Chaat hors d’oeuvres

Why call it chaat hors d’oeuvres? Good question! Simply because it sounds good. But otherwise, chaat is a delicious, spicy, tangy, sweet and saltine blast of flavours that gets the gastronomical juices flowing and works perfectly as an appetizer. And if you’ve had chaat, aloo or samosa of any kind, then you know it’s difficult to stop after one bite. A plate is too much to leave room for dinner and too little to satisfy the palette.

Here is our solution. A friend of mine, Ankita; who is a dentist and a dabbler in culinary experiments, came up with this simple idea of serving bite sized helpings of chaat placed on papdi. Hence the christening of this twist, chaat hors d’oeuvres. Pick it up, pop it in and wash it down with a drink. While we can’t guarantee you won’t be a glutton, we can assure you that you will be able to count the times you eat it!

Presenting to you Ankita’s recipe for making Chaat hors d’oeuvres in her own words.

What is your idea of an evening snack with friends- tangy, spicy, crunchy, quick and low-fat? This bhelpuri on papdi has it all. A true chat fan from India, while in New jersey I miss the chatpati street from my hometown. To quench my desire for this snack, I have been experimenting in my own kitchen to get that perfect taste to satiate my palate. Dahipuri, bhelpuri and sevpuri have all come together to make this modification.

This is a deconstructed bhelpuri chaat on papdi!!

Serves: 4-5
Preparation time: 15-20 mins

Ingredients:

• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 green chilli, finely chopped
• 1 tomato, finely chopped
• 1 potato boiled and finely chopped/mashed, my husband not being a tomato and a potato fan I usually don’t use them.
• 1.5 cups of bhelpuri mix from indian grocery store
• 3-4 tablespoons tamarind date chutney from indian grocery store
• 3-4 tablespoons mint coriander chutney homemade
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 16-20 Papdis/Flat puris from indian grocery store
• Garnish;
• ½ cup of chilled curd, whipped smooth
• ½ cup fine/nylon sev from indian grocery store
• ½ teaspoon red chilli powder optional
• 1 teaspoon chaat masala
• Fresh coriander leaves

Process:

Once the ingredients are ready the only thing you need to do is add them in a mixing bowl and blend in the mix of chutneys. It can’t get easier than this! In a large mixing bowl, add onions, chillies and tomatoes.  Then,  add the bhelpuri mixture. In a smaller bowl, mix together the chutneys and lemon juice. Taste and check for salt and spice. If satisfactory, that is tangy enough, pour this over the mix sitting in your big mixing bowl. Gently toss the vegetables and bhelpuri ingredients until coated with the chutneys and keep it aside.

Next, to assemble the bite sized snacks place papdis on a serving plate and using a teaspoon top them with a small amount of the mix. Pour small amount of plain curd/yogurt over the papdis loaded with the mix.  Half a teaspoon will do.

Sprinkle red chilli powder and chaat masala. To garnish use fine sev add a few leaves of coriander.

That’s it!