Easy Recipe For This Must-Have Street Food Of North India

If you have grown up in or visited any major city of North India, there’s no way you could have missed your local matar kulcha stand. Matar kulcha is a simple street food that is usually bursting with flavours- it’s high on spices and tangy notes.  For years, I thought the matar in matar kulcha was your basic boiled chickpea. Turns out it’s a whole other bean known as white pea (or safed matar). White peas are packed with fiber, protein, B vitamins and Iron. And this dish happens to be the best way to make them.

The Matar in Matar Kulcha is a huge personal favourite, it happens to be one of the few north Indian dishes that is dairy free and is made with zero oil! Another reason I never thought of creating it at home was it felt like there are enough street joints that are doing such a perfect job. This was at least the thought until lockdown happened, and then I went on a mission to recreate the Haldiram’s matar kulcha. And here’s the hit version after many misses. It’s an extremely simple recipe, give it a go!

Ingredients:

1 cup white peas

1 Onion

2 Green Chillies

1 inch grated ginger

1 tbsp roasted cumin powder

1 tbsp dried mango powder or amchur

2 tbsp Tamarind Paste

1 tbsp red chilli powder

1 tbsp coriander powder

Instructions:

1. Soak the white peas overnight in water, and pressure cook them the next day till they’re soft and slightly mushy. Transfer them to a wok on low heat.
2. Add in all the spices (cumin,amchur,red chilli, coriander) and stir well.
3. Incorporate ½  cup of the matar water from the pressure cooke into the wok and mix well.
4. Mix in the tamarind paste while still stirring on low heat. Do a quick taste test to see how tangy you want the dish to be. Salt as per your taste now.
5. Transfer to serving bowls and garnish with raw chopped onions, green chillies and ginger. And you’re done!

Traditionally this dish is served with Kulcha, a white flour flatbread leavened with yeast. I ordered a packet of the gluten free ragi flour version of these kulchas from my local Whole Foods store.