Care for Some Aloo Tikki-Chole Chaat?!

Aloo Tikki-Chole Chaat

Inside a small restaurant with double glazed window you will find a number of posters of Bollywood stars smiling at you. There are small granite tables with pickle and chutney trays on top and matching red velvet cushioned chairs. Large framed photograph of Guru Nanak is hung just above the cashier’s desk and a small table fan is rotating gently. The aroma of food being cooked inside the kitchen is intoxicating and people are busy savouring plates of Naans, Curries, Chaats, Indian sweets & Kebabs. Come out of the restaurant you will find women in colourful saris and salwar kameez, men wearing colourful turbans and kurtas, pavement food stalls selling Samosas, Chaats and Jalebi, small shops selling mobile phones and bright fabrics in rainbow colours hanging in shop fronts. Add to this the Bhangra music and sweet smell of incense and spices is in the air. Am I in India?

Welcome to Mini India in London a.k.a Southall. For one moment you will forget that you are in West London and feel you are walking on the streets of any Indian market. No one can be blamed for getting confused as you can hardly see any Goora face among all Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshis. Chandini Chowk, Apna Baazar, Garam Chai, Pooja Ghar, Jalebi Junction etc are the few of hundreds of Restaurants, Spice shops, Chat shops in Southall. It is a food Mecca for people like us staying away from home as the food smells and tastes very close to what we find back home. Ranging from south Indian Idli and Dosa served on Banana leaves to North Indian Chaats and Naans served on road side, you will find almost all the colour and flavours of India. So if you are visiting London, don’t miss our own Mini India.

Having eaten (read stuffed or hogged) varieties of Chaats till we could hardly move our sweet seats, surprisingly we were craving for more Chaat after we came back home. So we set to create same magic in our kitchen with something we could make very quickly. And thankfully we had made Chole for dinner two days back and we had enough quantity of 3 delicious chutneys (Spicy Red Chilli Chutney, Green Mint Chutney & Sweet Date-Tamarind Chutney) stocked from our previous weeks Chaat party. So we set to create Aloo Tikki-Chole Chaat by making fresh batch of Aloo Tikkis. I made Tikkis with just boiled potatoes and few spices and with in no time hot, sweet and spicy batch of Aloo Tikki-Chole Chaat were ready to please our taste buds. If preparing every thing from scratch it might take more time and effort but trust me when I say it’s worth all the hard work. I am giving here detailed recipes for Aloo Tikki, Chole and all the chutneys used to make this delicious Chaat. Make it during leisure and enjoy. And don’t forget to make big batch of aloo tikkies as you can easily freeze them and when ever heart desires. This delicious plate of much loved Indian street food makes its way to Lucy of Nurish Me who is gust hosting My Legume Love Affair-Third Helping started by dear Susan of The Well Seasoned Cook. So without any delay, here we go…

Plate of Aloo Tikki-Chole Chaat

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Aloo Tikki-Chole Chaat (Potato cutlets served with spiced chickpeas and delicious chutneys and topped with onion and crunchy Sev)

Prep Time: 15-20 mins
Cooking Time: 30-35 mins
Serves: 4-6

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Ingredients:
For Chole:
1 cup White Chickpeas/Kabuli Channa, soaked over night and cooked or 1 can Chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 tbsp Kasuri Methi
1 tsp Garam Masala
½ tsp Amchur/Dry Mango Powder
1 tbsp Oil
1 tsp Jeera/Cumin Seeds
¼ tsp Hing/Asafoetida (Optional but recommended)
Salt to taste

Ground to Smooth Paste:
For Onion Paste:
1 large Onion, roughly chopped
½ inch Cinnamon stick
2 Green Cardamoms
2 Cloves
½ inch Ginger, peeled
3 cloves of Garlic

For Tomato Paste:
3 large juicy Tomatoes/1 can chopped Tomato
2-3 Green Chillies (Adjust acc to taste)
1-2 tbsp Tomato Paste (Optional)

