Do you remember, last week when I told you about buying large qty of ingredients and binning most of it? Well, it happens in the case of this particular recipe. I rarely make chaat at home. Coming to think of it, we don’t eat it from outside also often, hhmm… Surprising, since both of us like chaat. I think the reason is somehow our minds fail to recall it and because of that we dont crave for it. As they say, out of sight, out of mind. I think it’s very true in today’s scenario, where you are constantly fed with tons of information in the form of pics, videos, articles etc; knowingly or unknowingly. Sometime ago, I read an article about “leading a life without internet for 25 days”. You can read it here.
I was really surprised to find out how much my life depended on the internet. We had a blackout recently and I was completely lost for a min! Blackouts are a very rare occurrence here. I was hoping for the power to be back on soon, but it felt like ages. I grew restless and to add salt to the wound, my mobile battery drained out! After a few mins of panicking, I decided to face the “powerless” situation. I made myself a cup of coffee and sat near the window, just watching the world go by. It took me sometime to stop being restless and calm myself. “Being in present moment” is something I find very difficult, say if I’m going for a head massage, rather than enjoying the massage, I’ll be worrying about it getting over soon or if I’m listening to a playlist, rather than enjoying the current song, I’ll think about the next song to come, ggrrr :(( Have you ever felt like that?
Anyways, where were we… yep, chaat. So like I said, even though I make this very rarely, I buy and keep the small puris like it’s going out of stock! If you make and keep the sweet chutney ready, you can make this in no time, if you’ve all the ingredients available. This is my fav chaat item. When I say it’s my fav, I mean it.
Once when we went to Sanjeev Kapoor’s restaurant here, we went for buffet instead of al a carte. I’m not a buffet person at all, but that day since the rest of the gang were in a mood for a buffet, I joined them. At the risk of sounding like a weird kinda person.. let me tell you.. all I had that day was dahi puri from the whole spread, that too under the death glares shooting from a particular pair of eyes ;) Sometimes it drives Jose crazy when I put on an unusual show… so now I’m confused! Did I have dahi puri that day out of love for puri or simply to irk him ;) Well, one thing for sure, I didnt even bother to taste anything else, so let’s assume it must be because of my love for dahi puri.
To enjoy the dahi puri to the maximum, you need to get the whole flavour in one bite. The sweetness and tanginess of Tamarind sauce, spiciness from the green chutney, softness from the potato, the coolness from the yogurt and the crunch of the puri. It’s like a flavour explosion inside your mouth!
So here you go…
Recipe from here
- Grated jaggery – ¾ cup
- Dates – 10-12
- Tamarind – big lemon size
- Chilli powder- ¾ tsp
- Saunf (fennel) powder – ½ tsp (optional)
- Roasted cumin powder – 1 tsp
- Water – as required
- Salt
- Chopped fresh coriander leaves – 2 cups packed
- Pudina/mint leaves – 1 cup packed
- Green chillis – 2-3
- Lemon juice – 2 tbsp
- Water – 2 tbsp
- Sugar – 1½ tsps
- pinch of salt
- Puri / Golgappa – 20-25
- Potato – 1 big, cubed, boiled and slightly mashed
- Whisked yogurt – ½ – ¾ cup
- Onion – 1 medium, chopped
- Sweet chutney – ⅓ – ½ cup
- Green chutney – ⅓ – ½ cup
- Chopped coriander leaves
- Roasted cumin powder – 2 tsp
- Chilli powder – 2 tsp
- Chaat masala – 1-2 tsp (optional)
- Sev – ½ cup
- To make sweet chutney
- Soak tamarind in 2 cups of warm water for 5 mns. Heat a heavy bottomed vessel, add the tamarind along with the water and bring to a boil. Turn off heat and cool. Once cool, grind this tamarind mixture along with dates to a fine paste, adding very little water. Strain through a sieve and pour this tamarind-date paste back into the heavy bottomed vessel.
- Cook on slow to medium flame for 2-3 mns. Add the grated jaggery and allow it to melt and blend well with the tamarind date mix. Continue to cook till it becomes a thick pouring consistency, approx 15-18 mns.
- Add chilli, cumin, saunf powders and salt to taste and combine. Turn off heat. Even if the chutney is thick, its fine. Once cool, refrigerate and use as required.
- To make green chutney
- Wash pudina and coriander leaves thoroughly and allow the water to drain. Grind the mint leaves, coriander leaves, salt, sugar, lemon juice and green chillis to a fine paste, by adding 2 tbsp water. Remove into a bowl. Refrigerate until use. It keeps well in fridge for 2-3 days.
- Assembling the puris:
- Crush the top of the puris to place the fillings. Fill each puri with the mashed potatoes, then add chopped onions. Fill each puri with sweet and green chutney, followed by the yogurt. Sprinkle the sev and roasted cumin, chilli and chaat masala (if using) powder on top of each puri. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves. Serve immediately, otherwise the puris will become soggy.
Also while making the sweet sauce, adjust the sweetness and sourness as per your taste. If you want to add more tamarind at a later stage, soak the tamarind in hot water for a few min and squeeze out the pulp and add to the sauce.
I like the coolness from yogurt, so I usually use slightly chilled yogurt. Whisk the yogurt well to remove lumps and also make sure it isnt sour.