ALOO CHANA CHAAT

Chaats have become essential for me now-a-days. I enjoy and keep doing a variety of them for myself. The 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 essential to pamper the self, to do or have what makes the soul happy. Perhaps the upbringing / values taught are such in the Indian subcontinent that by default the women folks cannot think beyond the family, their personal likes and dislikes take a backseat. It has got nothing to do with the lack of freedom or anything, it is about 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 that 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 our son. I was restricted from having them by the man. Completely ignoring it was in the interest of the mother and the child, I felt it was a serious threat on my freedom. Looking for an opportunity, one day I got it. On a lazy afternoon, the man was sleeping, I heard a vendor passing by... tempted by the irresistible calls to have his 'ghugni'... I ran to the balcony, asked him to stop, had it to my heart's content. The reaction started after an hour when I started feeling sick and threw off everything. A sleepless night with a wiser soul was spent. Next 10-12 years I did not have chaats, neither was I into cooking a variety being busy looking after our son. Cooking was limited exclusively to the Bengali regular dishes.

It is in the present day that I try this or the other. The teen is busy in his own world and mamma in the kitchen. The other day I prepared this Aloo Chana Chaat and enjoyed a spicy chat session with our visiting friends. It is 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 asked me to feed our son homemade "phuchka" at times, sans the spices. If you feed your child the same old food everyday, they will tend to hate food. 'Homemade' is what is important. Let us do this quick, easy dish together.

INGREDIENTS:

Chana [chickpea] : 1 cup

Potato : 2

Tomato : 1

Onion : 1

Cucumber : 1

Green Chilli : 2

Sev[fried gramflour noodles] : 2tbsp

Coriander Seeds : 1/2 tsp

Cumin Seeds : 1/2 tsp

Dry Red Chilli : 1

Salt : As required

Chaat Masala : 1 tsp

Coriander Leaves : 1 sprig[chopped]

Green Chutney : 1 tbsp

Lemon Juice : 2 tbsp

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 a little of salt if required. Mix well. Arrange the potato mix on it. 

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

Add the sev[fried gram flour noodles] and the chopped coriander leaves. Refrigerate and serve chilled!