samosa chaat

A big bowl of samosa chaat! Loaded with a side of hummus, dollop of plain yogurt, and some naan!

The other day, I was out for an icy February bike ride with my boyfriend and we stopped at an Indian restaurant to warm up with some hot tea & a snack. We had never had samosa chaat, but we fell in love with the dish right away! It’s full of veggies and warm spices, and banishes your hunger for hours. What’s more, it is incredibly inexpensive to throw together. Before we had even left the restaurant, my boyfriend was saying, “We should make this. We should make a big bowl of it and keep it in the fridge at all times. I would eat this.”

So after days of hearing about it, I looked up samosa chaat online, got a general idea of the ingredients from a Hindi recipe blog, and made a few changes to accommodate my American cupboard. This recipe maintains its authenticity, with the exception of the type of masala used: I didn’t have time to run out the Indian ethnic market, and I didn’t have the spices on hand to make my own chaat masala. I did, however, have garam masala and it substituted nicely.

This recipe makes a big batch — enough to feed six hungry people for dinner. If you aren’t cooking for that many, you can halve the batch or simply keep the leftovers in the fridge & eat it throughout the week. This would be a great dish to bring to a potluck or a barbeque; I think it’s a bit like India’s interpretation of a bean salad.

For the chaat:

2 (15 oz.) cans of chickpeas

1 mango, diced

2 TBSP minced onion

1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

1 1/2 tsp masala (I used garam masala because I couldn’t get my hands on chaat masala)

about 20 – 24 samosas (recipe below!)

1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt to drizzle overtop (though you may find you want more! I put huge dollops on mine)

4 to 8 naan, for serving alongside (you can buy it at many large grocery stores, but you can use pita bread if you can’t find naan. Or you can buy some naan from your local Indian restaurant or try my recipe for homemade naan!)

Rinse and drain the chickpeas. Combine it in a large serving bowl with diced mango and minced onion, tossing evenly. Combine the spices in a small bowl and then sprinkle over the chickpea mixture, tossing to coat evenly. Set aside while you prepare the samosas. 

The chaat, sans samosas!

For the samosa dough:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp thyme

1/2 tsp salt

2 TBSP butter, melted (you can substitute 2 TBSP olive oil if you prefer)

about 6 TBSP water

Combine the flour, thyme, and salt in a medium mixing bowl. Drizzle in the melted butter and toss with a fork. Add the water bit by bit — you may need more or less than 6 TBSP, depending on the weather or type of flour used. Knead the dough by hand ’til it keeps together nicely. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap & set it aside while you prepare the other ingredients.

The samosa dough, kneaded and waiting to be rolled out.

For the samosa filling:

3 small potatoes, peeled and boiled

1 cup peas, boiled

1 TBSP coriander

1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

1/2 tsp masala (again, I used garam masala; use chaat masala if you have it)

1/4 tsp kosher salt

Combine the spices in a small bowl. In a large bowl, mash the potatoes roughly. In a small bowl, mash the peas as well as your patience allows. Add the mashed peas to the potatoes and toss to distribute evenly. Add the spice mixture and mix well.

Spices! Garam masala, kosher salt, roasted ground coriander, & crushed red pepper flakes.

Now back to the samosa dough!

Turn the samosa dough out onto a clean countertop that has been lightly dusted with flour. Roll into a large rectangle — about 18″ x 14″ — that is quite thin, perhaps 1/8th of an inch thick or so. With a sharp knife or a pizza wheel, divide the dough into square-ish 2″ rectangles. These do not have to be perfect; they will be fried and then smashed anyway. Their beauty will be in how delicious they are!

Dough for plenty of samosas! This much dough made about two dozen.

Plop a small ball of the potato filling onto each square and wrap the dough snugly around it, just like ravioli or dumplings. You may find it useful to dab a bit of water on the dough as you work to help the crust stay closed. Cover completed samosas with saran wrap to keep them from drying out. If you have more filling than dough, simply add the extra filling to the chaat mixture.

Forming the samosa!

Fry the samosas in batches. I think olive oil is best, though you can use any type you like. Transfer fried samosas to a paper towel-lined plate or cutting board.

Samosa are also fabulous eaten right out of the pan! No chaat required.

Smash the finished samosas with a mallet and add them to the chaat, tossing to distribute evenly. If your samosas are very large, you may want to slice them in half before smashing them.

A big bowl of samosa chaat! Loaded with a side of hummus, dollop of plain yogurt, and some naan!

Drizzle the finished chaat with plain yogurt and serve immediately with warm naan!

It’s hard to get a snapshot before people start digging in.

About these ads