The Chaat Street of India – Katori chaat

Chaat Street

Talking about the foods of India and not talking about the Street food would be like introducing someone to a body without a soul, as they say that a city’s soul lies in its street food. 

Being a  foodie and a street food lover it would be a crime on my part, not to mention the delicious Chaats that you can find across the streets of India. So with this menu of mine I’ll take all the foodies across some of the lipsmacking Chaats round the country.

Chaats are the savoury/tangy tid-bits dishes made out of a wide variety of ingredients. Be it the streets of Chandni Chownk in Delhi  or the Chowpati beach in Mumbai, every city in our country boasts of its own chaat delight. So let’s start our journey in the world of Chaats.

KATORI CHAAT

Ingredients

For the Katoris

½ cup maida

¼ cup softened butter

¼ tsp salt

For the filling

1 cup mixed sprouts

½ cup fried paneer cut into cubes

½ cup boiled potato cut into cubes

A pinch of asafoetida

2 tsp chilli powder

1 tsp amchur (dry amngo powder)

2 tsp dhaniya-jeera powder

¼ tsp turmeric

1 tsp chana masala

2 tbsp oil

Salt to taste

For serving

Beaten curd

Imli ki chutney

Sev

Chaat masala

Method for preparing katori chaat

1. For the katoris make stiff dough of the maida, butter and salt using little water.
2. Now roll the dough to about ¼ “ thickness press it individually into moulds (aluminium would be the best)
3. Prick the moulds with fork.
4. Bake in a hot oven at 230 deg for 10 to 15 min.
5. Cool and shell the maida katoris out of the mould.
6. Now prepare the filling by heating a little oil and adding a pinch of asafoetida to it.
7. Immediately add the sprouts, potatoes and paneer to it.
8. Now add the chilli powder, turmeric, amchur, chana masala and the dhaniya-jeera powder to it.
9. Sprinkle a little water and cook till the sprouts are soft.
10. Now fill each katori with a portion of filling.
11. Top with beaten curd, imli chutney, sev and chaat masala and serve immediately.

(for the imli chutney simmer deseeded imli along with grated jaggery, chilli powder, asafoetida and salt in little water and pass it through a fine sieve)