Chaat Recipes

[Anu]

Please post your favorite chaat recipe.

[spandana]

This is my favorite Ragda Patties recipe:

Ragda

Ingredients:
250 gms green or white peas, soak in water overnight and pressure cook till soft
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 large tomato, finely chopped
3-4 green chillis, slit length wise
1 tsp grated ginger
1/4 tsp asafoetida/hing
1/4 tsp turmeric pwd
1/2 tsp cumin pwd
1 tsp coriander pwd
garam masala pwd (2 cloves, 1/2″ cinnamon, 1 cardamom)
1 tbsp tamarind paste (optional)
fresh coriander leaves for garnish
salt to taste
1/2 tbsp oil

1. Heat oil in a vessel, add the cumin seeds and let them splutter. Add green chillis and grated ginger and saute for 4-5 seconds. Immediately add the asafoetida, followed by the onion. Cook on medium heat for 4-5 mts.
2. Add the spice pwds (except garam masala pwd) and salt. Combine well. Add the tomatoes and cook until soft.
3. Add the boiled peas (keep aside 3 tbsps of boiled peas and mash them). Add a cup of water and cook on high for 3-4 mts. Reduce flame and cook on simmer for 7-8 mts. Add the mashed peas and combine. Add the tamarind paste, combine and cook for 4-5 mts.
4. While the ragda is simmering, add garam masala pwd. The gravy will begin to thicken. Adjust the salt. Garnish with fresh coriander leaves.
5. Serve hot with bhatura or rotis or proceed to prepare Ragda patties or Masala Puri.

Aloo Patties

Combine 2 mashed potatoes (should be cooled completely), 2 bread slices (remove sides), pinch of red chili pwd, 1 tsp green chilli-ginger paste, salt to taste. Make small patties/cutlets and shallow fry till golden brown on both sides.

Chat

Take a wide serving plate. Place two aloo tikkis, spoon some warm ragda over the tikkis. Next spoon green chutney and sweet tamarind chutney. Spoon sweetened curd/dahi (purely optional). Sprinkle some chopped onion and tomatoes. Finally finish off with sev and coriander leaves. Serve immediately. Best savored when ragda is warm.

Recipe from sailusfood.com

Note:
You get Tamarind and green chutney at Indian grocery stores. I will try to post recipe for same sometime later. In the meanwhile, I'll be glad if someone can share their recipe for the same.

[celebi]

Pav Vada

Ingredients

4 medium size boiled potatoes
2 tablespoons oil
1/2 teaspoon black mustard seeds (rai)
1/4 teaspoon turmeric (haldi)
1 teaspoon ginger paste
2 green chilies minced (hari mirch) adjust to taste
About 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro (hara dhania)
1 1/2 teaspoon salt adjust to taste

For Batter

3/4 cup gram flour (besan)
About 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro (hara dhania)
1/2 teaspoon salt adjust to taste
About 1/4 cup of water

Also Needed

Oil to fry
6 buns(Mini hsmburger buns)

For Garnishing

1/4 cup tamarind chutney
1/4 cup hari cilantro chutney
1 thinly sliced tomato

Method

Batter
Mix gram flour, salt and cilantro (hara dhania), and add water slowly to make a thick but smooth batter. Set aside.

Vada
Peel and mash the boiled potatoes keeping the crumbly in texture.
Heat two tablespoons of oil in a pan on medium heat.
Add mustard seeds and as the seeds crack add mashed potatoes, ginger paste, minced green chili, turmeric, and salt.
Stir fry for about 3 minutes over medium heat. Add cilantro mix it well. Turn of the heat.
After mixture cools off, divide the potato mix slightly bigger than a golf ball.
Make them into smooth ½ inch thick patties, rolling between slightly greased palms.
Heat oil in a frying pan on medium high heat.
The frying pan should have about 1 ½ inch of oil. To check if the oil is ready, put one drop of batter in oil. The batter should come up but not change color right away.
Dip the potato patties into the batter one at a time, making sure the patties are completely covered by the batter. Then, slowly drop them into the frying pan.
Vada will take about 4 to 5 minutes to cook.
Turn them occasionally. Fry the vada until both sides are golden-brown.

How to Serve Pav Vada
Take one pav(mini hamburger) bun, slit in half, spread the cilantro chutney and tamarind chutney to each pav as desired.
Place the potato vada and sliced tomato on one half of the bun.

Source: Slightly modified from Manjula's Kitchen

[spandana]

Churmuri
(Spiced Puff Rice)

Ingredients:
4-5 cups Puffed Rice
1/4 cup Finely chopped Red onions
!/4 cup Finely chopped Corriander
1/4 cup Finely chopped tomatoes (Remove the seeds)
1/4 cup grated Carrots
1/4 cup finely chopped Cucumber (Peeled and seeds removed)
1/4 cup roasted peanuts
1 tsp Chilly powder
1/4 tsp sambar powder or Dhania powder
2 tbsp Oil
Salt to taste
Lemon juice to taste.


Procedure:
Mix onions, salt, lemon juice. Let it sit for 2 mins to remove the bitterness from onions.
Now add all the ingredients but for Puffed rice and oil. Mix thoroughly.
Now add Puffed rice and Oil. Mix very well so that the puffed rice is coated well with the masala.
Adjust salt, and spiciness by adding more Puffed rice, lemon juice and salt according to your taste.

* If the puffed rice is stale, warm in microwave for 10-15 secs till it becomes crisp and loses its stale smell.
* If you dont have store-bought roasted peanuts. Heat oil, add peeled peanuts, sprinkle salt and little bit of chilly powder and toss well. It burns very quickly - so remove from fire as soon as it turns slightly brown.

[bollywoodmania]

Can any one share the recipe for making papdi for papdi chaat ? I get from store occasionally but they are not fresh and want to make them at home if it's easy to make.

[Nisha]

Making Papdi is very simple.
Add Butter and Ajwain. Mix well with salt. Add Maida and water to make dough like chapathi.
Roll into chapathis. Cut into small rounds using Cookie cutter and deep fry till brown.

[bollywoodmania]

Thanks Nisha. But mine never stay crisp for more than a day. Do you add baking soda or any preservative to make it stay crisp for more than a day?

[Nisha]

First I mix all the dry ingredients without adding water - Rubbing it with butter till it reaches a crumbly texture. Then add water little by little, till it becomes a very stiff dough.

After cutting into small pieces, prick small holes using fork.

While frying, first heat the oil till it is hot - but then fry the papdis at low heat. And then use for chat only after it cools down completely.

These are the tips that have helped me get it crisp. Hope this helps you too.

[bollywoodmania]

Thanks a lot for explaining all the details.

Will note down these when I make them.

[blackstorm]

Can some one explain which of the chaats are more healthier than others? Calorie content, protein etc. All chaats are tasty but may be picking which is more healthier than another will serve us better in the long run. Not being picky but want to know.