Bengali Ghugni Chaat
A wholesome Indian recipe crafted for health-conscious eating: nutritious, delicious, and easy to make at home.
Yellow peas simmered with spices, then finished as chaat with onion, lemon and coriander — Kolkata comfort in a bowl.
Ghugni is a thick curry of dried yellow peas, eaten on Kolkata streets in a paper bowl with onion, lemon and a little sev. It is filling enough to be a light meal, and it is easy to make once the peas are soaked.
Ingredients
How to Make It
Cook soaked peas soft.
Make onion-tomato spice base; add peas and simmer.
Serve topped with onion, lemon and coriander.
Nutrition per serving
* Approximate values per serving
Health Benefits
Pea protein with chaat toppings beats fried street snacks. Keep sev optional.
Dried peas give you protein and fibre from a single ingredient, and the tangy topping means you need less salt and oil in the base.
Pro Tips
- →Soak overnight.
- →Slightly mash for body.
- →Tang is essential.
- →Soak the peas overnight and cook them until you can crush one easily between your fingers.
- →Mash a few peas in the pot to thicken the gravy without adding flour.
- →Add the lemon, onion and coriander just before serving so they stay fresh.
A calorie note
Most of the calories in this dish come from a few ingredients. For reference, per 100 g: Cooking oil: about 884 kcal (about 40 kcal per teaspoon); Chana dal or dried chickpeas: about 365 kcal. Measure these with a spoon or scale, because small changes here move the total more than anything else. Values are rounded from USDA FoodData Central and the Indian Food Composition Tables (IFCT 2017), as of 13 Oct 2026, and vary by variety and by table. General information, not medical advice.
Variations
- 1Add tamarind chutney.
- 2Use white peas.
- 3Stir in a few chunks of boiled potato for a heavier ghugni, or keep it plain and soupy for a lighter bowl.
Frequently Asked Questions
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