Delhi-Style Crispy Aloo Tikki Chaat
Delhi Style Aloo Tikki chaat is made with chana dal stuffed crispy potato patties and then topped with spiced yogurt, chutney, bhujia or sev and hot and tangy chaat spices.
Equipment
- Large Mixing Bowls
- Pressure Cooker
- Cast iron skillet
Ingredients
For The Mashed Potatoes
- 4 large potatoes (~650g) I used a mix of russet and gold potatoes
- ¾ teaspoon salt adjust to taste
- 3 to 4 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 cup oil for shallow frying the aloo tikkis
For The Lentil Stuffing
- ⅓ cup chana dal bengal gram lentils
- ½ cup water
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- Pinch turmeric
- 1 tablespoon avocado oil
- 2 green green chillies finely chopped (I use indian green chillies/serrano)
- ½ teaspoon ginger very finely chopped
- ½ teaspoon roasted cumin powder
- 1 teaspoon chaat masala
For The Yogurt
- 1 cup yogurt
- ½ teaspoon salt adjust to taste
- 1 teaspoon chaat masala adjust to taste
- ¼ teaspoon roasted cumin powder
- water to thin out
For The Cilantro Mint Chutney
- 1 bunch fresh cilantro leaves only
- 8-10 fresh mint leaves
- 2 indian green chilli adjust to taste
- ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 large garlic clove
- 1 tablespoon yogurt or water
- ½ teaspoon amchoor dry mango powder or lemon juice
- 2-3 ice cubes
For Assembling Aloo Tikki Chaat
- 2 aloo tikkis for each serving
- ¼ cup yogurt
- 1 tablespoon green chutney recipe
- 1 tablespoon Tamarind chutney store bought or my recipe here
- Chaat Masala to taste
- Roasted Cumin Powder to taste
- Red Chilli Powder (or cayenne) to taste
- Bhujia or Sev to taste
- chopped cilantro to taste
Instructions
Prepare Mashed Potatoes and Stuffing
- (You can prepare 1-2 days ahead and keep everything refrigerated)Soak the chana dal for 5- 6 hours. Add to a pressure cooker and with salt and turmeric. Pressure cook for 4-5 whistles until lentils are fully cooked soft but the grain is intact (press a grain in between your thumb and index finger to check)The lentils should not be dry, there will be very little water in the cooker at the end of cooking and that is fine.
- In a pan, heat up oil and temper with ginger, green chilies and red cilli powder. Saute for 5 -6 seconds taking care not to burn and then add the boiled lentils (along with the water) and sprinkle the roasted cumin powder and chaat masala. Mix and lightly mash the dal as you mix. We dont want to make it super smooth, few grains should be intact. Let cook for 2-3 minutes.
- Dont dry out the dal stuffing a lot, it will also dry up a bit as it cools down. The lentils should not be powdery.
- Boil and peel the potatoes. Let cool down completely. I usually boil them a day ahead and refrigerate.
- Grate using a box grater. Add salt and cornstarch to the potatoes.
- Mix with light hands to break the long strings from grating. Taste the potato mixture and adjust salt it needed after mixing.
- Bring together into a soft ball without squishing. You dont have to knead or anything. Use oil if potato sticks to your hand.Tip :- To check the potato mixture- Before starting to shape tikkis, I heat up the oil and add a tiny ball of potato mix to it. If it does not spread, potato mixture is good to go else add more cornstarch. Potato quality has a role to play here.
Prepare The Chaat Condiments
- Make the green chutney by adding all the ingredient mentioned above in a blender and drinking to smooth. Can be done a day ahead.
- Make the tamarind chutney. Can be done a day or more ahead.
- To make roasted cumin powder, add ¼ cup cumin seeds to a pan and dry roast on medium heat for good 4-5 minutes stirring with a spoon. You will notice that the seeds swell up, turn dark brown and smoky. We want that smoky! Switch off the stove and let cool a bit before adding to your spice grinder and making a powder. Store in an air tight container and use as needed.
- Thin out the yogurt with little water and whisk until creamy. It should be cold, thickish but pourable. Mix in black pepper powder, kala namak and chaat masala or any other spices you like. Taste and adjust the seasonings .Store refrigerated.
- If you are using red onions or mooli, prepare them (chopping or grating)
Stuff and Shape the Tikki
- Oil your palms and take a lemon sized portion of the potatoes. Using your fingers ,spread and flatten the potatoes on the palm of your hand to make space for the stuffing.
