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About this recipe
Indian chickpea salad or chana chaat is a popular Indian street food that has a burst of flavors and textures. This tangy, spicy, and sweet dish is made with boiled chickpeas, potatoes, veggies, and spices. This healthy protein-rich dish is also great for a quick and filling lunch.
Chana aloo chat is very easy to make when you use canned chickpeas or leftover boiled chickpeas. This chana salad has bold and complex flavors with all the ingredients complimenting each other beautifully.
Chaat (or chat) is a wide variety of foods that are sold in roadside shops or carts in India. These popular street foods are extremely popular and are unique and oh-so-delicious. 'Chaat' literally translates to 'lick' in Hindi. Every state and region has its own set of popular chaats that are all so unique and delicious.
This chana salad has many variations too - add yogurt, alter the chutneys used, or skip the potato. You can also use black chickpeas, peanuts, or corn as the main ingredient.
When you think about an Indian chickpea dish, you will think about a curry. Well, here is a chickpea dish that is not curry! Read on for ingredients, substitutes, step-by-step instructions, and useful tips to make this lip-smacking chaat in under 15 minutes.
Ingredients
Chickpeas: I use canned chickpeas. If you use dried chickpeas, soak them overnight and boil them until they are tender.
Veggies: Potatoes, onion (red/pink), tomatoes, and cucumber. Boil the potato until it is fork-tender. Chop them roughly and use them. Finely chop the other vegetables.
Condiments: Green chutney and sweet chutney are the key condiments to making this chaat. You can easily buy them in any Indian grocery store or make them at home and store them in the refrigerator or freeze them.
Spices: We will need chili powder and chaat masala. You can replace chili powder with cayenne. You can find chaat masala in Indian grocery stores.
Other ingredients: Cilantro, lemon juice, and sev. Sev is deep-fried thin noodles made using chickpea flour and is available in Indian grocery stores.
Step-by-step instructions
Combine together chickpea, boiled potatoes, onion, tomato, cucumber, and cilantro (step 1).
Add chili powder, chaat masala powder, tamarind chutney, mint chutney, lemon juice, cilantro, and salt (steps 2 and 3).
Mix well, making sure the chickpea is well coated with chutneys and spices (step 4).
Top with sev and serve immediately.
Useful tips and ingredient substitutes
Adjust the spices and chutneys used as per your liking.
It is best to serve it immediately. If you plan to make it ahead, keep everything ready in the refrigerator and mix just before serving.
I use canned chickpeas to make this salad. It is very convenient and the dish is ready in no time. If you use dried chickpeas, soak them overnight in water and boil them until they are tender. The rest of the recipe remains the same.
Waxy or semi-waxy potatoes work best for this chaat. Starchy potatoes will fall apart and turn mushy.
Chickpeas can be substituted with mixed beans, peanuts, black chickpeas, dried peas, corn kernels, etc. Make sure they are well-cooked but not mushy. Sprouted mung beans can also be used directly as a substitute.
You can either make your own green chutney and sweet chutney or buy them in any Indian grocery store. However, if you cannot find them, use green chili sauce instead of green chutney. For sweet chutney, mix equal amounts of tamarind paste and honey, and season it before using.
Pair it with Turkish Borek for a delicious meal.
Also, check out this easy and delicious aloo tikki recipe and ragda patties recipe.
FAQs
Yes. You can make this chaat with black chickpeas (kala chana), peanuts, or corn. Boil them until they are well-cooked but not mushy and use them as per this recipe. You can also use sprouted mung beans instead of boiled chickpeas. This dish also tastes great with canned mixed beans.
Chaat masala is a spice mix that is commonly used in Indian street foods and savory snacks. It is made with dried mango powder, black Indian salt (kala namak), cumin powder, and several other spices. It is easily available in Indian grocery stores or other online stores.
Bonus
This chana chaat is:
- very easy to make,
- great as a snack, appetizer, or healthy lunch,
- vegan and gluten-free.
Recipe card
Chana Chaat / Indian Chickpea Salad
Ingredients
- 1 can chickpeas
- 1 large potato optional
- 1 small onion finely chopped
- 1 medium tomato finely chopped
- ½ cup cucumber finely chopped
- 2 tablespoon cilantro finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon sweet chutney
- 1 tablespoon green chutney
- 1 teaspoon chaat masala
- ¼-½ teaspoon chili powder (mild version)
- 2 tablespoon lemon juice or lime juice
- ¼-½ teaspoon salt (adjust as per taste)
- Sev or boondi for serving (optional)
Instructions
- Drain and rinse the chickpea. Transfer it to a large bowl.
- Boil and peel the potato. Cut it into small cubes.
- Combine together chickpea, boiled potatoes, onion, tomato, cucumber, and cilantro.
- Add chili powder, chaat masala powder, sweet chutney, green chutney, lemon juice, cilantro, and salt.
- Mix well, making sure the chickpea is well coated with chutneys and spices.
- Top with sev or boondi and serve immediately.
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