Aloo Tikki Chaat

Aloo tikki is served with Mint and Saunth chutneys. For those of you have been to Agra, may have heard about "Seth gali ka Bhalla". The best Aloo tikki I ever had !! Brings back lot of memories of my mom....

First lets talk little bit about the word Chaat, NO :) it is not derived from the word "Chat" from English dictionary, which means to converse in a familiar or informal manner.
The word "Chaat" derived from Hindi chāṭ चाट (tasting, a delicacy), from chāṭnā चाटना (to lick), from Prakrit chaṭṭei चट्टेइ (to devour with relish, eat loud making noise).
Chaat (Hindi: चाट) is plate of savory snacks, typically served at road-side tracks from stalls or carts in India and Pakistan. With its origins in Northeast India, chaat has become immensely popular in the rest of India and the rest of South Asia.

Most chaats originated in Uttar Pradesh, but they are now eaten across all over India and South Asia. Some are results of cultural syncretism - for instance, pav bhaji (Bread/bun with cooked and mashed vegetables) reflects a Portuguese influence, in the form of a bun, and bhel puri (Sev puri), was created by a Gujarati migrant to Mumbai.


Coming back to Aloo tikki chaat (Potato patties chaat) there are different variants of this dish as well, taste varies from city to city. For instance you can make the patties with plain mashed potatoes and don't have to fill it with the filling that I describe below, which is fine too. I make this as close to the nostalgic taste that I remember from the one that I used to have in Seth gali.


This recipes makes 12 patties. It is quite filling, so you can easily serve 12 people, counting one per head.


Ingredients:


To make potatoes patties you will need:

• 6-7 large boiled and mashed potatoes


For filling (again filling is optional, you can make patties straight from boiled and mashed potatoes)


• 2 cups of Boiled and mashed chick peas or one large oz can of garbanzo beans or one 16 oz pack of mashed frozen/boiled and mashed green peas, I used chickpeas this time.

• 1" piece of Ginger sliced or grated

• Green chili and garlic paste 1 table spoon

• 1 teaspoon cumin powder

• 1 teaspoon mango powder

• 1/2 teaspoon garam masala

• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

• 1/2 teaspoon of Cayenne pepper powder

• Salt to taste

• 1 tablespoon of finely chopped cilantro leaves

• 1/2 cup of cashew halves to place it on patties

• 1/2 cup of oil or melted butter/Ghee or vegetable shortening (please note that the one they used to serve in Seth Gali was made with Ghee)



To serve the aloo tikkie chaat you will need following prepared items:



• 3 quarts of Punjabi Chhole for this (recipe on this blog)

• 2 cups Mint/Cilantro Sauce/chutney (recipe on this blog)

• 4 cups Tamarind Sauce/Chutney (recipe on this blog)

• 1/2 cup of spicy Garlic chutney (recipe on this blog)

• Chopped 1 large Red or yellow onion, mixed with 1 bunch of cilabtro leaves to garnish

• Sev (Fine Indian Noodles) Optional to garnish




Method:


• Mix all the ingredients for filling, set aside.

• Make golf ball size of balls from mashed potatoes, flatten and fill with the chick peas or peas filling.

• Close the ball so the outer layer is only mashed potatoes.

• Flatten the ball to make patty shape, smooth and round out the edges.

• Place cashew halves on both side of patties.

• Heat a non stick griddle on stove on high heat.

• Place the patties on the griddle.

• Drizzle the butter/oil or vegetable shortening around the patties.

• Turn the heat down to medium high heat and cook the patties on both side ((flip them carefully)>


How to serve:


• Open up the golden brown patty on a plate with a butter knife.

• Place a table spoon of heated chhole on each half.

• Top with desired amount of mint, tamarind and garlic chutney.

• Sprinkle the onion/cilantro mix.

• If desired, sprinkle some sev for extra crunch.

• If you are a plain yogurt lover, you can sprinkle some churned/smooth plain yogurt on this, but I prefer this without yogurt.


Enjoy :)





Aloo tikki chaat description source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaat
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Text_of_Creative_Commons_Attribution-ShareAlike_3.0_Unported_License

Recipe and Photographs by Surekha.