Spice up your weekend with some chaat

Chaat has a special place in our lives!! Whether it’s kids or adults everyone love them and have fond memories of savoring them at a road side stall or at home. This week I tried my hand at few variations of the famous chaat. So let’s start cooking...

Pani Puri: This is definitely the king or better queen of chaat!! I am sure everyone would have had the puchkas, golgappas , pani puri or whatever you call them. They are dumplings made of semolina or wheat filled with spicy chutneys and potato or peas. As you can see there are innumerable variations so I tired one made of semolina . Let’s start!!!

Ingredients: For the puri : semolina - 1.5 cup; wheat flour - 1/4 cup; baking soda - 1/4 tea spoon; salt - a pinch; hot water - 1/2 cup for the dough; oil - 2 cups. For the pani - coriander ( leaves) - 1 cup; mint ( leaves) - 1 cup; ginger garlic paste - 1 table spoon; black salt - as per taste; cumin powder - 1/2 tea spoon; green chillies ( slit) - 3; chaat masala - 1/2 tea spoon; red chilli powder - 1 tea spoon. For the adventurous soul mix some vodka/tequila in the pani !!!

Steps ( For puri)

i. Make a soft dough using the ingredients . Hot water will help the semolina to puff up. You can also use aerated water to make the dough. You won’t need to use baking soda in that case.

ii. Let the dough rest for 20 minutes ( cover it with a damp cloth).

iii. Heat oil in a pan ( 2 cups).

iv. Roll the dough into a thin chapati like shape and use cookie cutter to cut small circular puris.

v. Check if the oil is hot enough. Put a small dough piece into the oil. If it rises then the oil is hot enough.

vi. Drop the puris one by one; push them down into the oil gently as that will puff them up.

vii. Fry them until they are golden brown on both side.

Steps ( For pani)

i. Blend the ingredients properly.Use some water if required.

ii. Using a sieve strain the mixture. Mix more water, red chilli or salt as per taste.

Serve the puris filled with boiled potatoes/peas/tamarind chutney/green chutney/yoghurt ( options are endless). Dip the puris in the pani and enjoy!!

Aloo Tikki Chaat: Another all time favourite. These are shallow fried dumplings of spicy potato served with a spicy dressing.

Ingredients: Potatoes ( boiled and grated) - 3 medium; Coriander ( finely chopped) - 2 table spoons; Green chillies ( finely chopped) - 3; Onion ( finely chopped) - 1 medium; Cumin seeds - 1/2 tea spoon; Coriander powder - 1 tea spoon; Red chilli powder - 1/2 tea spoon; Turmeric - 1/4 tea spoon; Ginger (grated) - 1 table spoon; Corn flour - 3 table spoons; Oil - 6 tea spoons; Salt to taste; yoghurt ( mixed with a tea spoon of black salt) - 1 cup

Steps:

i. Mix all the ingredients in a bowl ( except onions and yoghurt).

ii. Make small dumplings with hand and flatten them. You can fill them boiled peas as well.

iii. Heat a thick bottom pan with some oil for shallow frying.

iv. One the pan is hot shallow fry the ‘tikkis’ until they are golden brown on both sides. Keep the flame on medium as that will result in crispy tikkis.

Serve the tikkis with a dressing of green chutney/tamarind chutney/sev/yoghurt/chopped onions. Use anything else that you might want to.

Palak Chaat: This is a variation of a chaat I used to love as a kid. It is a fied spinach leaves served with a spicy dressing!! Go creatively wild with the dressing if you want to...

Ingredients: Spinach leaves ( washed and dried) - 15; gram flour - 1.5 cup; carom seeds - 1.5 tea spoons; corn flour ( for extra crunchiness) - 3 table spoons; salt to taste

Steps:

i. Mix the gram flour, carom seeds, corn flour and salt in a bowl. Mix well with hand or a whisk. You can add a bit of red chilli powder if you want.

ii. Mix some water and prepare a smooth batter.

iii. Heat oil in a deep bottom pan. Pour some batter in the pan to check if the oil is not enough ( if oil is hot enough, batter will rise up).

iv. Dip the spinach leaves in the batter ( ensure the leaf is covered on both side). Give it a dab to remove the excess batter.

v. Fry the leaves until they are golden brown on both sides.

Complete the ‘palak chaat’ by placing some sev, yoghurt, tamarind chutney , mint chutney , onions and chaat masala over them. Add some pomegranate seeds as they give a nice colour and crunch.

Enjoy the chaat!!

Papri Chaat: These are super easy to make and go as nice finger food. You can use ready-made papri as that will reduce the time drastically. Will explain the process of making home-made papri soon...

Ingredients: Papri, sev, tamarind chutney, mint chutney, youghurt

Garnish the papris with other ingredients and you are good to go!!!