Vegetable Chaat

Servings: 4      Serving Size: 1/4 of meal

Equipment: Chef's Knife, Cutting Board, Pot 

Prep Time: 10 minutes      Cook Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

Filling

• ½ cup yellow moong dal (lentils)

• ½ cup potatoes boiled peeled and cut into small pieces

• ½ cup tomatoes chopped in small pieces

• ½ cup cucumber chopped in small pieces

• 1 tbsp green chili finely chopped

• 1 tsp ginger finely chopped

• ½ tsp salt

• 1½ tsp cumin powder

• 1 tsp cinnamon

• 1 tsp chilli powder

• 1 tsp ginger powder

• 1 tsp lemon juice

To Garnish

• 1 cup yogurt (unflavored/plain)

• ⅓ cup red onions

• ¼ cup cilantro chopped

• ¼ cup tamarind chutney / paste

• 1 tbsp soy sauce

• Crushed up chips (tortilla or potato)

Instructions:

1. Wash all the vegetables.

2. Boil the potatoes, peel them, and chop them into small pieces.

3. Chop tomatoes, cucumber, ginger, green chili, red onions, and cilantro into small pieces.

4. Wash ½ cup of lentils, changing water 3-4 times, and boil it in 2 cups of water over low medium heat for about 15-20 minutes until the lentils are soft and tender, but not mushy. Add any spices you’d like! Lentils take up a lot of flavor while being cooked. We recommend 1 tbsp cumin, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp chilli powder, and 1 tsp ginger powder.

5. After the lentils are at room temperature mix all the filling ingredients together: lentils, potatoes, tomatoes, cucumber, green chili, ginger, salt, cumin powder, lemon juice.

6. To make the garnish, mix the tamarind paste and soy sauce.

7. To assemble the chaat, first plate the filling. Then, add some yogurt and drizzle some tamarind paste and soy sauce mixture over it.

8. Add the raw, chopped red onions and cilantro. Traditionally, chaat is topped with papdi, crispy flour crackers. It can be found in Asian stores or made from scratch, but any chips/crackers can be used as an alternative.

9. Grab a spoon and enjoy!

Variations:

-Can leave out yogurt, lentils, or any of the toppings/filling ingredients and feel free to substitute based on what you have!

-Traditionally a vegetarian recipe, but you could add meat for extra protein

-Add a sweet touch with pomegranates or blueberries as a topping

-Chaat is very versatile (like salad) so countless variations can be made, including fruit chaat!

-Many Indians place this filling and topping inside a spherical, crispy snack made of semolina flour with some tamarind flavored water to make another popular snack: pani puri!