Tuesday, April 3, 2007

Khattu Mag


OK! It's celebration time in my kitchen! Does it happen to you? You are looking for a certain spice with it's 'potency' still in tact but it isn't within your reach for a long long time. Well yesterday one of the spices which is very dear to me and my cooking was gifted to me by a dear friend. What could it be? Well it is "hing" (asafoetida).
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Go to any desi store and you will find not one, but multiple brands of this spice, with huge number of bottles and cans systematically arranged one atop another. So why am I celebrating getting this simple and humble spice. Well, what I wanted was the "real' stuff, not the powder with wheat flour mixed in, and sure did I get it. I got about two pieces of 1" each, which will last a long time. The aroma of fresh hing is mind boggling. As soon as I open the dainty box that I put it in, the aroma wafts through the whole kitchen and I love it. For the tadka I just scrape a tiny bit into the oil and the aroma pervades my hands, for what feels like eternity. A little bit of OCD never harmed anyone!
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Anyway, just wanted to share this 'event' with all my blog buddies. Those who have used it will know what I'm talking about, those who have not, do try to get it if possible. If not, the ever faithful 'hing in a box' comes to the rescue ;-)
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'Khattu' in Gujarati means sour and Mag is whole moong. (Khattu is pronounced as 'kha' from 'khana' and 'too' and Mag is pronounced as 'mug' ) . The word 'khattu' itself makes my taste buds salivate. I do like 'khatta' dishes but nothing compared to my lil' sis, who is a total khatai fan. She can gobble up tons of 'imli' with me screaming in the background "don't eat it, you will get a sore throat", not that she listens ;-). A lot of natural souring agents are used in Indian dishes, curds, tamarind, tomatoes, lemon, kokam, anardana and amchur to name a few. The 'khatai' can elevate a regular dish to new levels which you never thought possible. Khattu Mag uses 'dahi' as the souring agent.
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Here is how I make it.
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1/2 cup whole moong
1.5 cup curds (dahi)
2 tbsp besan
1 tsp ginger & green chilli paste (as per your spice level)
1 tsp sugar/jaggery
1tbsp oil
Rai, jeera, hing, curry leaves, 4 cloves, 1' cinnamon piece, 1/4tsp methi seeds.
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Soak whole moong for about 2 to 3 hours, this reduces the cooking time. If pressed for time, can pressure cook it directly as well. Boil till soft with salt. Drain, but do not throw away the nutritious water, reserve it.
Mix curds, besan, haldi, ginger-chili paste with 1.5 cups water and reserved liquid from moong.
Heat oil, add rai, jeera, hing, cloves, cinnamon, methi, curry leaves. Add dahi mix and cook till besan loses it's raw taste. Add boiled moong and simmer for a few minutes. Adjust the consistency as per your liking.
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Enjoy this delicious goodness with rice or roti and some pickle on the side!
It's finger licking good!
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32 comments:

Viji said...

Nice one and something new for me. Viji

Sig said...

:) Richa, I am not a big fan of asafoetida, but reading your description made me long for the smell! Also, just reading about the khattu mag is making me drool... great post girl, I can just feel how much you love this dish!!! And a beautiful picture too!

TNL said...

I love this stuff....Khaata maag are always made in my home on Wednesdays...I love the real "hing" and not the one mixed with flour...the real one makes so much of a difference in the "Vaghar" especially in Gujju daals!

FH said...

Same here! I don't like that powder Hing they sell there.I have to order by Internet to get the real lumpy hing.I love that one.

Looks yummy.I love Moong dishes.I was reading yesterday about this dish for K in a Gujarati cookbook and almost made it too.Then I made something else, a Gujarati K,can you guess? ;D

Will post at Aroma today:)

Richa said...

hi viji,
yes there are so many varieties of moong dishes right?
thanks

Richa said...

sig,
earlier i never paid any attention to spices, but once i saw the real stuff i was hooked.
this one is pretty simple to make, do try it.
thanks for your generous words.

Richa said...

hi trupti,
you like khattu mag, then i'm sure you like it's cousin moong-bhath-osaman as well ;-)
tu real hing kyathi buy kare che?
thanks

Richa said...

hey asha,
isn't the real hing soooo aromatic? btw which site do you get it from, if i may ask?
i thot u may post kadhi, then saw ur khandwi.
thanks

Sharmi said...

