Week 7: Ghasshi

As I haven't used this word much since the first #ThoyStories I have to use it to describe this dish - it is a quintessential aamchi dish. And you can't get more quintessential than the sprouted green gram (mooga) ghasshi! This dish is etched deeply in my memory as my mother and grandmother would often prepare it (and it was delicious!) when performing Shradha (which is the ritual that one performs to pay homage to one's ancestors) particularly for my grandparents who are now no more. As I understand it, this is a customary dish that is prepared as it was the favourite of the departed.

The massol/gravy for the ghasshi can be adapted to any dish.

Unless I completely missed this and need a new pair of glasses (which could be the case!), I was a bit surprised not to find a mooga ghasshi recipe in the Rassachandrika. It is mentioned in the Festivals/Rituals section but there is no recipe for it that I could see. There are recipes for other ghasshis including a raw green mango one

So this one was done under the guidance of my mother-in-law who gave me a bit of a head start on this by sprouting the beans for me (I would have otherwise just bought sprouted ones!) and my amazing wife Anushree (who I have to give so much credit to for encouraging and cajoling me to do this blog in the first place and for all the camerawork, blog editing and general behind the scenes work - how she manages to find time to do this whilst being an awesome mother to our 4 month old boy is just phenomenal and admirable).

The mixer grinder is key to this recipe - I am not sure which aamchi recipe (other than Thoy) you don't need the grinder for! I was in fact discussing this very point with my mother-in-law and Anushree and saying that whilst aamchi recipes are so simple, this apparatus is just so key to most recipes! But don't let that put you off making these as you will just be missing out!

Ingredients

1 cup of green gram (either sprouted already or you would need to sprout them overnight)

2 cups hot water

1 tsp of haldi

Massol

2 tsps coriander seeds

1/2 a lemon size piece of tamarind

1 cup of coconut or desiccated coconut

2/3 dried red chillies or 1 dried chilli and 1 tsp chilli powder

1 tsp salt

1 tsp coconut oil

Phanna/Tempering

1 tsp of mustard seeds

1 tsp of asofetida/heeng

5/6 curry leaves

1 tsp coconut oil

Method

1. Cook the sprouted green gram in a pressure cooker with the water for about 3-4 whistles.

2. In a separate pan, heat the coconut oil and add the coriander seeds until lightly brown. Turn the gas off and add the chillies and tamarind.

3. Put hot water on the desiccated coconut (if not using fresh coconut) to reconstitute it. Grind the coconut into a fine paste. Add the coriander seeds, chillis and tamarind (after cooling for a few minutes) and grind further until very smooth.

4. The sprouted green gram should be cooked by now. Add the massol to this and stir.

5. In the same pan you made the massol, you can make the phanna by adding coconut oil and the phanna ingredients. Roast for just a few minutes and ensure it doesn't burn.

6. Add the phanna to the pressure cooker. Mix well.

This is again perfect comfort food and goes well with rice. Put it on a banana leaf with all the other dishes that are made for the rituals, you won't get a more wholesome feast!