Saturday 19 April 2014

CHOLE CHAAT OR DAHI CHOLE CHAAT


There are certain days when you are absolutely not in the mood for cooking. And if you have a pair of super active toddlers at home enough said! Last wednesday was one such day. There was soo much to be done around the house, and with both the kids at home I was completely exhausted and feeling too lazy to cook anything elaborate.

It was 9.30 pm here and I was leaning back on the couch with my first glass of drink. Yes! the kids are in bed finally and that's  a bliss! It was too much for me to even imagine that I have to cook dinner all over again! The next day's lunch that hubby will take to work was also a question mark. Moreover Thursday is a vegan day so no takeouts!

I asked the husband "dinner-e ki khabe? Ki banabo?" (meaning, what do you want to eat for dinner tonight? what do i cook?) My humble husband offered to get some take-outs. He said "aj ar kichu banate hobe na", I'll get some sandwich (meaning, don't worry about cooking tonight, I'll get some sandwich instead). Ahhhh, my happy soul! what more can you ask for. Great, problem solved, no cooking tonight. But what about lunch tomorrow? Aaargghh! By then I already started to feel  a little better,  you know why! yeah by the idea of takeout of course:P; So finally the glow bulb lit and I thought of making some Chole Chaat. Quick, easy and a healthy meal and no cooking required at all. Voila!! And if you add some yoghurt to it  you have the Dahi Chole Chaat ready on the plate.


Chole Chaat or Dahi Chole Chaat is an excellent brunch, snack or dinner at any time of the day. Especially if you are too busy or too lazy just like me. Life is even more merrier if you have some leftover cooked chickpeas. Easy peasy! So without wasting much time I quickly soaked some chickpeas for the next morning.


Chole or chickpeas have many health benefits. Chaat is basically a savoury dish which has a combination of textures. Infact you will be introduced to all kinds of flavour, texture and taste in a bowl full of chaat. Chaat Masala which is found in most Indian grocery stores, a combination of many spices and black salt is the key ingredient for a dish like this. The base ingredient (chickpea) is combined with other ingredients (such as cooked potatoes, tomatoes, red onions, cucumber), spices such as chilly powder, roasted cumin and coriander, chutnis (such as date and tamarind or green chilli and mint), herbs  such as chopped coriander or mint and finally some yoghurt for that added kick, finished with some lime juice. And honestly there is no perfect recipe. It is dead easy and simple to assemble a Chaat. Depending on your taste and the ingredients that are readily available in your kitchen you can very easily throw in all together and toss it up.



I have divided the recipe into two parts. Both recipes yield 4 servings;

So what do we need :
3 cups of cooked chick peas (soak chick peas overnight, rinse, and cook in salted water)
3/4 cup of chopped cucumber
3/4 cup of chopped red Onions
3/4 cups of tomatoes (seeds removed and finely chopped)
1/2 cup cooked potatoes (peeled and diced)-optional
1/4 cup of chopped coriander leaves
2-3 teaspoon lemon/lime juice according to taste
2-3 tablespoon tamarind and date chutney or more according to taste.
1 teaspoon Spicy Mango Pickle
Green chilli finely chopped as per taste.

Spices:
Chaat Masala (available from Indian Store)
1/4 teaspoon Anardana Powder available from any Indian grocery store.(slightly dry roasted)
Black Salt (1/4 teaspoon)
2 teaspoon groundspices (dryroast handful of Cumin seeds, Coriander seeds, 1 medium dry Red Chilli) and grind all ingredients into a fine powder

Method:
Step1: In a large bowl mix chickpea, chopped tomatoes, cucumber, onion, cooked potatoes, 3/4 of ground spices, mixed pickle, 1 tablespoon of the tamarind and date chutni, lime or lemon juice, 1/2 of the herbs and gently toss and mix ingredients.
Step 2: Garnish with more coriander, the remaining lemon juice and the left over spices and some more of the chutnis if you like.

Enjoy your Chole Chaat for Lunch, Dinner or as any time Snack!


DAHI CHOLE CHAAT :

For a delicious kick to your CHOLE CHAAT add some natural yoghurt.
Additional Ingredients that you will need:
1 cup or more thick natural yoghurt
1/2 teaspoon ground spices as above
1/4 teaspoon chilli powder
Black salt, Sugar to taste
Boondi, Sev(Bhujia) for garnishing (available in Indian Grocery Store)
Method: 
  •  Mix yoghurt with salt, red chilli powder, spices and set aside.
  • After your chole chaat is ready as STEP 1 above add 3/4 cup of the spiced yoghurt, check seasoning. Mix and Toss.
  • Top with remaining yoghurt, tamarind chutni, garnish with more coriander, lemon juice, boondi or Sev as in Step 2 above.
Your Dahi Chole Chaat is ready to be served. Enjoy as a quick fix and a delicious meal or just serve as a spicy and tangy salad.



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With deep care


EAT as you LIKE..






7 comments:

  1. Oh that looks delicious Indrani. I would eat and make it even when I do have time. It's just so good.

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  2. i like this a lot, more like a summer salad... Loved the shots:)

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  3. i love chole chat, this is so perfect to carry in picnic basket. visit me when you have chance.

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  4. Eta ami ajke banabo!!! Seriously, this looks faaaaabulous! My bong FIL would so groove on this and so would my daughter and huz. Thanks for sharing this. Bookmarking your blog ASAP!

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  5. Thanks a lot.. Marlis.. that sounds good to me :)

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