Skip to content
FriendsPantry

Indian

Ghugni (Jharkhand-style)

Vegetarian

A spicy, tangy black-chickpea curry topped with raw onion, green chilli and lemon. In Jharkhand it is the essential partner to dhuska, a deep-fried rice-and-lentil bread.

Ghugni (Jharkhand-style) is an Indian curry, ready in about 1 hour 5 minutes and made with kala chana (black chickpeas, dried), onion and garlic. It serves 4 and is rated easy to cook.

Start cooking

No licensed photograph of this dish yet.

Prep
15 min
Cook
50 min
Total
1 h 5 min
Serves
4
Level
Easy
Calories
330

Plus overnight soaking of the chickpeas.

Ingredients

4 servings

Equipment

Method

  1. Step 1

    Cook the soaked chickpeas in the water with 1 tsp of the salt until soft (about 20 minutes in a pressure cooker (opens in a new tab) or 50 in a pot). Keep the cooking liquid.

  2. Step 2

    Heat the mustard oil (opens in a new tab) until it shimmers, then add the cumin (opens in a new tab) and bay leaf (opens in a new tab), followed by the onions (opens in a new tab). Fry until golden brown.

    Onions frying golden in a pan
    How it looks · Photo: Magda Ehlers on Pexels

  3. Step 3

    Add the garlic (opens in a new tab), ginger, tomatoes (opens in a new tab), turmeric (opens in a new tab), chilli, coriander and remaining salt and cook until the masala is thick and the oil separates.

    • 8 min
    • medium heat
    A curry simmering in a pot
    How it looks · Photo: Bachir Mamud on Pexels

  4. Step 4

    Add the chickpeas with enough cooking liquid to make a thick gravy and simmer, mashing a few chickpeas, for 10 minutes. Stir in the garam masala (opens in a new tab).

    • 10 min
    • medium-low heat

  5. Step 5

    Serve topped with chopped onion (opens in a new tab), green chilli (opens in a new tab), coriander and a squeeze of lemon.

      A finished dish being plated
      How it looks · Photo: Willians Huerta on Pexels

    About this dish

    Origin
    Jharkhand, India · Commonly attributedGhugni is eaten across eastern India (Bihar, Bengal and Odisha too); in Bengal it is usually made with dried yellow peas. Dhuska-ghugni is a signature Jharkhand breakfast.More food from India
    Dish
    Breakfast · Snack · Curries · Street food
    Cooking method
    Pressure-cooked, Simmered
    Taste
    spicy (chilli heat), tangy, earthy, savoury
    Diet
    Vegan · No gluten ingredients · Dairy-free · No nut ingredients
    All labelsVegan · Plant-based · Vegetarian (lacto-ovo) · Eggetarian · Lacto-vegetarian · Ovo-vegetarian · Pescatarian · Flexitarian-friendly · Whole-food focused · No gluten ingredients · Dairy-free · Egg-free · No nut ingredients · No added sugar · Alcohol-free · Pork-free · Beef-free
    Worked out from the ingredients. How labels work
    Good for
    Street food · Budget-friendly · Make-ahead
    Cook more with
    Kala chana (black chickpeas, dried) · Onion · Garlic · Fresh ginger · Mustard oil · Cumin
    Techniques
    Simmering · Pressure cooking · Bhunao

    Allergens

    • Contains, can be adapted: Mustardfrom mustard oil

    Based on typical versions of these ingredients and not verified allergen-free. Brands differ and cross-contact happens, so always check labels. For severe allergies, follow your clinician’s advice.

    Nutrition

    330 kcal per serving

    Estimated

    1 serving ≈ 288 g · recipe makes 4

    Where the energy comes from

    • Protein 14%
    • Carbohydrate 49%
    • Fat 36%
    Nutrition per serving and per 100 g
    NutrientPer servingPer 100 g
    Energy330 kcal115 kcal
    Protein12.1 g4.2 g
    Carbohydrate42.5 g14.8 g
    Net carbohydrate33.7 g11.7 g
    Sugars9.5 g3.3 g
    Added sugars0 g0 g
    Fibre8.9 g3.1 g
    Fat13.9 g4.8 g
    Saturated fat1.6 g0.6 g
    Trans fat0 g0 g
    Cholesterol0 mg0 mg
    Sodium899 mg313 mg
    Salt equivalent2.2 g0.8 g
    Vitamins & minerals per serving
    Potassium
    659 mg
    Calcium
    94 mg
    Iron
    3.4 mg
    Magnesium
    67 mg
    Vitamin A (RAE)
    37 µg
    Vitamin C
    16 mg
    Vitamin D
    0 µg
    Vitamin B12
    0 µg
    Folate (DFE)
    299 µg

    How these numbers were made

    • Calculated from USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy) per-100 g values and the listed quantities.
    • Optional ingredients are not included: red onion, green chilli, lemon juice, coriander leaves.
    • Kala chana (black chickpeas, dried): Mature raw chickpeas / bengal gram (FDC 173756) used as a stand-in for small dark desi chickpeas.
    • Garam masala: Curry powder (FDC 170924) used as a stand-in; both are ground blends of similar dried spices used in teaspoon amounts.
    • “—” means the value isn’t known for enough of the ingredients; it is never zero by default.
    • Values are estimates for guidance, not for medical dosing. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. fdc.nal.usda.gov.

    Good to know

    Tips

    • A pinch of roasted cumin and chaat masala on top makes it taste like the street-stall version.

    Common mistakes

    • Not cooking the masala until the oil separates — ghugni tastes raw if the tomatoes are rushed.

    Serve with

    • Serve with dhuska, puris or as a snack on its own with chopped onion and lemon.

    Storage

    • Keeps 3 days refrigerated.

    Reheating

    • Add water and reheat until bubbling.

    Original editorial recipe · FriendsPantry editorial · Not yet independently reviewed · Added · Updated

    Recipe DNA

    How this dish is built

    Grouped by each ingredient’s role in the dish. Each band’s width is its share of the dish by weight. Choose a component to see what it does.

    What the dish is built around

    Main ingredient

    Used in steps 1, 3

    Masalas in this recipe

    Make the masala first, then come back to finish the dish.

    Reviews & corrections

    Reviews come from signed-in cooks and appear after a moderator checks them. We never show made-up ratings.

    You might also like