The lockdown has made life dull and it needs some spicing up. A dash of salt, a pinch of chat masala and a punch of spicy chutney and voila, life becomes yum. So this week Toshali Mandal tells you how to platter up Papdi Chat, a popular street food in India, and enjoy the lockdown.
Papdi Chaat
Ingredients
For the papdi
1 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup semolina, fine grained
1 teaspoon of kalonji
1/2 teaspoon of salt
2 tablespoons of oil/ghee
1/2 cup water
Oil for frying
Direction
In a large mixing bowl, take maida and semolina and then add kalonji, salt and oil/ghee. Crumble and mix well. Knead a soft dough adding as much water as required. Now divide the dough into half. Dust maida and roll slightly thick like puri. Using a cookie cutter/medium-sized bottle cap, cut small round papdis. Prick the papdi with a fork to prevent from puffing up.
Fry the papdis in medium hot oil. Alternatively, bake in a preheated oven at 180°C for 15-20 minutes. Fry on low flame till the papdi floats. This takes around 1-2 minutes. Now continue to fry on low to medium flame till they turn crispy and golden in colour. Drain off the papdi over kitchen paper to absorb excess oil. You can make a chaat out of these or store these in an airtight container for a month for future use.
For the chaat
24 flat crisp papdis
250 gm of chilled fresh curd or yogurt, whisked till smooth
1 large potato boiled, peeled and chopped
2 cups of boiled chickpeas (kabuli chana or garbanzo beans)
1 small to medium onion, finely chopped
1 small to medium tomato, finely chopped
A handful of chopped coriander leaves
1/2 cup mint-coriander chutney
1/2 cup tamarind chutney
1 teaspoon of red chilli powder
1 teaspoon of roasted cumin powder
1-2 teaspoons of chaat masala
1 teaspoon of black salt or rock salt or common salt
1-2 teaspoons of lime juice, optional; 1/2 cup sev
1/2 cup of dry roasted peanuts
For the spicy mint-coriander chutney
1 cup chopped mint leaves
1/2 cup of chopped coriander leaves
1 green chilli, chopped
1-2 teaspoons of lime juice to preserve the green colour of the chutney
Black salt to taste
For the sweet tamarind chutney
1/2 cup of tamarind; 2 tablespoons of sugar or jaggery as required; 1/2 teaspoon of red chilli powder; 2 cups of water or add as required; black salt or common salt
Direction
Soak the chickpeas in enough water overnight or for 6-7 hours. Then cook the chickpeas in pressure cooker with water and salt till it is completely cooked.
For the green chutney, blend all the ingredients with very little water to a smooth paste. Keep aside. For tamarind chutney, boil the tamarind in water. When they become soft, add the sugar/jaggery, red chilli powder and salt. Cook further till the sugar/jaggery melts. Switch off the burner and let the mixture cool. If the chutney becomes too thick add some water.
Dry roast the peanuts for five minutes with a dash of salt on low-medium flame till they becomes crispy. Now, arrange the papdis on a plate. Top it up with chopped boiled potatoes and cooked chickpeas. Add the chopped onions and tomatoes to it. Sprinkle some chaat masala and red chilli powder on it at this stage. Top these with cold yogurt/curd as much as you want and the two types of chutney. Sprinkle chaat masala, red chilli powder, cumin powder and black salt. Garnish with coriander leaves. Sprinkle sev and roasted nuts on top. Add a dash of lemon juice to the papdi chaat if you want. Serve the chaat immediately.