Sweet Potato Chaat bites – an Indian street food inspired snack

 

Chaat is to India, what pizza is to Italy. It is what burger is to America, what fondue is to Switzerland, what crepes are to France. Ok…I might have exaggerated that. But still, chaat is very important to Indians! Although the origin of chaat is from the north of India, I have hardly visited any city/state in India where people aren't crazy about chaat. It is a common sight to see people line up at the street vendors or chaatwallahs to savour the ever wide variety of bhel, pani puri, papri…etc.

For me, moving away from India also brought up the `necessity` to learn some basic chaat recipes. Ever since lil miss P has started with solids, sweet potatoes are always a part of my kitchen now(they are one of her favourites). And I am looking for ideas to use them up. So here is a healthy and easy chaat recipe using sweet potatoes as a base instead of the usual puri.

Sweet Potato Chaat Bites

Yield – Makes about 20 pieces depending in the size of the sweet potatoes

Things you need -

2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 cm discs *
1 lt water
1 cup chickpeas, soaked overnight, boiled and water drained. Or use canned ones like I did.
1 small red onion finely chopped
half cup sev, a savoury vermecelli snack available in indian stores
1 cup tamarind chutney, available in indian stores or make your own as per recipe below
1-2 tbsp chaat masala
a few coriander leaves
1 tbsp paprika powder for garnish, optional
a few lime wedges for garnish, optional

How I made it -

1. Preheat oven to 200 deg. Celsius.
2. Pour boiling water over the sweet potato discs. Cover and keep aside for 10-15 mins. Then drain the water completely and dry the sweet potato discs with a kitchen towel.
3. Now carefully toss the sweet potatoes with 2 tbsp oil and a pinch of salt in a wide bowl, such that the discs are coated with oil and salt.
4. Spread out the discs evenly on a baking tray lined with parchment paper and bake at 200 degrees for 10-15 minutes until the sweet potato discs just start to turn brown.
5. Take them out of the oven and let them cool completely on a wire rack or a plate.
6. Meanwhile prepare the topping for the chaat. Mix the chopped red onions and sev together in a bowl. Slightly mash the boiled chickpeas in a separate bowl.
7. Spoon about a teaspoon of the chickpeas on top of the baked sweet potato disc. Then op with some tamarind chutney, then spoon some of the onion-sev mixture. Finally garnish with chaat masala and coriander. Repeat for all the sweet potato discs. Garnish with a pinch of paprika, a drizzle of lime juice for an extra zing and serve.

Notes -

* You could also use potatoes instead of sweet potatoes. Make sure you dont slice the potatoes too thin, else they will shrink during baking.
- Instead of baking, roasting the discs on a non stick pan until they turn golden would also work.

To prepare tamarind chutney

Recipe Adapted from Sinfully Spicy

Yield – About 200gms

Things you need -

half cup tamarind, soaked in a cup of water for an hour
half cup jaggery or sugar
2 tbsp raisins, soaked in water. *
1 tsp cumin powder
2 tsp red chilli powder
a pinch of asafoetida/hing
1 tsp salt
2-3 cloves, mildly roasted and powdered
half tsp oil

How I made it -

1. Extract the tamarind pulp discarding any seeds or straw. Reserve half cup of the water for later.
2. Puree the soked raisins in a blender with as little water as possible.
3. Heat oil in a pan. Add the asafoetida.
3. Now mix the tamarind pulp, jaggery/sugar, chilli powder, cumin powder, asafotida, clove powder, salt and add to the pan. Cook on medium-low heat with the remaining water from step 1.
4. Once it starts to boil, add the raisin puree. Adjust the salt and sweetness as desired. Add some more jaggery or sugar if you like it more sweet. Simmer for about 5 mins until the mixture turns slightly to a runny jam like consistency. Keep in mind that it will thicken slightly more on cooling.
5. Take off from heat and allow it to cool completely. Can be stored in an airtight jar in the refrigerator for about a month.

Notes -

* Alternatively use dates instead of raisins. Soak about half cup of seedless dates in water and follow the same procedure as given above.

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