Samosa Chaat (That You'll Crave Again)!

samosa chaat in a black bowl with a spoon with plate full of samosa in the background

5 from 10 votes

Samosa Chaat (That You'll Crave Again)!

Tangy and spicy Samosa Chaat is popular north Indian street food! Crunchy samosa is served with spicy chickpea curry (chole), yogurt and chutneys!

Prep Time15

Cook Time30

Course: Appetizer

Cuisine: Indian

Servings:

Author: Manali Singh

Ingredients

For the Chole

2 cups dried chickpeas soaked overnight
5-6 whole green cardamom
4-5 black peppercorn
2 bay leaves
2 1-inch cinnamon stick
2 black tea bags
4-5 cups water
salt to taste
1 & ½ tablespoon oil I used avocado oil
¾ cup pureed onion or finely grated, from 2 small onions
2 teaspoons ginger garlic paste
2 & ½ cups pureed tomatoes from 4 medium tomatoes
3 teaspoons chole masala
½ teaspoon red chili powder or to taste
½ teaspoon paprika powder
¾ teaspoon cumin powder

For tempering of Chole

1 tablespoon ghee
1 inch ginger cut into juliennes
¼ teaspoon garam masala
½ tablespoon crushed kasuri methi
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro

For the Chaat

14 medium samosa homemade or store bought
plain yogurt for serving, should be well beaten and thick
cilantro chutney for serving
sweet tamarind chutney for serving
chopped onion for serving
chopped cilantro for serving
sev for serving
pomegranate arils for garnishing (optional)
chaat masala to sprinkle

Instructions

To Make Chole

Soak 2 cups dried chickpeas overnight in 4 cups water. In the morning drain the water and then rinse the chickpeas.
Transfer the chickpeas to a pressure cooker (or instant pot or an open pot) and then add the whole spices- 5-6 green cardamom, 4-5 black peppercorn, 2 bay leaves and 2-inch cinnamon stick.
Also add 2 black tea bags, water (around 4 to 5 cups) and 1 teaspoon salt. Please note: the tea bags are for giving the chole a dark color. They do not impart any taste to the final product. You may skip it.
Pressure cook on high heat for 2 whistles. After that lower the flame to medium and let the chickpeas cook for another 10 to 12 minutes. Remove the cooker from heat and allow the pressure to release naturally. You should be able to press the chickpeas easily with your fingers once cooked. Set aside.
If using Instant Pot cook for 30 minutes on high pressure with natural pressure release. Refer to the post on how to cook chickpeas in an open pot on stove-top.
Start making the masala. Heat 1 & ½ tablespoons oil in a pan on medium heat. Once the oil is hot, add ¾ cup grated/pureed onions to it. Cook the onions until the raw smell goes away completely, around 5 minutes. Then add 2 teaspoons ginger-garlic paste and cook for 1 minute.
Add 2 & ½ cups pureed tomatoes (from 4 medium tomatoes)and mix. Cover and cook the tomatoes for around 15 minutes on medium heat, stir once or twice in between. This step is important, so do not rush cooking the tomatoes.
Once the tomatoes are cooked, add 3 teaspoons chole masala, ½ teaspoon red chili powder, ½ teaspoon paprika powder, ¾ teaspoon cumin powder and remaining ½ teaspoon salt. Mix and cook the spices for 1 minute.
Add the cooked chickpeas into the pan and stir. Cover and let the curry simmer for around 30 minutes on low-medium heat. Again, don't rush the step for best tasting chole. The curry will thicken considerably and that's what we want for the chaat.
The curry is now done. Taste test and adjust salt etc. at this point. Let it simmer while you make the tempering.
For the tempering, heat 1 tablespoon ghee in a pan on medium heat. Once the ghee is hot, add 1-inch ginger juliennes to it and fry until it starts turning golden brown in color. Transfer the fried julienne to the curry.
Then add ¼ teaspoon garam masala, ½ tablespoon kasuri methi and mix. Finally add 2 tablespoons cilantro (chopped) and stir.
Once the chole is ready, gather all other ingredients and start plating the samosa chaat.

To Serve Samosa Chaat

To make a plate of samosa chaat, place 1 cup of prepared chole into the serving bowl. Top with 2 big dollops of yogurt (around 2 tablespoons). Then roughly break 2 samosas and place them on top of yogurt.
Top the samosa with more chole (1 tablespoon), cilantro chutney (1-2 teaspoon, to taste), sweet tamarind chutney (1-2 teaspoons, adjust to taste).
And finally garnish the Samosa Chaat with chopped onion, sev, cilantro, pomegranate arils (if using). Sprinkle chaat masala and serve immediately! Make more samosa chaat similarly.

Video

Notes

This recipe of chole and samosa can easily serve 7 people or more. If you just add 1 samosa per plate of the chaat, you can serve 14 people. Since I have used 2 samosa per plate, I served it more like a meal. To serve as an appetizer, reduce the portion size.
If using canned chickpeas for making the chole, skip the step of cooking them in pressure cooker or instant pot. Start by making the masala and add the whole spices in the oil first and then add the onions and make the recipe as is.

Nutrition