Aloo Chana Chaat Recipe: Soft, Crispy, and Bursting with Flavour

Introduction to this Aloo Chana Chaat Recipe

Aloo chana chaat, a popular street food snack in India and Pakistan, is enjoyed for several reasons. Aloo chana chaat is full of contrasts. The soft potatoes and chickpeas contrast perfectly against the crispy sev (crunchy chickpea flour noodles) and papri/ papdi (fried dough crisps). Chaat is always bursting with flavour, combining tangy, spicy, and savoury elements. The dish also includes chopped onions, tomatoes and fresh coriander. This gives chaat another enjoyable dimension- crunch! It’s just a mouth-watering eating experience.

The chaat can be customised to suit your individual taste. Some people enjoy it with extra spicy chutneys, while others prefer a tangier flavour with additional tamarind or yogurt-based sauces. I often serve chaat with all the added sides that people can add in their own bowls, to their personal taste. For example finely chopped green chillies, tamarind sauce, papri and sev. Allowing people layer their chaat to their taste. There is something enticing about arranging your own bowl of chaat, it really adds to the overall eating experience.

Chaat is a convenient and portable snack commonly found at street food stalls and chaat shops. I would often see it on stalls on Southall Broadway, in little cones, ready for people to walk away with and eat as they shopped.

Why I love Spicy Potato Chickpea Chaat

As a child, I spent most of my school holidays in London with extended family. These family holidays were the highlight for me, I looked forward to them immensely. They were often filled with trips to Southall Broadway where we would shop for South Asian suits and of course dine out. Eating in Southall always meant we would indulge in our favourite snacks. The highlights were freshly made jalebi’s, fried mogo (cassava chips), pakoras, falooda, seekh kebab rolls and last but not least, aloo chana chaat. For me the perfect aloo chaat always had tamarind sauce and sev and papdi. Absolute heaven!

Tips for making this Easy Indian Street Food Snack

Chaat is an easy and quick starter to prepare for a dinner party. It’s not often you have a Pakistani starter which is served cold, but this is one of them. You can prepare the chickpeas and potatoes a day in advance and refrigerate to save time on the day you are hosting. I delay adding in the papri and sev until right before I’m due to serve. Otherwise the yoghurt can make the papri and sev soggy, and half of the enjoyment of chaat is the crunch.

The yoghurt and tamarind sauce (I like to use East End’s tamarind sauce) on top of the chaat is optional. However I feel it adds to the presentation of the dish. Another finishing touch I would recommend is pomegranate seeds. Again it feeds into the sweet and sour taste that chaat is loved for.

You can make your own chaat masala, it usually is comprised of a range of spices. For example ginger, cumin, coriander, dried mango powder/ amchoor, salt and red chili powder. However I am rather lazy and always buy a pre made blend. You can get a range of chaat masala in any South Asian supermarket. I tend to use Shan chaat masala. I tend to also use salad tomatoes, or any tomatoes which are nice and firm. Just to reduce the chaat mixture going to soggy once mixed with the yoghurt.

Aloo Chana Chaat in Ramadan

This aloo chana chaat recipe is a great starter in Ramadan, as it provides a quick source of energy due to its carbohydrates from potatoes and chickpeas. This makes chaat an ideal snack to boost energy levels, it also requires minimal effort to make. Another bonus when you are tired from fasting.

Aloo chana chaat is always readily available at street food stalls, restaurants, and iftar markets during Ramadan. Its a popular choice for individuals and families looking for a quick and satisfying snack to enjoy during iftar or as a late-night snack.

I always make aloo chaat every Ramadan, I love that it’s vegetarian dish, and it’s served fridge cold. It makes it so refreshing to eat. It’s definitely always on the menu when I am hosting an iftar, the ease at which you can prepare this dish is a major plus when you are hosting.

See my video on Youtube, Instagram or TikTok to see how to make this aloo chana chaat recipe!

Ingredients

• 2 potatoes peeled and cut into small pieces
• 2 tins of chickpeas
• 1 red onion finely chopped (a white onion will also work fine, but I do prefer a red onion, it looks more vibrant in the chaat)
• 1.5 tomatoes finely chopped
• 4 tbsp fresh coriander finely chopped, extra for finishing
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp red chilli powder to taste
• 1 tbsp cumin powder
• 1 tsp chaat masala and extra for finishing
• 2 tbsp caster sugar
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 400 grams natural yoghurt and extra for the finishing
• 4 tbsp tamarind sauce and extra for the final drizzle over the chaat
• 1 tbsp bombay mix any sev based mix is fine

Garnish Ingredients

• papri optional
• 1 tbsp pomegranate optional
• 1 tbsp Fresh coriander, finely chopped

Method

1. Boil the potatoes until soft. This should take around 4 minutes. You don’t want them to go mushy, they need to be just soft.
2. At the same time, boil the chickpeas separately until soft, this should take around 4 minutes.
3. Whilst the potatoes and chickpeas cook, get a large serving dish. Add the yoghurt, tomatoes, red onions, red chilli powder, salt, cumin, chaat masala, caster sugar, lemon juice, tamarind sauce and fresh coriander to the bowl. Mix through thoroughly.

4. Once the chickpeas and potatoes have cooked, drain off the water and leave both to cool for a couple of minutes.

5. Then add the chickpeas and potatoes to the serving dish, and mix through with all the ingredients.

6. When ready to serve, either add a dollops of natural yoghurt, and drizzle the tamarind sauce across the yoghurt. Sprinkle some more chaat masala on top and pomegranate seed. You can store the mixture in the fridge until you want to serve.

7. When you are due to serve, sprinkle sev on top of the chaat and leave extra for your guests to take along with papri. Do not add the papri or sev too early as it will become soft and soggy, you want to keep the crunch of the chaat. You can also sprinkle over the fresh coriander before serving.