Bowl of Chole

For Aloo Tikki:
3 large Potatoes
½-¾ cup Bread Crumbs/2-3 Bread Slices
½ tsp Garam Masala
1 tsp Roasted Jeera/Cumin Seeds
¼ tsp Jeera/Cumin Powder
¼ tsp Coriander Powder
1 tbsp Corn Flour (Adjust acc to requirement)
Salt to taste
Little Oil, for pan frying

Aloo Tikki with Chutneys

For Sweet Tamarind-Date Chutney:
1 lemon sized Tamarind Pulp, soaked in water
6-8 Dates, pitted
½ tsp Red Chilli Powder
4-6 tbsp Jaggary (adjust acc to taste)
Salt to taste

For Green Mint Chutney:
1 packed cup Mint Leaves
½ packed cup Coriander Leaves
4-6 Green Chillies (adjust acc to taste)
1 tsp Jeera/Cumin Seeds
¼ tsp Tamarind Paste
Salt to taste

For Spicy Red Chutney:
10 Dry Red Chillies
2-3 Garlic flakes
1 small Tomato (Optional, it helps in grinding the chillies to smooth paste)
½ tsp Tamarind Paste
1 tsp Jeera/Cumin Seeds
Salt to taste

For Curd/Yogurt Filling:
3 cups Yogurt, beaten till smooth
1 tsp roasted Jeera/Cumin Powder
1 tbsp Sugar
Big Pinch of Black Salt/Kaala Namak or Salt

Other Ingredients:
1 medium Red Onion, chopped
½-1 cup Sev
2-3 tbsp Coriander Leaves, finely chopped

Plate of Aloo Tikki-Chole Chaat

Method:
For Chole:

Heat oil in a pan and add hing and cumin seeds. When it starts to sizzle, mix in onion paste. Keep stirring at medium heat till the onion paste turns light golden brown and becomes little dry, about 6-8 mins.
Add garam masala, kitchen king masala, kasuri methi and stir for few seconds. Now mix in tomato paste, amchur powder, and salt to taste. Cook the gravy in medium heat, for about 5-7 mins, stirring in between.
Mix in cooked chickpeas and add about a cup of water. Reduce the heat and let it simmer for about 15-20 minutes, stirring in between. Add more water if needed and adjust the seasonings.
Garnish with coriander leaves and it is ready to be served.

For Sweet Tamarind-Date Chutney:

Grind all ingredients listed to very smooth paste adding very little water at time. This paste should be little thick not runny.

For Green Mint Chutney:

Grind all the ingredients listed to smooth paste adding very little water at time. Adjust the number of green chillies according to taste. I personally like little hot. Make sure that the chutney is not very watery.

For Spicy Red Chutney:

Grind all the ingredients to very smooth paste adding very little water at time. If you find it difficult to grind, add small tomato (tip learnt from my favourite Chaatwalah).

For Curd/Yogurt Filling:

Beat the curd/yogurt till its smooth without any lumps. Now mix in powdered roasted cumin, sugar and salt to taste.

For Aloo Tikki:

Cook potato till tender, peel and mash well. Keep it aside till it is slightly cooled.
If using bread slices, dip the slices in cold water and squeeze to remove the water. Crumble them with hands and add to the mashed potatoes. If using bread crumbs, directly mix with mashed potatoes.
Mix in garam masala, roasted cumin seeds and powder, coriander powder, salt to taste and corn flour and combine well. Adjust the corn flour as per requirement as it helps in holding the shape of tikkies while frying.
Make a small lemon sized balls and press them down. Shape them into round or oval shape (about 1 cm thick round or oval tikkies).
Heat tawa/griddle and place tikkies on it. Add about 1 tsp of oil for each tikkies and fry them on medium to low heat on both the sides till they turn golden brown. Repeat till you have cooked all the tikkies and place them in a paper napkin to remove excess oil. Alternatively you can also bake the tikkies till they turn gold and crisp on both the sides.

