It is during last week that we got invited to one of Arjun’s classmate’s birthday party . I was not sure whether I would be able to attend as Arun had his school exams and apart from that he was also preparing for his Hindi Madhyama exams too. But my host called me and made me promise that I would not miss it. I did not have the heart to say no and so I told her that we will be arriving late.
These people definitely knew how to party was the first impression that I got upon reaching there. Everything was well arranged. When we reached there a magic show was going on. They had a tatoo designer, henna designer and a face painter to keep the kids engaged. The menu was kids favorite. Everybody loved it.
I was particularly drawn to this item. Don’t you think this chaat looks beautiful? Below the lights this was shimmering and I was literally drawn to it. The next day I called my host to thank her for a wonderful time we had and asked her about the menu as I was introduced to many new dishes which caught my interest.
I was surprised to hear that her mother-in-law had designed the menu and everything served to us were home made under her direct supervision. She is from Ludhiana province and the cooks were from there. I should have known that from the taste of the food itself. I mentioned the recipes that had me interested and asked her if I could get the recipe for them.
She gave the phone to her MIL and noting my interest she was only too happy to hand over me the recipes. This is the first recipe that I tried out from the party food that we enjoyed. Though I was able to make out the ingredients of this chaat, I still confirmed it with her in the anxiety that I don’t miss out on any ingredient and miss the authentic taste. I just made a few changes to suit our taste buds.
You’ll need:
| Potatoes, medium | 4 |
| Pomegranate pearls | 1 cup |
| Nylon sev / Boondhi | 1/2 cup |
| Onion | 1 |
| Green Chillies | 2 - 3 |
| Coriander leaves | 1/4 cup |
| Mint Leaves | 1/4 cup |
| Roasted Peanuts | 3/4 cup |
| Chaat Masala powder | 2 tsp |
| Lemon juice | 2 tbsp |
| Oil | 2 tsp |
| Salt | to taste |
Method:
Pressure cook the potatoes and remove the skin. They should be firm and not over cooked. Dice them into cubes. De-skin the peanuts. Chop the onion, green chillies, coriander and mint leaves finely.
Heat a pan with oil. Add the onion and chillies and sauté till the onions turn soft. It will just take a minute. Do not let it change color.
In a big bowl add the cubed potatoes, pomegranate pearls, peanuts, sautéed onions, chillies, coriander, mint leaves, chaat masala and salt. Close the bowl with a plate and shake or toss well.
Add the lemon juice and again toss well. Finally before serving sprinkle the nylon sev or boondhi and enjoy your chaat.
See how easy it is. Arun loved it so much and Arjun could not resist the salted pom pearls and Hubby dear who was usually not that enthusiastic about chaats enjoyed it a lot.
Notes:
| You can also add grated carrots and chopped cucumber to this. |
| You can skip the sauteeing of onion in oil and use it raw. That was the original recipe. But my children don’t like eating raw onions and sautéing in oil prevents the onion from secreting water when combined with salt which will only make the chaat soggy when kept for some time. |
| If using Boondhi, use the spicier variety and not the sweet ones. |
| They served with a tangy imli chutney drizzled on top, of course it was optional. But I omitted it as loved the chaat just the way it was. |
Even the children could assemble this. So try out this simple chaat and tell me how much you enjoyed it. Also Check out my other Chaats.
This is off to Anyone Can Cook Series and to Fast Food not Fat Food
Labels: Chaats, Fruit: Pomegranate, Snacks, Street Food, Vegetable: Potato