‘Desi Nachos’: Crunchy, Saucy Papri Chaat Recipe
One of India’s most popular street foods, papri chaat are crispy chips of fried wheat dough, topped with zesty chickpea salad, drizzled with sweet tamarind sauce and finished with the crunchy Bombay mix and chaat masala seasoning.
Think of papri chaat as Desi nachos.
One of India’s most popular street foods, papri are crispy chips of fried wheat dough, topped with spoonfuls of zesty chickpea salad, drizzled with sweet tamarind sauce and finished with the crunchy Bombay mix of your choice (I like sev, the crunchy little noodles made with chickpea flour) and a dusting of chaat masala seasoning. Use my sneaky day-old naan hack to create a similar base to papri at home.
Ingredients
Papri Chaat
Serves 4-6
- 1 day-old naan or 2 day-old pitas
- Vegetable oil, for shallow frying
- 1 large potato, diced
- 1 can (400 grams) chickpeas
- 1 red onion, finely diced
- ½ cucumber, finely diced
- 4 tablespoons pomegranate seeds, plus extra to serve
- ¼ teaspoon chile powder
- 1 tablespoon chaat masala, plus extra to finish
- ½ lemon
- 50 grams fresh mint, chopped
- 50 grams fresh cilantro, chopped
- 2/3 cup (150 grams) plain yogurt
- 2 tablespoons tamarind sauce
- 1 2/3 cups (100 grams) Bombay mix of your choice
Cut your naan or pitas into 2 ½-centimeter squares and shallow-fry in hot oil for 4–5 minutes, until golden brown and completely crispy. Alternatively, you can use store-bought papri.
Peel and dice the potato. Boil until just tender, then allow it to cool. Drain and rinse the chickpeas and put them in a large bowl with the cooled potatoes, red onion, cucumber and pomegranate seeds. Season with salt, pepper, chile powder, chaat masala and squeeze of lemon juice. Add half the fresh herbs, then mix well and set aside.
On a large serving plate, begin assembling the chaat. Start with a layer of papri or fried pita, then add the chickpea mixture. Dollop spoonfuls of yogurt all over and add a generous drizzle of tamarind sauce, the Bombay mix, extra pomegranate seeds and the rest of the fresh herbs. Finish with a big dusting of chaat masala.
Reprinted with permission from Desified: Delicious Recipes for Ramadan, Eid & Every Day
Zaynah Din. Interlink Books, 2024. InterlinkBooks.com.
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