Let's assemble all the ingredients required to prepare besan gatte.

In a bowl combine besan and all the spices one by one.

Add in salt...

Add chopped cilantro leaves...

Beaten curd...

And mix it well.

Mix till it forms a dough. If needed add some oil and form a soft dough. If curd is thick then add 1-2 tablespoon of water to knead the dough. Likewise if curd is liquidy then add slowly to the besan mixture or else it will become runny and difficult to shape.

Grease your hands, take some mixture...

And roll it in between your hands and give them a cylindrical shape.

All shaped besan gatte. Do not dispose of the bowl in which you kneaded the besan dough.

In a pan boil some water.

Add gatte to the boiling water. When added to hot water these gatte will sink to the bottom.

Boil it for 6-7 minutes and they will float right up.

Using a slotted spoon remove gatte from hot water and set it aside on a clean plate.

Why waste the boiled water. Add it to the bowl in which we kneaded the besan dough.

Using a spoon, remove all the sticky stuff from the bowl and it will get cooked in hot water. We will prepare gravy with this water.

When gatte has cooled down, cut them into 1/4 - 1/2” pieces.

If you choose to fry gatte, then heat oil in a kadhai, add gatte and fry till golden brown in color. I choose to toast them in my appe pan using just few drops of oil.

Cook until golden brown in color. Set it aside.

Assemble: all the ingredients to make a gravy.

Appe pan toasted gatte are ready.

In a kadhai heat oil, add cumin seeds. When they start to sputter add ginger paste and saute for a minute. Add boiled lauki paste, tomato puree and mix. Add curd and all the spices one by one.

If you choose to make a gravy with onion and garlic then skip the top two GRAVY ingredients and replace it with the last three ingredients. Rest of the recipe remains the same.

Once oil starts to separate from the masala, add in boiled water (in which gatte were boiled), kastoori methi and bring it to a boil.

Adjust seasoning and drop in the cooked gatte. Boil it for 2-3 minutes.

Cover and let these dumplings soak in all the flavor.

Besan gatte cury is ready..

Just before serving give it a tempering/tadka.

Heat ghee/oil in a pan, add hing and cumin seeds. As cumin seeds starts to sputter add red chili powder, mix and drizzle on top of Gatta curry.

Garnish it with chopped cilantro leaves and onions. Serve hot with warm rotis or steamed rice.