Nimona with rice
The winter dish of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, made when fresh peas are cheap: shelled peas ground coarse and fried in mustard oil until they smell roasted, then simmered with fried potatoes and badi in an onion, tomato, ginger and garlic masala. Eaten with steamed rice or rotis. Badi are the sun-dried lentil dumplings of the North; leave them out if you have none. You need a little over a kilo of peas in the pod.
- 1 hTime
- 47 minHands-on
- 4Portions
- 18 gprotein per portion
- 620kcal per portion
Ingredients for 4 portions
- 500 gGreen peas, fresh, shelled
- 3Potatoes, peeled, in 2 cm cubes
- 40 gBadi (wadi), broken into pieces (optional)
- 4 tbspMustard oil
- 1 tspCumin, seeds
- 1 mlHing (asafoetida)
- 1Bay leaf
- 2Onions, finely chopped
- 15 gGinger, roughly chopped
- 5 clovesGarlic, peeled
- 2Green chillies
- 2Tomatoes, puréed
- 3 mlTurmeric
- 1 tspRed chilli powder
- 2 tspCoriander powder
- to tasteSalt
- ≈ 600 mlWater, hot
- 3 mlGaram masala
- 2 tbspCoriander leaves, chopped
On the side
- 300 gRice
- ≈ 700 mlWater, for the rice
Method
- Grind the peas coarsely in the mixer without water, in a few short pulses: they should look like coarse crumbs, not a purée.
- Peel and cube the potatoes and finely chop the onions. Grind the ginger, garlic and green chillies to a paste with a splash of water and purée the tomatoes.
- Heat the mustard oil in a kadai until it just starts to smoke, then lower the heat. Fry the badi for 1–2 minutes until golden and lift them out, then fry the potatoes for about 5 minutes until golden in spots and lift them out.
- Fry the ground peas in the same oil on a medium flame, stirring, for 8–10 minutes, until they dry out, darken a shade and smell roasted. Lift them out.
- Add the cumin seeds, hing and bay leaf to the kadai, then the onions, and fry until golden, about 6 minutes. Stir in the ginger, garlic and chilli paste and fry for a minute.
- Add the tomato purée, turmeric, red chilli powder, coriander powder and salt and cook until the oil separates, about 5 minutes.
- Return the peas, potatoes and badi to the kadai and pour in the hot water. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer on a low flame for 15 minutes, until the potatoes are soft and the nimona is thick but still pourable.
- Meanwhile, wash the rice two or three times, put it in a pan with the water and bring to the boil.
- Cover, turn the flame to low and cook for 15 minutes, until the water is absorbed.
- Stir the garam masala and coriander leaves into the nimona and serve with the rice.
