Ghooghri is a very peculiar name for a food preparation because in Gujarati ghooghri means jingle bells, those small ball shaped bells we attach to beautify our jewelry and garments!! So why would a food preparation that is native to the remote regions in Kathiyawar be called so!! It was this intriguing name that made me try it when I laid my eyes on the menu at this local organic food festival I visited a couple of years ago. The menu read Ghooghri-Rotla, which was served with a dollop of white butter. The farmers who had brought their organic pearl millet explained the dish. Ghooghri is soaked and boiled pearl millet grains that are tempered and spiced to be had as morning meal before the families set out to work on farms. It does make sense to have such filling meal for the communities that work extremely hard 24×7. And this was humble, simple and nourishing food that keeps them full and energetic for a very long time.
The look of the dish also made sense why the dish was called so, once cooked the peal millet grains swell up to become tiny balls that resemble Ghooghri. Perhaps the reason the dish gets its name. The locals are not much into why the dish is called so hence, we just can keep guessing. Since I like to understand how a particular dish gets its name the quest makes me research or draw my own conclusions. Also with the gujarati foods the name reveals much of the recipe so once you know the meaning of the word, you more or less know what to expect from the dish.
The Ghooghri, I feel is a wonderful addition to our repertoire of everyday foods. We do have stir fried moong beans and moong dal to go along with Khakhra for breakfast. The Ghooghri has the potential to be just that. Or may be even better than that. The nutty flavours of boiled bajra is very similar to the ponk, the tender shorgrum millet that we absolutely adore.
The crucial part of this entire recipe is not to overcook the Bajra grains, do that only if you like mushy dish. Soak the Bajra for a good 4-5 hours or overnight and cook it in pressure cooker for 5-6 whistles. You might have to try it once to get it right, cause this is the time the grains I have took to get cooked. I also used the cooked bajra grains in salad replacing it with quinoa and tasted just yum.. the next on the menu is the bajra bhel, just as we have the ponk bhel.
Bajri ni Ghooghri
Ingredients
- 1 cup Bajra grains/pearl millet
- 2 teaspoons oil
- 2-3 teaspoons minced ginger, garlic, green chilies
- 1/2 teaspoon rai/ mustard seeds
- 1/4 teaspoon hing/ asafoetida
- 1/2 teaspoon haldi/turmeric powder
- 5-6 curry leaves
- Lemon juice to taste
- Sugar to taste (optional)
- Salt to taste
- Shopped coriander to garnish
Instructions
Wash and soak the Bajra overnight.
Pressure cook the soaked Bajra in one-knuckle deep water.
It takes around 5-6 whistles to cook the bajra. We are not looking for mushy texture here.
Once cooked drain and let it cool down bit.
Take two cups of cooked Bajra.
Place a kadai or a wok on medium flame, add the oil.
Once the oil has heated up, add the rai and allow it to splutter.
Add curry leaves, hing and teh mixture of minced ginger, garlic and chilli.
Cook for 30 seconds and add the cooked Bajra. Give ti a good mix.
Add haldi, salt, lemon juice, and sugar if using.
Mix well, cover and continue to cook for 7- 10 minutes. Sprinkle some water if needed.
The flavours will mix well. Turn of the flame.
Allow it to rest for a while.
Serve the Bajri ni Ghooghri garnished with coriander.
The Bajri ni Ghooghri can be served with flat bread of your choice.
I have served it with Bajri-Bataka na dhebra.
1 Comment
Rajni
February 5, 2021 at 11:33 amHi Sheetal! I made it today for lunch. So pretty it looks. Accompanied with chutta kadhi bhaat!! It’s a great substitute for moong. Thanks for sharing!