West Indian
Gathiya (Fried Besan Farsan)
Gathiya (Fried Besan Farsan) is West Indian home cooking, eaten at breakfast, lunch, and dinner. On the plate it is the condiment. Below is what usually sits beside it, what it does and does not contain, and what else to cook once you have made it.
Ingredients
- 2 cups besan
- 1/2 tsp ajwain
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 2 tbsp neutral oil
- 3 cups oil for deep frying
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 tsp salt
How to cook it
- Mix the besan with the ajwain, baking soda, salt, and 2 tablespoons of oil, rubbing together until it resembles coarse crumbs.
- Gradually add water and knead into a soft, pliable dough.
- Heat the oil for deep frying in a kadhai over medium heat.
- Take small portions of the dough and press through a gathiya mold, or roll into thin ropes by hand, directly into the hot oil.
- Fry on medium heat, turning occasionally, until light golden and crisp, about 4 to 5 minutes.
- Drain on paper towels and let cool completely before storing, gathiya crisps up further as it cools.
- Serve as a farsan course with the thali, or alongside a cup of chai.
Serve it with
A West Indian dinner is a plate rather than a single dish. These are the courses that normally sit beside Gathiya (Fried Besan Farsan), read from the same composition Dinejot builds a real meal from.
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The dish at the centre
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The cooked vegetable
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What it is eaten with
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Something cool and fresh
Safe at your table
Dinejot tracks ten allergens and tags every one of them by hand. Gathiya (Fried Besan Farsan) carries none of them. That is a checked answer rather than an ingredient list nobody read.
| Allergen | In this dish | Cook this instead |
|---|---|---|
| Peanuts | No | |
| Tree nuts | No | |
| Dairy | No | |
| Gluten | No | |
| Shellfish | No | |
| Eggs | No | |
| Soy | No | |
| Fish | No | |
| Sesame | No | |
| Coconut | No |
These tags are set by a person rather than inferred from an ingredient list, and they describe the recipe as written here. Read the labels on whatever you actually buy.
What it brings to the plate
Bands, not numbers. Dinejot does not weigh anybody's food, so it says light, moderate or hearty and stops there. This dish was read and set by hand.
- Calorie band
- Moderate
- Protein
- Low
- Food groups it covers
- Pulses
- How this was set
- Hand audited
When to cook it
Gathiya (Fried Besan Farsan) takes about 30 minutes from a cold stove to the table, and the cooking itself is a fair bit of work. It is eaten at breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Nothing in the calendar rules it out, so it is a year round dish.
Watch someone make it
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More to cook
Cooked from the same things
Other dishes built on besan.
From the same kitchens
More cooking from West India.
Does the same job on the plate
Swap any of these in when you want a meal the same shape.
Cook this with your whole family
Dinejot plans breakfast, lunch and dinner as whole plates, built around the cooking you call home and filtered for the allergies at your table.
Meal suggestions support your goals. They are not medical advice. Please ask your doctor about your family's health needs.