Boiled Egg Chaat

Boiled Egg Chaat is an appetizer which I learned during the Ramadhan fasting time. Before that, I never knew that we can make a Chaat using boiled eggs. This is super delicious, tasty and a very easy dish to make during a get together that will be liked by all. One day for Iftar, I made this and instantly everyone in my house liked this simple dish.

Sliced eggs after shallow frying

Eggs are a great comfort food and easy to cook too.This simple dish is a great source of protein as well as makes a great snack as well. This dish doesn't require any preparation, if you have unexpected guests, this is a perfect appetizer to serve.

I was going through instagram and accidentally saw this egg chaat in Jinoos Kitchen, which looked amazing and a delicious dish to try out. In this dish, the boiled eggs are sliced and shallow fried along with spices, in a tbsp of oil. The shallow fried eggs are arranged in a plate and topped with onions, tomatoes, coriander leaves, chaat masala, chili powder, amchur powder, a dash of salt and ending it with a sprinkle of lemon juice. Within minutes a lip-smacking snack will be ready to be served and enjoyed.

Ingredients:

1. Boiled Eggs- 3 nos
2. Oil- 1 Tsp
3. Chili Powder- 1 Tsp
4. Turmeric Powder- 1 Tsp
5. Salt- a pinch

To assemble:

1. Onions (chopped) - 1/2 no
2. Tomatoes (chopped) - 1 no
3. Coriander Leaves (chopped) - 2 tbsp
4. Chaat powder- 1 Tsp
5. Aamchur powder- 1 tsp (optional)
6. Chili and Turmeric Powder- a pinch
7. Lemon juice- 1 tbsp

Method:

1. Slice the boiled eggs and place them evenly on an oiled pan. Let this shallow fry on a low flame, add the chili powder, turmeric powder and sprinkle some salt on top and flip on both the sides.
2. Once it is lightly fried, arrange them on a plate to be served.
3. Spread the chopped onions evenly on top of the fried egg slices. Add a layer of chopped tomatoes.
4. Sprinkle the chili powder, turmeric powder, Chaat powder, amchur powder, a dash of salt and end with chopped coriander leaves. Sprinkle on top with lemon juice and enjoy a delicious egg chaat.

Pani Puri with Homemade Puris

Pani Puri is one of my favorite chaats from childhood. Whenever we go out, we used to thoroughly enjoy the chaat from the roadside street vendors. In every nook and corner, you can see a pani puri stall. We used to have competition, as who will have more puris. Every Indian like pani puri to the core. It is said that this not only satisfies your taste buds but also keeps the kid in you alive.

Once during fasting time, in Bangalore, after breaking the fast I had 30- 35 pani puris without eating anything. I like to have them anytime of the day.

After coming to the US it has become very rare to find pani puri. We will get the pani puri kit in all the Indian stores. I started making it from scratch as we don’t find the puris most of the time in stores. My daughter loves it a lot. She won’t eat anything else if pani puri is there for snacks.

Pani puris have different names like the puchkas, gol gappas and so on. Pani means water and puri are the fried puffed dough balls.

Yesterday was my son’s 3rd birthday and so I called two of my friends and families for a small get together. The menu everything was well decided but got stuck with starters. Then the thought of pani puri came to me as everyone likes them and so I decided to serve pani puri as starters. I made everything ready and before the guests came, I filled the puris with the potato- garbanzo stuffing and kept it along with the mint- coriander water. When they came it was easy for them, just to dip the puris in the water and gulp it. I didn’t make the water spicy as the kids would find it difficult to have. I didn’t make the tamarind- dates chutney as this starter was planned at the last moment and so no time to buy dates. But without that chutney also this tasted perfect. Everyone enjoyed the starters well.

I didn't make the puris for the birthday, as its the last minute idea of making the starter. I got it from the store. I have posted the recipe of puris, which I made last time. Go, make it and eat it. You will feel much better….

