Napur's Aloo Tikki Chana Chaat

A few weeks ago, Alanna Kellogg of A Veggie Venture invited me to a St. Louis Food Blogger’s event hosted by Anne Cori at the Kitchen Conservatory in St. Louis. Napur of One Hot Stove volunteered to teach us all about Indian street food. She fed us all types of scrumptious dishes, many of them new tastes I had not experienced before.

Napur hosts a blogging event on her blog One Hot Stove called Blog Bites. The theme this month is Copycat Edition – the challenge is to find a favorite recipe on someone else’s blog and recreate it. I decided that since she shared her knowledge and expertise at the blogging event I would try to recreate one of the recipes she shared, her Aloo Tikki Chana Chaat.

While listening to the much more experienced bloggers that night, they kept sharing stories about Global Foods Market in Kirkwood. I had never been there, so I arranged a trip. I spent over an hour walking up and down the aisles looking at foods from around the world, most of which I would never know what to do with once I got them home. (I did see the biggest jar of Nutella ever, but resisted the urge to purchase it.) Thanks to Napur, I had a list of ingredients to look for in the India aisle, and found everything that I needed for this recipe - jaggery, tamarind, chana masala, and sev. All other ingredients could be found in a local grocery store.

There are three main parts to this dish. The first layer is the Aloo tikkis, which are pan-fried potato patties. The second layer is the chana, which is a thick chickpea curry. The third layer is the date tamarind chutney. You can then top them with sev, which are chickpea flour noodles, and whipped yogurt. The flavor combination of the finished dish is amazing. The potato forms the base for the spicy curry, which is balanced with the sweetness of the chutney, and cooled by the yogurt.

Aloo Tikki Chana Chaat from One Hot Stove
Items in italics were purchased at a global foods specialty store

Date Tamarind Chutney
2 cups water
1 cup soft pitted dates
1/4 cup jaggery (unrefined sugar)
1/4 cup tamarind (I used tamarind paste)
1/4 teaspoon coriander
Salt to taste

Combine all ingredients in a sauce pan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Mash the dates and tamarind as the mixture simmers making sure to extract as much pulp as possible. Taste and adjust the jaggery and/or salt to your taste.

Strain the mixture to remove the fibers (you can dilute with water if it is too thick). Refrigerate until ready to use.

Chana
1 onion, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/4 teaspoon red chili powder
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon coriander
1 tablespoon chana masala
Salt to taste
3 tomatoes, chopped
1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained

Heat oil in a large sauté pan. Add onions, and cook until browned. Add garlic, ginger, turmeric, red chili, cumin, coriander, chana masala, and salt. Cook until fragrant. Add tomatoes and cook for a few minutes, then add the chickpeas. Simmer for 10 minutes, then mash some of the chickpeas to thicken the curry.

Aloo Tikkis
4-6 Yukon gold potatoes
Salt to taste
Oil for pan frying

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add whole potatoes and boil until cooked, about 15-20 minutes. Drain and cool slightly. Peel the potatoes, then put them in a bowl and mash, adding salt to taste. Form mashed potatoes into patties and pan fry for a few minutes on each side until golden. (Napur said you can add some breadcrumbs if they are not holding together with just the potatoes.)

Assembly
Place two Aloo Tikkis (potato patties) in a serving dish and cover with chana (chickpea curry). Top with date tamarind sauce, plain yogurt, and sev (chickpea noodles).

Serves 4