How to Assemble and Serve:

Place 2-3 Aloo Tikkies on serving plate. Pour 1-2 ladles full of Chole. On top of it, drizzle spoonfuls of Spicy Red Chutney, Sweet Date-Tamarind Chutney, Green Mint-Coriander Chutney & Spiced Yogurt. Now add spoonfuls of chopped red onion, Sev and chopped coriander leaves and serve immediately.

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Notes:

Store leftover Aloo Tikkies in zip lock bag and freeze it upto a month. When needed place them on hot griddle or oven and cook till it is heated through on both the sides.
You can also freeze the chutneys upto a month.

Other Chatakdar Chaats to tempt you

• Dahi Batata Puri
• Kutchi Dabeli

See another variation of Aloo Tikki

• Peas stuffed Aloo Tikki

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Dahi Batata Puri: Yeh Dil Maange More...

Dahi Batata Puri

It's a beautiful evening with chirping birds flying back to their warm nests. Sun is setting behind the mountains. It looks like he is on his way to meet his lover as the sky is blushes with beautiful red. All of sudden the dimly lit street starts buzzing. People start arriving in large numbers, almost like devotees make pilgrimage to their favourite temples. Just like in any temples you can see people standing in a long queue waiting eagerly for their turn. To me it seems like a never ending queue as I wait eagerly, my patience threatening to fly out of the window. My tummy starts grumbling as my eyes are seduced by the sight of people gorging on platefuls of delicious looking items. My nose seems to have lost in aromatic world of spices and herbs. I stand there drooling non-stop which would easily solve any water issues. Yes, the queue is moving fast now… I am behind just two people now… now just one. The guy before me orders for one plate of Bhel Puri and another plate of Masala Puri. Oh the sweet torture. It’s my turn now… What am I going to have? Is it Bhel or Pani Puri? May be I should have Masala Puri today. Wait, Dahi Batata Puri which that fat guy stuffing in his mouth looks so good. The GaaDi-walah looks at me and asks me what I want to have… At last I make up my mind and ask for plate of Dahi Batata Puri. I look at him as he quickly whips up sinfully delicious looking plate of my favourite Chaat with fascination. First he arranges a plateful of puri and then he starts stuffing it with potato filling and then quickly adds colourful chutneys. Then he starts filling each puri with a spoonful of spiced yogurt. Finally he sprinkles few pieces of red onions and sev… “Bhaiyya, put little extra sev for me!”, I almost plead. He smiles and adds extra handful of sev and there it is… All mine… Mine, mine, mine… He extends my plate of Chaat… It’s almost within my reach and I extend my hand…

Tringggggggggg…………. What, where, how??? It’s a dream!!! It’s just a %&*$ dream!!! Not again, why oh God! Why me!!! Why are you punishing me like this?

God shouts back at me, “Because it’s your fault that you had to choose Street Food for food blogging event. Now repent. Why blame me?”…

Oh yes, this is what happens when you host any blog events. You don’t know when you will get hunger attack as the entries fill in your mail box any time of the day. If it’s close to lunch or dinner time, then you are finished!!! Imagine opening your mailbox just when you had to skip your breakfast because you forgot to set your alarm clock on a very important day at work, and find these delicious, mouth watering, drool-worthy entries there. Do I need to say anymore? Since I announced Street Food theme for this month’s MBP, I have been getting lots of nightmares like this every night. There was only one way to get rid of it and that’s what I did this weekend.