Ingredients:

For Puris:

1. Semolina/ Sooji- 1 Cup
2. All Purpose Flour- 1 Tsp
3. Salt- as required
4. Baking Soda- ¼ tsp
5. Water- as required for kneading
6. Oil- 2 tbsp deep frying

Method:

1. In a mixing bowl, take the semolina along with salt, all-purpose flour, 2 tbsp oil and mix well using fingers, so that everything gets incorporated well.
2. Add water little by little and begin to knead. Semolina absorbs water, add water accordingly and knead well.
3. The dough is not too hard or soft. The texture of the dough should be important. After kneading well the dough will form elastic. Gluten strands need to be formed.
4. Cover the dough with a moist cloth, let it rest for 30 minutes. Roll the dough on a clean countertop. Roll it very thin.
5. Cut into small rounds, using a small lid or a cutter. Keep this aside. Roll the remaining dough and repeat the same process till everything is finished.
6. Heat oil and deep fry the above made small round puris. The oil should hot then only the puris will puff. Once they puff up, cook over a medium flame until crisp.

Preparing for Pani Puri:

• Puris- 20- 30 nos
• Tamarind- dates Chutney- 1 small bowl (optional)

For the filling:

1. Potatoes- 3 big nos (boiled and peeled)
2. Garbanzo- 1 Cup (boiled)
3. Onions- 2 nos(Chopped)
4. Chaat Masala Powder- 1 tbsp
5. Lemon Juice- 1 tbsp
6. Amchur Powder- 1 tbsp
7. Salt- as required
8. Red Chilli Powder- 1 tbsp
9. Coriander leaves- 2 tbsp (chopped finely)

Method:

• Mash the potatoes and garbanzo together. Take all the other ingredients in a bowl and mix well and keep this aside.

For the Mint and Coriander Water/ Pani:

1. Coriander Leaves- 1 bunch
2. Mint Leaves- 1 Bunch
3. Ginger- 1 tbsp (grated)
4. Lemon Juice- 2 tbsp
5. Salt- as required
6. Green Chillies- 3 nos
7. Cumin Powder- 1 tbsp
8. Chaat Masala Powder- 1 tbsp

Method:

1. Grind the coriander leaves, mint leaves along with green chilies, ginger and lemon juice by adding little water.
2. When they become paste, Pour this in a big bowl along with 3 Cups of water.
3. Mix along with cumin powder, salt, and chaat masala powder. Let this chill in the refrigerator for some time.

Assembling the pani puri:

1. Crack top of the above-made puris carefully with your thumb.

1. Add 1 tbsp of the potato- garbanzo filling in the puri. Drizzle a drop of tamarind-date chutney. (adding this chutney is optional. Without this chutney also the pani puri will taste amazing)

1. Stir the mint- coriander pani and pour a tbsp of the water in the puri and enjoy an amazing delicious chaat.

1. Repeat the above process with the remaining puris and serve immediately.

Peas/ Matar kachori

My daughter is a big poori and paratha fan, who always want either one of these in her lunch box. I used to search different varieties of parathas and one day when I visited a friend, she gave us aloo/ potato kachori, which was flaky, crispy and tasty. We all ended up eating more than two kachoris, which was impossible. Remembering that, as I didn’t have potatoes at home, I tried kachori using peas filling which were so yummy and delicious. These peas kachoris have become a hit among our guests. They are so easy to make and so delicious that everyone will like these.

Peas/ mater kachori is a crisp, flaky texture with flavorful peas filling. Adding amchur/ dry mango powder gives a nice tanginess which can be replaced with lemon juice. This can be had as a snack or as a breakfast.

In this, the green peas filling is made along with the spices and stuffed in maida which is rolled to a flatbread and deep fried.  

Ingredients:

1. All Purpose Flour- 1 Cup
2. Whole Wheat Flour- ¼ Cup
3. Salt- as required
4. Ghee- 1 tbsp
5. Water- required to knead

For the filling:

1. Green Peas- 1 Cup
2. Green chili - ginger Paste- 2 tbsp
3. Red Chilli powder- 1 tbsp
4. Turmeric powder- 1 tsp
5. Dry mango powder- 1 tsp
6. Chaat masala powder- 1 tsp
7. Salt- as required
8. Oil- 1 tbsp
9. Cumin seeds- 1 tbsp
10. Fennel powder- 1 tsp
11. Gram flour/ Besan- 2 tbsp
12. Oil- for deep frying

Method:

1. Take the flours, ghee, salt and required the amount of water in a mixing bowl and knead to a smooth dough. Keep this aside covered with a damp cloth.
2. For the filling:
3. Boil the green peas till done, drain, mash them coarsely and keep this aside.
4. Heat oil, splutter cumin seeds. Add the ginger- green chili paste and stir well.
5. Add the red chili powder, turmeric powder, dry mango powder, chaat masala powder, fennel powder, and salt. Stir.
6. Add the gram flour along with the boiled and mashed peas and saute for 5 minutes. Switch off the flame.

