Today I am sharing a recipe for aloo chana chaat – a vegan Pakistani and Indian snack made from potatoes and chickpeas. The ingredients used in this recipe are super simple (pantry staples in a Desi household) but the flavour is such that it will make you finish the whole bowl in minutes. It’s also immensely adaptable so if you don’t have one of the ingredients, just skip or substitute for something else.
So what exactly is chaat?
The simplest definition of chaat is a street food style snack from the Indian sub-continent. And there’s not just one type of chaat but an array of them with different ingredients and utilising a variety of cooking techniques. Just a small example - there’s chana chaat (made with chickpeas) and dahi bara chaat (which has baray or lentil fritters as it’s base) and of course aloo chana chaat (the recipe I am sharing today) made with potatoes and chickpeas. Though the ingredients differ, what is common across all types of chaat is the explosion of flavours in every bite – spice and tang, a hint of sweet and salt, along with some crunch. And that’s exactly what you are going to get with this aloo chana chaat!
How to make aloo chana chaat?
- Start off with frying the cumin seeds in oil, and then add the boiled chickpeas. Add spices and then the tamarind pulp or tamarind chutney. Cook it till it’s dry-ish and take it off the heat.
- Let it cool and then add diced onions, potatoes, tomatoes, green chilies. In case you are missing an ingredient, just skip it or add whatever you have at home.
- Mix it all up and sprinkle some chaat masala and coriander on top.
- That’s all there is to make this delicious aloo chana chaat.
Some other Pakistani and Indian snack recipes that you can try are:
-
Desi Chicken Patties
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Aloo Daal Bun Kebab - Potato and lentils burger
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Mash ki daal kay dahi baray – lentil fritters in yoghurt
-
Aloo Pakora or Potato Fritters
Would love it if you could try out and rate the recipe, and let me know how it was in the comments below!
Aloo Chana Chaat | Potato and Chickpea Snack
Ingredients
- 2 cups boiled chickpeas sufaid chole / chole
- 1 teaspoon oil
- ½ teaspoon cumin seeds zeera
- 1 teaspoon red chili powder
- Salt to taste
- 2 tablespoon tamarind pulp alternatively use tamarind chutney
- 1 green chili sliced
- 1 small onion diced
- 1 small potato boiled and diced
- 1 small tomato diced
- Chaat masala for garnish
- Coriander for garnish
Instructions
- Wash, peel and boil the potatoes till tender. Drain the potatoes, and cut into small cubes. Set aside.
- If using tamarind pulp, soak the tamarind pulp in hot water for about 15 – 20 minutes till soft. Mash the pulp with a spoon (or use your handto separate the pulp from the veins, seeds and membranes. Strain the tamarind pulp and set aside.
- Heat oil in a small frying pan or small pot and add the cumin seeds.
- Once the cumin seeds turn golden and release their aroma, add the boiled chickpeas and fry for about 3 minutes.
- Add the red chili powder and salt, followed by the tamarind pulp and fry for 2 minutes. The chickpeas should be on the dry side.
- Remove from heat and place the chickpea mixture in a medium sized bowl to cool.
- Once the mixture has cooled down add the diced potato, tomato, onion and green chili. Mix together and garnish with chaat masala and green chilies.
- Serve at room temperature.
Nutrition
Clover says
This looks absolutely delicious. Any chance of getting a calorie count?
Angela says
I love having this chaat at my local Indian restaurant. Thank you for sharing the recipe so I can make it at home.
Yusra says
Looks mouthwatering! Will try it iA!