This plate of Dahi Batata Puri is a result of my non-stop nightmares I am getting since past few weeks. To be precise, from the day I announced Street Food for MBP. I have been trying very hard to avoid deep fried puries but failed miserably in the end. Well, you can’t call it exactly junk food. It uses vegetables, greens, and importantly good dose of yogurt. So in my opinion, its healthy food all the way and I am sure most of you will agree with me ;) We used store bought puries and there were 30 of them… and all of them are gone now. It was our lunch yesterday and we skipped our dinner at night ;)

I can’t say it is as good as the ones you get on street carts in India but it was tasty nevertheless. Well, beggars can’t be choosers! This recipe is from my Amma who makes excellent Chaats (second next to the Chaatwalah Bhaiyya! I hope she is not reading this post ;). We licked our plates clean and were confused which plate was washed and which were not washed (Ok, bad joke ;). We have got little extra chutney left in refrigerate which we are going to use tonight. Oh yes, we are having Bhelpuri for dinner as the puries are over and cant make another batch of Dahi Batata Puri or Masala Puri. Off this plate of Dahi Batata Puri goes to gorgeous Sig for her JFI-Tamarind (just on time), dear Dee's Herb Mania-Mint and to bubbly Siri for her Frozen Yogurt. Enjoy girls…

Dahi Batata Puri

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Dahi Batata Puri (Chaat, famous street food of India where puffed puries are stuffed with potato, sweet-spicy-mint chutney and fresh yogurt)
Prep Time: 20-30 mins
Cooking Time: 10 mins
Serves: 2-6 (difficult to say)

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Ingredients:
20-30 Puffed deep fried Puris (store bought or home made)
½ - ¾ cups Sev
1 Red Onion, finely chopped

For Potato-Peas Filling:
1 large Potato, cooked, peeled and diced into small pieces
½ cup Green Peas, cooked (or use cooked Kabuli Channa (Garbanzo)/Moong Sprouts)
½ tsp Garam Masala
1 tsp Jeera/Cumin Seeds
¼ tsp Turmeric Powder
Salt to taste

For Sweet Tamarind-Date Chutney:
1 lemon sized Tamarind Pulp, soaked in water
6-8 Dates, pitted
½ tsp Red Chilli Powder
4-6 tbsp Jaggary (adjust acc to taste)
Salt to taste

For Green Mint Chutney:
1 packed cup Mint Leaves
½ packed cup Coriander Leaves
4-6 Green Chillies (adjust acc to taste)
1 tsp Jeera/Cumin Seeds
¼ tsp Tamarind Paste
Salt to taste

For Spicy Red Chutney:
10 Dry Red Chillies
2-3 Garlic flakes
1 small Tomato (Optional, it helps in grinding teh chillies to smooth paste)
½ tsp Tamarind Paste
1 tsp Jeera/Cumin Seeds
Salt to taste

For Curd/Yogurt Filling:
3 cups Yogurt, beaten till smooth
1 tsp roasted Jeera/Cumin Powder
1 tbsp Sugar
Big Pinch of Salt

Ingredients for Dahi Batata Puri: Potato-Peas Filling, Sev, Red Onion, Spicy Red Chutney, Sweet Tamarind-Date Chutney, Green Mint Chutney, Spiced Yogurt, Puri

Method:
For Potato Filling:
First prepare the potato filling. Heat a pan and add cumin seeds to it and dry roast for a minute. Then add cooked diced potatoes, green peas, garam masala, turmeric, salt to taste. Sauté on medium flame for a minute or two and keep it aside.

For Sweet Tamarind-Date Chutney:
Grind all ingredients listed to very smooth paste adding very little water at time. This paste should be little thick not runny.

For Green Mint Chutney:
Grind all the ingredients listed to smooth paste adding very little water at time. Adjust the number of green chillies according to taste. I personally like little hot. Make sure that the chutney is not very watery.

For Spicy Red Chutney:
Grind all the ingredients to very smooth paste adding very little water at time. If you find it difficult to grind, add small tomato (tip learnt from my favourite Chaatwalah).

For Curd/Yogurt Filling:
Beat the curd/yogurt till its smooth without any lumps. Now mix in powdered roasted cumin, sugar and salt to taste.

To Assemble the Dahi Batata Puri:

Arrange 6-9 puris in a plate, making small opening on top of each puri big enough to add the fillings.
First fill each puri with a tsp of Potato-Green Peas filling. Add one or 2 tsp of yogurt filling. Then fill it with ¼-½ tsp of all three chutneys. Drizzle over little more of yogurt filling and then sprinkle chopped red onion and sev on each puri.
Serve this delicious plate of Dahi Batata Puri immediately as if kept for long it will become soggy. Remember to use your finger to eat it not with spoon and enjoy this finger-licking-ly delicious Chaat.

