Delhi Style Palak Patta Chaat
Palak Patta Chaat is a crunchy, and flavor-packed street food made with crisp, batter-fried spinach leaves layered with yogurt, a medley of sweet, tangy, and spicy chutneys and chaat spices.
Ingredients
For Seasoned Yogurt
- 2 cup plain yogurt
- 1 teaspoon kala namak black salt
- ½ teaspoon salt adjust to taste
- ½ teaspoon roasted cumin powder
- 1 teaspoon chaat masala
- ½ tablespoon sugar
- 1-2 green chilli finley chopped
- ⅓ cup cold water or as needed
For Frying Spinach Leaves
- 1 spinach bunch avoid using baby spinach
- 200 g besan gram flour (~1 cup)
- 55 g cornstarch (~¼ cup)
- ½ teaspoon ajwain carrom seeds
- 1 teaspoon coriander seeds coarsely crushed
- ¾ teaspoon red chili powder (hot!) adjust to taste
- ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
- ⅛ teaspoon baking soda
- 300 -325 ml cold water or as needed
- Oil for deep frying
Other Ingredients
- ½ cup tamarind chutney or as needed
- ½ cup green chutney or as needed
- Chaat Masala as needed
- Roasted Cumin Powder as needed
- ½ cup pomegranate arils or as needed
- nylon sev as needed
- Green Chillies (chopped) as needed
Instructions
Wash and Dry the Spinach leaves
- Wash the spinach leaves thoroughly. Trim off the stems. Layer the washed spinach on a kitchen towel or paper towel to dry completely. You can wipe each leaf dry using a paper towel too. Before you begin, make sure that spinach leaves are fully dry.
Make The Seasoned Yogurt
- In a medium bowl, add the yogurt, all the listed spices, sugar, finely chopped green chilies and salt.
- Mix very well using a whisk to smooth. Keep the yogurt thick and creamy (add water slowly to make it pourable). Taste and adjust the seasonings if needed. Keep it refrigerated while you deep fry the spinach leaves.
Deep Fry The Palak Patta
- Before preparing the batter, place oil in a deep skillet/kadai on the stove over medium heat for deep frying. The batter comes together quickly, and by the time it’s ready, the oil will have reached the right temperature
- In a large bowl, combine besan, cornstarch, all the spices, and salt.
- Slowly add water and start mixing using a whisk. If you add all the water at once, the besan will become lumpy. Make a pourable batter(thinner than pakora batter).
- Coat spinach leaves one by one on both sides by dipping into the batter. We want a thin coating that will fry to crispy. Its alright if you can see leaf in few places.
- Immediately lower the battered spinach leaves into hot oil. Fry on medium heat till golden and crisp on both sides. Don't lower the heat else the fried patta will become soggy.
- Pick the fried leaves out of the oil carefully using a slotted spoon.Carefully, place them on a wire rack or colander to drain excess oil.
Assemble the Chaat Plate
- Place 5-6 fried palak patta on a plate.Top with 2-4 tablespoon of spiced yogurt or as desired.
- Add drizzle of green chutney, tamarind chutney, pomegranate, chaat masala, roasted cumin powder and sev. Serve rightaway!
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!