Recently, the state banquet by President Droupadi Murmu in honour of the Vietnam President, Tô Lâm, featured many North Indian dishes, which I had the honour to curate. For me, this wasn’t simply about cooking for a prestigious occasion, it was also about carrying my roots, and the stories that shaped my journey.
The specially curated menu had both special Punjabi and Haryanvi flavours. Punjabi cuisine is known for its bold flavours, aromatic spices, and traditional cooking methods. In contrast, Haryanvi cuisine embodies rustic simplicity, with wholesome ingredients and balanced seasoning.
Among the dishes I created with my team, there was one recipe that was especially close to my heart — ‘bagocha’, one of Punjab’s forgotten, fading recipes. My mother would make bagocha on days when there weren’t many vegetables at home, or when she simply wanted to create something simple and nourishing. I still remember the taste and the aromas — wadis fried in ghee with ginger, garlic and green chillies, and then cooked with rice and water into a comforting dish. We called it ‘tariwale wadi chawal’ — nothing extravagant but it had taste and comfort.
Bagocha is a traditional recipe which is slowly disappearing from Punjab’s kitchens. So, when the opportunity came to curate a menu for the state banquet, we reimagined bagocha while preserving its soul. Boiled rice was delicately shaped into a flower. A refined vegetable broth carried notes of ginger, garlic, green chillies, whole spices, and black pepper.
In place of the traditional dry wadi, we created fresh urad dal dumplings, fried gently.
Serving bagocha was never about presenting a recipe, but about carrying my childhood and the lost culinary stories of Punjab into a room where nations gathered.
— The writer is a chef and entrepreneur
Bagocha Soup
For stock
Ingredients Oil 25 g Onions (sliced) 50 g Coriander roots 20 g Ginger (crushed) 25 g Garlic (crushed) 10 g Green chilli (crushed)10 g Cloves 4 Cinnamon stick 4 g Fresh turmeric (kachhi haldi) 20 g Vegetables (carrot, green & yellow zucchini, broccoli) 500 g Water 2 L Aromatic powder 6 g Method: Heat oil in a stock pot, add cloves, cinnamon, onion, coriander roots, fresh turmeric, crushed ginger, crushed garlic, and crushed green chilli. Then add vegetables and sauté for 5-7 minutes. Add water and aromatic powder and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for approximately 3 hours, or until the liquid reduces to half. Strain the stock and keep aside for service. Mangodi wadi
Ingredients Urad dal (soaked for 30 minutes) 100 g Black pepper (crushed) 2 g Cumin 2 g Green chilli (chopped) 5 g Ginger (chopped) 5 g Salt to taste Oil for frying Method: Coarsely grind urad dal. Add black pepper, cumin, chopped green chilli, chopped ginger, and salt. Mix well and shape into small wadis. Deep-fry until golden brown and crisp. Drain excess oil and cut each wadi into half. For Barley
Ingredients Barley 100 g Salt to taste Turmeric powder as required Method: Soak the barley overnight in water. Drain and transfer to a pot. Add fresh water, turmeric powder, and salt. Boil until the barley is tender. Drain and keep aside. Use 20 g boiled barley per portion.
For Rice dumpling
Ingredients
Boiled rice 100 g
Rice flour 10 g
Onion-tomato masala 20 g
Veg aromatic powder 2 g
Green chilli (chopped) 2 g
Ginger (chopped) 2 g
Garlic (chopped) 2 g
Kashmiri chilli powder 1 g
Turmeric powder 0.5 g
Cumin powder 1 g
Garam masala powder 0.8 g
Butter 4 g
Hot water 20 ml
Salt to taste
Oil as required
Method: Heat a little oil in a pan and sauté ginger, garlic, and green chilli. Add boiled rice, mix well. Add rice flour, onion-tomato masala, Kashmiri chilli powder, turmeric powder, veg aromat powder, garam masala powder, cumin powder, and salt. Add hot water and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add butter and mix well. Lightly mash the mixture to achieve binding but retain some texture. Fill flower-shaped silicone moulds and press firmly. Steam for 10-15 minutes. Demould and keep warm.
Final Assembly & Plating
Ingredients (Per Portion)
Stock 200 ml
Boiled barley 20 g
Carrot roundels 20 g
Green zucchini (sliced) 20 g
Yellow zucchini (sliced) 20 g
Broccoli florets 20 g
Button mushroom (diced) 20 g
Butter 10 g
Long pepper powder 1 g
Microgreens 10 g
Black pepper powder for garnish
Method: Heat butter in a pan and sauté all vegetables until lightly cooked. Arrange the sautéed vegetables in a serving bowl. Place one flower-shaped rice dumpling in the centre. Pour stock into the bowl. Add boiled barley around the dumpling. Sprinkle long pepper powder. Arrange 6 pieces of halved mangodi wadi around the dumpling. Garnish with microgreens. Finish with black pepper powder and serve hot.
