Wednesday 9 December 2015

ALOO CHANA CHAAT



Chaats and Slurps have become synonymous for me these days. I am so much loving them that I keep doing it for myself, rest in the family are not chaat lovers. On the contrary, food is something you enjoy in the company of others. Though they say, it is very essential to pamper self, to do or have what makes the soul happy. Perhaps, the upbringing/values taught are such in the entire subcontinent, by default the lady of the house cannot think beyond her family, her personal likes and dislikes takes a backseat. It has got nothing to do with lack of freedom or anything  in the present day situation, it is just the frame of mind we are stuck in.  It is a debatable issue and need not continue here.

What I was trying to say is, I keep a chaat item whenever there are guests at home. Looking back, I remember a cute, funny story regarding chaat. Though not a favourite then, all of a sudden I started loving them while I was expecting. I was severely restricted from having them by the senior man. Completely ignoring it was in the interest of the mother and child, I felt it was a serious threat on my freedom. Looking for an opportunity, one day I got it. A lazy afternoon, the man was sleeping, I heard a vendor passing by... irresistible calls to have his 'ghugni'... I leaped to the balcony, asked him to stop, had it to heart's content. Reactions started after 1 hour when I started feeling sick and thrown out everything. A sleepless night with a wiser soul was spent, next 10-12 years I did not have chaats, neither was I much into variety cooking being so busy looking after my son. Cooking was limited exclusively to Bengali regular dishes.

It is now that I try this or the other. The teen is busy in his own world n mamma in the kitchen. The other day I prepared this Aloo Chana Chaat and enjoyed a spicy chat session with our visiting friends. An easy to do dish, which is yum and healthy, with no oil used in it. Who says Chaats cannot be healthy? My son's doctor once said feed your son homemade panipoori at times, no problem. If you feed your child same old thing everyday, they will tend to hate food. 'Homemade' is what is important.
Let us do this quick, easy dish together.

INGREDIENTS:
Chana[chickpea] : 1[medium]cup
Potato : 2medium]
Tomato : 1[medium]
Onion : 1[small]
Cucumber : 1[medium]
Green Chilli : 2
Sev[fried gramflour noodles] : 2tbsp
Coriander Seeds : 1/2tsp
Cumin Seeds : 1/2 tsp
Dry Red Chilli : 1
Salt : As required
Chaat Masala : 1tsp
Coriander Leaves : 1sprig[chopped]
Green Chutney : 1tbsp
Lemon Juice : 2tbsp

METHOD :
Soak the chickpea over night in hot water. Next day pressure cook it in enough water  up to 2 whistles adding salt. Drain the water once cool.

Dry roast the dry red chilli, coriander and cumin seeds and ground them to a coarse powder. Wash the tomato, coriander leaves, green chilli and cucumber, chop them. Peel, wash and chop the onion.

Peel, wash and boil the potatoes in enough water. Once cool, drain the water and mash. Add salt, 1/2tbsp lemon juice, coarsely ground spices and mix well.

Arrange the boiled chickpeas in a bowl. Add 1/2 tsp lemon juice and little salt if required. Mix well. Arrange the potato mix on it. 

Add little salt to the chopped onion, tomato and cucumber and arrange over the potato mix. Add chopped green chillies. Sprinkle with chaat masala, pour the green chutney on it. Add 1tbsp lemon juice.

Add the sev and chopped coriander leaves. Refrigerate and serve chilled!!








1 comment :

  1. Done with boiled potato, boiled chickpeas, few spices, chutney, this is yum in taste and is an absolutely healthy chaat with no oil used in it!!

    ReplyDelete