Matar Chaat
Dec 01, 2020, Updated Jun 16, 2021
Matar Chaat- an easy Indian appetizer or snack made with white peas mixed with onions, tomatoes and spices! Served with kulcha, it makes a filling meal.
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Matar Chaat made with white peas tossed with onion, tomatoes, spices and chutneys!
This chaat is extremely popular in Delhi and makes amazing meal with kulcha or can be enjoyed as such.
Matar Kulcha had a special place in my heart during college days. There was this roadside stall near our college which sold matar kulcha plate for Rs.7 I think (which is less than 10 cent!) and that used to be my treat very often.
That plate had 2 bread kulcha and a generous bowl of matar chaat made with white matar (white peas). It was so good you guys, so filling and all under 10 cent.
Those were the days! I wish I could go back in time and devour that meal again.
Now when the cravings strike in, I make these at home. You can’t really find kulchas here easily like you would in India so I need to make those at home too.
The Matar Chaat is actually very easy to make. The only cooking required is to pressure cook the white peas. The rest only involves chopping and mixing everything together.
For this matar chaat recipe, I used my Instant Pot to boil the peas. You can definitely used a stove-top pressure cooker if that’s what you have.
The pressure cooked peas are mixed with onion, tomatoes, spices and chutneys making it really flavorful. It’s one of my favorite ways to enjoy safed matar, the other being ragda patties.
This Matar Chaat
✔is an easy recipes which hardly involves any cooking except pressure cooking white peas.
✔can be eaten as such as a chaat or snack.
✔pairs well with the classic combination of kulcha (of course)!
✔is vegan and also gluten-free.
This matar chaat is made with white peas, also known as safed matar in hindi. These are not as popular as the more common chickpeas.
In fact I am also guilty of not cooking them much but they are definitely very delicious and one that you must try (if you haven’t already)!
Ingredients for The Chaat
So, this chaat is really simple. There are few ingredients used and there’s no cooking involved except pressure cooking the peas.
White peas (safed matar): this is also known as matra in northern India. For this recipe, I have used dried white peas.
I like soaking these overnight and then pressure cooking in the morning. If crunch for time, you can soak in hot water for 4 hours but overnight is preferable.
After pressure cooking, I drain the water in which the peas were cooked but do not drain it completely.
You don’t want very dry peas here so some moisture is good.
Onion & Tomato: raw onion and tomatoes are added to this chaat for flavor and the onions for crunch.
Chutneys: so traditionally tamarind is soaked and then it’s water is used in this recipe to make it tangy. I take the shortcut and use 2 different chutney here.
The cilantro chutney and the sweet tamarind chutney gives this chaat a lot of flavor- sweet, spicy and tart.
Spices: the chaat gets a lot of flavors from the spices that are used. I love using freshly roasted cumin powder here.
Other than cumin powder, chaat masala and kala namak are the other essential spices used in this chaat.
Garnishes: I love garnishing with chaat with cilantro and ginger juliennes. Sarvesh is not a fan because he doesn’t like biting into ginger juliennes.
But trust me, they go so well here. If you like ginger, definitely add them here, they give a wonderful flavor to the chaat.
Serving Suggestions
This chaat can be served as a snack or appetizer.
You can also serve it along with samosa as a samosa chaat or with aloo tikki.
For a meal, it is traditionally paired with kulcha. In fact, that’s my favorite way to enjoy them.
You can eat it either warm or cold. In India, we always had it warm with kulcha but now I sometimes also eat it as a salad cold out of the fridge.
Stove-top pressure cooker: I cooked these peas in my Instant Pot. If you want to use a regular stove-top pressure cooker, cook for 4-5 whistles on medium-high heat.
Method
1- Soak 1 cup dried white peas (safed matar) in enough water (around 3 cups) overnight. Then in the morning, rinse and drain the water.
Transfer the peas to the inner steel pot of your Instant Pot, add 1.5 cups (12 oz) water, 1/2 teaspoon salt and stir.
2- Close the pot with the lid and press the pressure cook button. Cook on high pressure for 15 minutes or if you prefer much softer peas do 20 minutes (with the pressure valve in the sealing position).
Let the pressure release naturally.
3- Open the lid and then using a strainer drain the water in which the peas were pressure cooker. But retain like 2 tablespoons of water so that the peas remain little moist and not become completely dry.
Transfer to a large bowl and then add to it- chopped onion, chopped tomato, green chili, ginger juliennes, chopped cilantro, cumin powder, kala namak and chaat masala.
4- Also add the sweet tamarind chutney and cilantro chutney.
Mix everything together until it’s all well combined. Serve matar chaat with kulcha or as a snack.
If you’ve tried this Matar Chaat Recipe then don’t forget to rate the recipe! You can also follow me on Facebook, Instagram to see what’s latest in my kitchen!
Matar Chaat
Ingredients
- 1 cup dried white peas (safed matar), 200 grams, soaked overnight
- 1.5 cups water
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 medium onion chopped
- 1 medium tomato chopped
- 1 green chili chopped
- 1 inch ginger julienned
- 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
- 1 teaspoon cumin powder
- 1/2 teaspoon kala namak black salt
- 1/4 teaspoon chaat masala
- 3 tablespoons sweet tamarind chutney
- 1 tablespoon cilantro chutney
Instructions
- Soak 1 cup dried white peas (safed matar) in enough water (around 3 cups) overnight. Then in the morning, rinse and drain the water.Transfer the peas to the inner steel pot of your Instant Pot, add 1.5 cups (12 oz) water, 1/2 teaspoon salt and stir.
- Close the pot with the lid and press the pressure cook button. Cook on high pressure for 15 minutes or if you prefer much softer peas do 20 minutes (with the pressure valve in the sealing position).Let the pressure release naturally.Open the lid and then using a strainer drain the water in which the peas were pressure cooker. But retain like 2 tablespoons of water so that the peas remain little moist and not become completely dry.
- Transfer to a large bowl and then add to it- chopped onion, chopped tomato, green chili, ginger juliennes, chopped cilantro, cumin powder, kala namak and chaat masala.
- Also add the sweet tamarind chutney and cilantro chutney. Mix everything together until it's all well combined. Serve matar chaat with kulcha or as a snack.
Stove-top Pressure Cooker Instructions
- If you want to use a regular stove-top pressure cooker, soak the peas overnight and then cook for 4-5 whistles on medium-high heat. Follow rest of the steps as it is.
Notes
- Matar chaat can be served warm or cold. Serve warm when serving it with kulcha.
- Spices levels can be adjusted to taste. Add more chopped green chilies for a spicier chaat.
- To make it in advance, boil the peas and keep them refrigerated. They will be okay in the refrigerator for few days. When ready to eat, simply mix everything together and serve.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Hi didi,
I love your stories of life in India. I really enjoy reading about the ways your memories of India are tied up with food. But I just want to point out that Rs 7 is not less than a cent! It’s currently around 10 cents US.
Thanks, still very cheap, that’s all I wanted to convey, will fix it.