Samosa Chole Chaat

Chaat is basically a quick n easy snacky food that most Indians absolutely love. Although you get chaat food in restaurants, the real fun is eating them from street side vendors. I swear it tastes way better than the best restaurants found in India. So some chaat items are Paani Puri (Spiced water filled in crunchy puffs), Sev Puri - A flattened puri with potatoes and spices, Dahi Sev Puri - similarl to sev puri but with yogurt (dahi) on it, Ragda Pattice (Ragda meaning mishmash made from white garbanzo beans and pattice is Pattys) - Spiced potato pattys served with beans curry so to speak, etc. The main ingredients kind of stay the same - sev (flour based spicy snack), potatoes, Tamarind date chutney (sweet and tangy), and Mint chutney (green and spicy).

Chole pron. as Cholay or Garbanzo beans is a spicy curry style stew.  Samosa is a puff pastry stuff with spiced potatoes.  So the idea here is combining the samosa with the chole to make chole chaat. No! This is not my idea - this is a very popular food item that has evolved from the regular chaat menu.  Although, it may be considered a snack - it is severely filling and amazingly tasty - be warned !!

Method and Ingredients:

2 15oz cans of Garbanzo beans

2 medium onions, finely chopped

2 roma tomatoes, finely chopped

2 tsp Badshah Chholle masala

1 tsp Badshah Chana masala

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

4 samosas, thawed and baked at 350F for 10 to 15 minutes.

Grind together to make a paste of the following:

3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
2 to 4 green chillies, finely chopped

2 1 inch pieces of ginger, finely chopped

Garnish:

Some finely chopped onions and tomatoes

Chopped cilantro

Pinch of Chaat masala

Thin sev (available at Indian grocery store)

Tamarind and Mint Chutney (available at Indian grocery store)

1. Heat oil. When hot, add the onions and sautee for 5 minutes. Now add the tomatoes and sautee for another 5 minutes.

2. Add the ginger garlic green chilli paste, mix well and keep sauteeing.

3. Now let cook on low flame for atleast 15 to 20 minutes taking care not to burn the mixture.  This step will take the longest but yields results. Y ou have to keep sauteeing the onions mixture until its reduced and medium brown in color. The onions and tomatoes should blend together as a paste. 

4. Drain the garbanzo beans in a colander.  Add the beans and add 1/2 cup water.  Now add chole masala and chana masala, salt, turmeric, amchur powder, and mix well.

5. Add another 1/2 cup of water and let cook covered for 15 to 20 minutes on low flame. You may have to add some water through the process. In the end, you do not want it too watery, however!

6. Now assemble the whole thing together. Line up the samosas at the bottom of the bowl.  Pour the chole mixture on the top. Garnish with chopped onions, tomatoes, cilantro, tamarind chutney, mint chutney and pinch of chaat masala.

Serve hot.