, add tamarind paste, jaggery, salt and black pepper. Adjust spices as required. Let the gravy boil over once and switch off the gas. Garnish with finely-chopped coriander.


1) Golya cha sambhar 2) Apple, grape and walnut salad in fresh cream 3) Mango pickle 4) Tomato aam-papad chutney

While eating, crush the dumplings with you fingers and eat with rice. Also goes well with chapati / bhakhri.

9 comments:

hitch writer said...

Alright this recipe sounds interesting ! Sunday its to be made by yours truly with assitant cook my biwi !

~G said...

Wow! you familiar with this eh? Somehow none of my maharashtrian colleagues knew and they thought I was making up a dish :P
चला ह्या रविवारी गोळ्याच्या सांबराचा बेत :)

sangeeta said...

Never heard about such a sambar ...In UP there is a mungodi curry which uses mung daal dumplings but that is very different in flavors than this ...

Unknown said...

I never heard of this dish but it sounds delicious.I will try it but boiling the dumplings seems tricky..hope they don't break apart.
Thanks for sharing,Gauri.

Anonymous said...

The sambhar looks delicious. Never heard of it though. Is it the same as pitli (hope I've said it correctly). If u have pitli recpe can you post it? I used to love it as a kid. My neighbour used to make it all the time and she used to regularly share it with us :)

Gauri Gharpure said...

@Homecooked. Yes, you may call this a variation of "pithla", everything else same but for the dumplings and the sweet addition of sugar / jaggery.

Pitha recipe:

Tadka of mustard, jeera, hing, turmeric in that order. Pieces of green chilli, then add water (abt 500 ml to 750 ml: adjust), followed by 3-4 pieces of kokum and let it boil. Once water is boiling, add 3-4 tablespoons of besan (gram flour) and mix well. The besan clumps will dissolve after a while. Adjust gram flour to get desired consistency. Put a lid and place some water on the lid to let the besan cook on steam. Should take 7-10 minutes. Once cooked (colour will change, it will smell different), add salt and lots of red chilli powder, lots of coriander.

Other classic variations include 1) putting onions in the tadka, and 2) drumsticks. Pithla is also known as Zunka in Maharashtra and served with bhakhri..

@Dhiren, G, Sangeeta and Sara: Thanks, hope you try it sometime. @Sara, dumplings won't break, just add enough oil and prepare the dough tight.

saroj said...

does anybody know the recipe for ukad amba pickle - with mustard

Gauri Gharpure said...

I just saw your query Saroj, will ask around and share here if I get the recipe.

Gauri Gharpure said...

I just saw your query Saroj, will ask around and share here if I get the recipe.