Jhunka
Jhunka/Zunka/Pithla is a simple dish made with very few ingredients and tastes very good. After a long day or after a long travel, I always feel like eating something comforting and soothing to relax those tired muscles and to feel like myself again. For our family that dish is always jhunka,rice and bisi bisi tuppa (hot ghee). And with that if we have some pickle and papad then its swarga (heaven). I also prepare it whenever I am very tired or bored to cook or if we don’t have any vegetables at home, Jhunka is my go to dish. Let’s jump right into the recipe.
Jhunka
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp oil/ghee
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 tbsp green chillies
- 1 tsp curry leaves
- 1.5 cups onions chopped
- 1 cup chickpea flour/besan/kadle hittu
- 2.5 cups water
- salt as per taste
- 1 tbsp coriander leaves chopped
Instructions
- Heat oil in a pan.
- Add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, green chillies and curry leaves.
- Add in onion and cook them until they are mushy.
- Once it starts to splutter, add water and let the water boil for 5 minutes.
- Add in salt as per taste and add besan little by little by constantly stirring it.
- Cook it on a low flame until the raw smell from besan is gone.
- Garnish it with some coriander leaves and it's done.
Notes
- If you find it difficult to add besan when the water is boiling, you can also make a paste of water and besan and then add it to the tempering.
- You can also roast besan before making jhunka.
- Cook it on a low flame once water starts boiling otherwise jhunka will be raw.
- While stirring make sure there are no lumps.
- You can also adjust spice level according to your taste.
- Onions are the essence of this dish. Cook them really well and don’t skip it.