- Place a tablespoon of the chana dal filling in the center. Bring around the edges of the potato and completely seal the into a round ball. Make sure that no dal is visible.
- Oil your hands and then gently flatten the tikki and smoothen out the edges. Gently press to make it thinner making sure no stuffing is coming out. (refer to images in the blog post above for help). Stuff and shape all the aloo tikkis in similar fashion.
Shallow Fry The Aloo Tikki
- Heat up 1 cup of oil in a heavy bottom tawa or pan (I use cast iron skillet). Let warm on medium heat. The oil should not be too hot (tikkis will burn) or low in temperature (potato will absorb the oil).
- Add 2-3 tikkis at a time and shallow fr on low medium heat until golden brown on both sides. Use a flat spatula to flip the tikkis. Dont press or flip again and again. Just flip once or twice. It takes 6-8 minutes to fry up a batch of 2-3 tikkis.
- Drain the aloo tikki on a paper towel to catch the excess oil. Place for a little bit on a wire rack to make sure they start crispy.
Assemble the Aloo Tikki Chaat
- Place two aloo tikki on a plate. The street vendors slightly smush the crisp tikkis before adding toppings, you can do so if you wish.
- Drizzle yogurt, add chutneys, sev and sprinkle chaat masala, red chilli powder and roasted cumin powder to taste. Add fresh herbs, red onion, pomegranate seeds and green chillies if you wish. Enjoy!
Video
Notes
- Nutrition facts mentioned are an estimation only.
- Boil the potatoes a day ahead or at least 4-5 hours ahead. Cold boiled potatoes dry up a bit and the tikkis crisp up well. If you work with fresh boiled potatoes, the hot potatoes tend to become soft while grating and you will need to add extra cornstarch. Too much cornstarch makes the tikkis taste chalky.
- Grate the potatoes. Grating potatoes makes sure that the potato mixture is lump free and you don't have to squish the potatoes (can make them gooey).
- Salt the potatoes just when you are about to shape and fry. Sometimes the potato mixture gets loose if it sits for long with salt mixed in.
- To check the potato mixture- Before starting to shape tikkis, I heat up the oil and add a tiny ball of potato mix to it. If it does not spread, potato mixture is good to go else add more cornstarch. Potato quality has a role to play here.
- Soak the lentils before cooking. Soaked lentils cook evenly and the texture is great.
- Quantity of water while cooking the lentils is key. We dont want a gooey stuffing. The perfect texture is soft lentils with a few grains still intact.
- Spice the lentils as you wish. I like to keep them on the mellow side so that I can still taste the dal.
- Oil your hands in the beginning and then as often, this really helps in shaping the aloo tikkis.
- Add about a tablespoon of fillling to each tikki. Dont overstuff else they will break during frying.
- Make sure that the dal filling is fully sealed in.
- Shallow fry the tikkis on low medium flame, don't deep fry.
- Use a heavy bottom pan like cast iron skillet for frying the aloo tikki for a crisp tikki.
- Dont flip again and again else the tikkis will break or start sticking.
- Drain the tikkis on a paper towel and then transfer to a wire rack till you are ready to assemble the chaat, this way they stay crispy.
- Aloo Tikki Chaat With Chole - You can serve aloo tikkis topped with your favorite chickpea curry in addition to all the toppings.
- Aloo Tikki Chaat With Chickpeas - Add boiled garbanzo beans as a topping on top of chaat.
- Matar Aloo Tikki Chaat- Instead of chana dal, you could use green peas as a stuffing. Simply blanch some peas and temper them the way I mentioned. Smush the peas a little and the stuffing is ready.
- Aloo Tikki Burger or Sliders - Tuck the aloo tikkis inside toasted buns slathered with green chutney. You could add onions slices, tomatoes and lettuce. A slice of cheese makes them suoer delicious!
- Make Aloo Tikki Bread Sandwiches - Add tikkis between two slices of bread with chutney, sriracha mayo or any sandwich spread you like and veggies of choice.
- Serve As it is - Serve aloo tikki with chutneys and a cup of masala chai.
Nutrition
Calories: 482kcalCarbohydrates: 45gProtein: 7gFat: 32gSaturated Fat: 3gPolyunsaturated Fat: 8gMonounsaturated Fat: 19gTrans Fat: 0.1gCholesterol: 5mgSodium: 470mgPotassium: 863mgFiber: 6gSugar: 5gVitamin A: 161IUVitamin C: 37mgCalcium: 95mgIron: 2mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!