For the Kachoris:

1. Make an equal number of balls from the dough. Roll and spread the dough ball using a rolling pin.
2. Add 2 tbsp of the stuffing in the middle and bring the edges to the center and pinch them. Roll and shape them into circular discs and repeat with the remaining.
3. Heat the oil in a big pan for frying. Drop the kachoris and fry till they become golden brown and crisp.
4. Serve them along with tamarind chutney or green chutney or along with your favorite pickle.

Ragda Patties

Different varieties of chaats are available all over India.Chaat is a savory snack that contain four flavors like sour, sweet, spicy and tangy in one plate, which is loved by all.

In my family these chaats have a special place.In India, when we used to roam around, we used to have unlimited pani puri. I ended up having 20- 25 in one go and my daughter’s was the record. She likes these chaats a lot and will eat how much ever is possible.

Today I made ragda patties, which I tasted once and loved the flavors and texture that got blended well with each other.

In this ragda patties the potato patties are topped with dried green peas gravy along with sweet chutney, green chutney , curd, onions and sev. Here I didn’t use green chutney, as my husband is not a big fan of coriander leaves.

In Kerala, chaats are not so famous. They have their own delicacies. Now a days this chaat business is growing up slowly. As I grew up in Andhra, I love all different varieties of food and so chaat is one of them.

After coming here I have started preparing these different variety of chaats at home and enjoying a flavorful, healthy savory. The process of preparing this ragda patties look time consuming, but if you have all the ingredients handy then it is very simple and easy to make.Just try this out and you will come to know how easy it is to prepare them at home.

Ingredients for the Patties:

1. Boiled Potatoes- 3 nos
2. Corn Flour- 3- 4 tbsp
3. Salt- as required
4. Red Chilli Powder- 1 tbsp
5. Oil- for frying

Method for Potato patties:

1. Mash the boiled potatoes, add the corn flour and salt. Mix well. If the mixture looks loose, add little more corn flour and mix.
2. Make medium sized balls, flatten them into round patties. Keep aside.
3. Heat oil in a skillet for shallow frying and fry the above made potato patties till it becomes golden brown in colour and crisp. Remove on a kitchen towel.

Ingredients for Ragda:

1. Dried green Peas- 1 cup
2. Salt- as required
3. Red Chilli Powder- 1 tbsp
4. Turmeric Powder- 1 tsp
5. Asafoetida- a pinch

Method for Ragda:

1. Soak the dried green peas overnight, drain and cook  this dried peas along with turmeric powder, red chilli powder and required amount of salt in a pressure cooker along with water.
2. After about 10- 15 minutes switch off the cooker and open the lid when the pressure falls.
3. The ragda should not be very thick or too watery. Keep this aside.

Sweet Chaat Chutney/ Tamarind Date Chutney:

1. Tamarind- 2 big lemon size
2. Dates- ¼ Cup
3. Jaggery- ¼ Cup
4. Water- 1 Cup
5. Cumin Powder- ½ tsp
6. Coriander Powder- ½ tsp
7. Salt- a pinch
8. Red Chilli Powder- ½ Cup

Method:

1. Boil tamarind and dates in 1 cup water for about 10 min.
2. Add jaggery, mix and let it thicken a bit.
3. Add all the spice powders and cook for about 2-3 min. Switch off the flame.
4. When it gets cooled grind this mixture to a fine paste and store this tamarind- date chutney in an airtight bowl and store this in refrigerator. Use this when required.

Remaining Ingredients for garnishing Ragda Patties:

1. Onions( finely chopped)- 2 nos
2. Tomatoes( chopped)- 1 no
3. Coriander Leaves( chopped)- ¼ Cup( optional)
4. Curd- 1 Cup (with a little sugar mixed)
5. Sev/ Mixture- 1 Cup
6. Cumin Powder- 1 tbsp
7. Chaat Masala- 1 tbsp
8. Lemon Juice- as required

Method for assembling:

1. In a small bowl place two potato patties. Top it with 2 -3 tbsps of ragdas.

1. Over this add the tamarind- date chutney.

1. Top this with sweet curd then with chopped onions, chopped tomatoes.

1. Sprinkle with cumin powder, chaat masala and a few drops of lemon.
2. Sprinkle the chopped coriander leaves and end this amazing chaat by sprinkling the sev/ mixture.