This one is for you...

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Reminder: MBP-Street Food (Last Call...)

MBP-Street Food ends on 30th of June, 2008. Start patrolling the blogs and cook your favourite Street Food that your tummy begs and heart desires and spread link love.

Deadline: 30th June, 2008

Please go through the guidelines and include all the required information in your post and mail when sending me your entry. Don't forget to add Your Name, Your Blog Name, Name of the Dish you cooked, Perm Link of the entry, Perm Link of original recipe along with the gorgeous Photo of final dish.

Click Here or on the logo to find out more information on this event.

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Reminder: WBB-Summer Feast

For this edition of WBB, your challenge is to cook anything with summer fruits and vegetables. Yes, the theme is WBB-Summer Feast. Go to your town/city’s Farmer’s Market and pick fresh season’s produce and make your favourite breakfast or brunch and join in the Summer Feast.

Deadline: 31st July, 2008

Please go through the guidelines and include all the required information in your post and mail when sending me your entry. Don't forget to add Your Name, Your Blog Name, Name of the Dish you cooked, Perm Link of the entry, Perm Link of original recipe along with the gorgeous Photo of final dish.

Click Here or on the logo to find out more information on this event.

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Pav Bhaji

When I left India with me came one big carton of different masalas. Among them was one pack of Pav Bhaji Masala. I never tried making pav Bhaji back in India because in every nook and corner of any street you will find these Gaadiwala's or Fast food corner who are expert in making Pav Bhajis. But here...No such luck!!! So with the help of my mom on phone and direction from my hubby here some how I managed to pull it out. And this happened some 10 months back and that 1 pack of Pav Bhaji Masala got over loooooooong time ago. Till now I have lost the count of times we have cooked Pav Bhaji as our special treat for weekends. Now I can say that I too can compete with other Gaadiwala's when it comes to Pav Bhaji;)
Here is the recipe for making Pav Bhaji. You may have to go to a nearby Asian Indian store to get the 'Pav Bhaji Masala' that is the special spice to bring the flavor (Masala means spice). Pav is actually the buns. Bhaji is the vegetables cooked with spice.

Yummyyy...Pav Bhaji

Ingredients:
10 Pav (breads)
2 Large Potatoes
1/2 cup Green Peas
2 Carrots
1/4 Cauliflower
1/2 cup Beans
3 big tomatoes
2 Onions
1 big Capsicum
1/2 tbsp Turmeric Powder
1/2 tbsp Red chilli Powder
50 gms Butter
2 tbsp Pav Bhaji Masala
1/2 tbsp Dhania/coriander Pwder
Salt and sugar to taste

Grind together:
2 Green Chillies
1/2 inch Ginger
6 flakes of Garlic

Pav Bhaji

Method:
Cut carrots, cauliflower and beans into small pieces and pressure cook with green peas.
Peel the cooked potatoes and mash.
Melt butter into a shallow pan, season with Jerra/cumin seeds.
Add onions and fry till it turns golden brown.
To this add ground masala and fry.
Mix finely chopped tomatoes and fry till it is mashed properly.
Add mashed potatoes, chopped capsicum, other cooked vegetables, salt, chilli powder, turmeric powder, dhania powder, pav bhaji masala and little sugar.
Pour just enough water to make it into thick garvy.
take two laddles or masher and mash the vegetables with then thouroughly when it is boiling.
when the garvy becomes thick remove from flame and serve hot with garnished with chopped coriander leaves.

To serve:
Cut pav/bun horizontally into half.
Apply butter and heat on tawa.
Put little masala inside and serve with little more masala on its side.
Serve finely chopped onions and lime pieces as accompaniments.

All time fav-Pav Bhaji

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