Chu is water and tagi is bread, so chutagi is water bread, which is a plain name for a dish that carries a long history. Traders crossing the high passes brought the idea of hand-shaped pasta with them, and Ladakhi cooks took the technique and rebuilt it around what grows at altitude. Wholewheat dough is rolled thin, cut into rounds and pinched into bow ties, then cooked into a thick soup of potato, carrot, peas and leafy greens, with lamb or yak going in where a household is marking something. It shares its lineage with skyu and sits a step above it: skyu is what you eat on a Tuesday in February, chutagi is what you make when the harvest is in or someone is visiting. Every restaurant in Leh has its own version and none of them will tell you what is in it.
INGREDIENTS
- 300 g wholemeal flour
- 180 ml water
- ½ tsp salt
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 medium onion (chopped)
- 4 garlic cloves (chopped)
- 2 cm ginger (chopped)
- 1 medium tomato (chopped)
- 2 medium potatoes (cut into 2cm cubes)
- 2 carrots (sliced)
- 1 small turnip (cubed)
- 100 g peas
- 100 g spinach (chopped)
- 1.2 litres water or light stock
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp ground black pepper
- a few coriander leaves
METHOD
- Mix the flour, salt and water into a firm dough, knead for 8 minutes until smooth, and rest, covered, for 30 minutes.
- Roll the dough out thin, about 2mm, and cut rounds with a small glass or cutter roughly 5cm across.
- Take each round and pinch it firmly in the centre so the two sides fold up into a bow tie. Set them on a floured tray.
- Heat the oil in a large pot and cook the onion, garlic and ginger for 5 minutes. Add the tomato and cook down for 3 minutes.
- Add the potatoes, carrots and turnip, turn them through the oil, then pour in the water and add the salt and pepper.
- Bring to a rolling boil and drop in the bow ties a few at a time, stirring gently.
- Boil for 15 minutes, until the pasta is cooked through and the broth has thickened around it.
- Stir in the peas and spinach and cook for a further 4 minutes.
- Scatter the coriander over and serve in deep bowls.