As soon as winters arrive, Himachal is the coldest place to be. And, in this cold weather, it is Galgal/Dudunj ka Khatta or Galgal ka Murabba, the famous Himachali daytime snack, that comes to the rescue. The Himachali people are obsessed with this food and always look forward to winter as the time when they can sit under the sun and enjoy this Pahadi snack.

GalGal/Dudunj ka khatta

Galgal is a fruit from the family of lemons and oranges and is filled with a great amount of vitamin C. So it is a citrous fruit, which people also use to make pickle. The other names for Galgal are Khatta and Kimb. According to Google, Citron is the English word for the same. Though in the different parts of Himachal, the recipe may also skip Galgal and have ‘Dudunj’ instead, which is another member of the same family.

In winters, you may see people, especially, women in the Himachali villages getting together and making this awesome snack in the day time, under the warmth of the sun. This wonderful snack, in fact, is a great excuse for ladies to get together and enjoy the sunny day. Since Galgal is a vitamin C rich fruit, Galgal/Dudunj ka Khatta also helps to maintain immunity, and most of Himachlies claim that it is really good for people suffering from cold.

The Recipe

First, take 100 grams of coriander leaves and some spinach leaves and wash them properly. Take two-three green chillies (or more than that. Having more chillies will enhance the taste and also the amount of vitamin C, which is good for recovery from cold), salt and garam masala, according to your taste. Grind the coriander leaves, spinach, green chillies, salt and garam masala altogether (you can do this using a mixer grinder or using the desi style, i.e., sil batta).

Add two-three spoons of sugar or some jaggery (most preferable) in the mixture and grind it for a bit (You don’t want to mix it all, the sugar or jaggery must be visible). Since the snack will be hot (due to the chillies) and sour (due to Galgal), sugar or the jaggery will balance the taste. Here you will experience the fragrance of fresh coriander which is enough to ignite the appetite in you.

Now, take two Galgal (You can go for Dudunj, too, depending on the availability) and peel off their rind (It will take a bit of effort, but is worth it). Now spread the coriander mixture in an open bowl and cut the Galgal into small pieces. Mix all of the elements together, and the snack is ready!

A tip for next level taste

Though charcoal is not easily available these days, if available, the last thing you can do to enhance the taste of this snack is that you can smoke it up with charcoal. You need to take a burning piece of charcoal into a small bowl and spill a few drops of mustard oil on it. Place it in between the ‘Galgal ka Khatta’ and cover the bowl with a plate. After two-three minutes, you will get that smoky flavour to snack.

So this was the recipe of ‘Galgal/Dudunj ka Khatta‘, which is a delicious snack to have in winters. Most of the people are not into tangy flavoured snacks, but you will definitely like this mouth-watering dish from Himachal.