Hi Richa, Nice new recipe yarr. looks good to make.

cheers
sharmi

musical said...

Khaatoo maag: yummy one Richa. Thank you so much for bringing out another classic :). I love it a lot.

Hugs,
musical.

Seema Bhat said...

Richa, you are so much right about not liking the store hing. I love the fresh ones too and recently asked my MIL to parcel another batch of fresh lump. Loved your recipe too. Good going girl.

Richa said...

thanks sharmi.

Richa said...

musical:
yes it is a gujrati classic, very simple & nutritious but tastes awesome as you know.
kal toast banaya?
thanks

Richa said...

hey seema, good to know you too are "under the influence of hing" ha!ha!
enjoy!

musical said...

I tried the toast y'day with Rye bread, delicious. Am gonna' be trying out variations this weekend :).

Hey, Khaatu Maag is one of my favorite weekend dishes. I have also adapted the recipe to matki, chavli (moth and raungi) and the taste equally good.

real hing thodi mujhe bhi chahiye yaar!

Richa said...

musical:
am happy you liked it.
chalo moth & raungi naal try karangi.
thuannu hing mail kara' te postman aroma smell karke daud jaooga ;-)
the real thing is something else......

Anonymous said...

Thats a new recipe for me..and needless to say they look delicious

-Sushma

Kajal said...

Hi Richa,
Good gujarati recipe. Nice picture.
Mane ek vatko apish?

Cheers!!!!!!!!!

Sia said...

i use hing in almost every dal recipes. like the lumpy one to powdered one. good for tummy. did u know its called as devil's dung? i read it in sra's blog.

Richa said...

thanks sushama!

definitely kajal! enjoy it.

wow that is a wierd name, sia.

thanks gals!

Anonymous said...

Very nice dish :)

TNL said...

Richa,

I get the real hing from India...and I get the big rocks...which I then powder..its so much better. Saalao wheat no flour mix kare ne Hing ni Majaa bagadi nakhe...Chor jeva.

trupti

USHA said...

Hi Richa,

This is new recipe for me,but seems to be very interesting.

Hey i liked very much your malai toast Ticha,,looks rich...

Latha said...

New recipe to me Richa! Sounds really good. I hear you about hing. My mil got me this tiny box of some special hing..and oh my .. the aroma is really potent! I use very veyr little of it and i can still smell it in the entire dish!

Nupur said...

I am such a devotee of the "khatta" flavor, and your khatta mag sounds amazing!
You really piqued my interest with the "real hing"...I need to get my hands on some of that! All I have ever used is the store-bought powder.

Unknown said...

Hing, i love it now as much as i hated it as a child...age has its effect u see :D
It mag-time on my blog too !!

Richa said...

trupti, ur comment really cracked me up, pan saachi vaat che!

thanks usha! do try it. glad you liked the malai toast as well.

doesn't it make a huge difference, latha? it's always a good idea to stck up. ha!ha!

do try the real hing nupur, you will never want to use the box again.

it sure is Mag-time, nandita.
And yes, age 'does' change one's tastes ;-) I started looking beyond the humble potato only after a certain age, till then it was alu for brkfast, lunch & dinner. ha!ha!

Pravs said...

This will be a new way to make moong for me.Will try sometime. Looks simple to make.

Coffee said...

AAH!!!!!! The ever favourite.... khatta mug!!!!!!!!!!

Powdered ones are mixed with flour???!!!!!!! Thats news to me.... thanks for the heads up there!! :)

Richa said...

thanks pravs, glad you liked it.

hey coffee,
the real spice is not that easy to get.
thanks

Prema Sundar said...

Nice recipe Richa. My friend used to make a recipe with whole moong and for a long time I want to make something with whole moong. But I do not know the name of my friend's recipe and as I do not know any other ecipe with whole moong I have not tried anything. But now I got a recipe from and sounds good to me. thanks for sharing.

Mythreyee said...

This is a good one. Let me try it today itself. I have soaked the moong and I think this is a must try recipe.

thanks for sharing this wonderful recipe.