Chana Chaat

The Pakistani way of making chickpea salad, it’s a tangy and spicy savory snack made and loved by all Pakistani families around the globe. The holy month of Ramadan is just about to start, and chana chaat is something which is made a lot during Ramadan, so here’s how we make it….

 Ingredients:

250 gms chick peas

2 medium potatoes (boiled, peeled and cubed)

1-2 green chilies (chopped)

1 medium onion (finely chopped)

1 medium tomato (finely chopped)

2 tbsp lemon juice

1 tsp red chili powder (or to taste)

1 tsp salt

2 tbsp freshly chopped coriander

1 tbsp sugar

½ cup tamarind chutney

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp coriander seeds

3-4 button red chilies

Tamarind Chutney:

200g tamarind (remove seeds)

100g dates (pitted)

150g jaggery/sugar

2 cups water

1 tsp cumin seeds (roast and grind coarsely)

1 tsp salt

Red chili powder as per taste

Method:

Put the tamarind, dates, jaggery and water in a saucepan and cook on a medium flame till the dates and tamarind are soft. Turn off flame and allow the mixture to cool. Put it in a blender and blend mixture together into a smooth paste. Put sauce back into the saucepan on medium flame and add remaining spices. Bring the sauce to a boil and turn off. Allow to cool, then chill and serve.

 Method for Chaat:

 1)      Soak the chickpeas over night and boil them the next morning. Once done keep 1/3 cup of liquid aside and discard the rest.

2)      Dry roast the cumin seeds and coriander seeds, let them cool down slightly then grind them in to a coarse powder along with the button red chilies.

3)      Take a large bowl; add in the chick peas, along the reserved 1/3 cup of liquid, onions, tomatoes, coriander leaves, green chilies, lemon juice and tamarind chutney.

4)      Add in the sugar, red chili powder, salt and 1 tbsp of powder made in step 2. Mix every thing together, check the spices, if you need to add more salt or red chili powder or tamarind chutney do so. Put it in a serving dish, add some papri if you like and chaat is ready to be served.