Tamarind Chutney for Chat | Imli Ki Chutney | Indian Tamarind Sauce

When Konda wanted to take tamarind water for her school weekly home science class, I asked her why she wanted that. She said they were going to be Bhel and she was supposed to bring along Tamarind water. I asked if they were going to cook during the class. She said they were going to just mix everything and eat. I told that just tamarind water wouldn't do for the Bhel, it has to be a chutney. For which she said, "You are the cook, I don't know how it is to be made." 

That reminded me that I am yet to share the typical Tamarind chutney that gets made for the Chaat dishes. This Tamarind Chutney can be made ahead and be preserved for over a week when refrigerated.

Tamarind Chutney

Tamarind Chutney

Ingredients Needed:

Tamarind - 1 cup loosely packed
Jaggary - 3/4 cup
Cumin powder - 1 tsp
Red chili powder - 1 tsp
Chat Masala - 1/2 tsp
Black Salt / Kala Namak - 2 pinches
Sugar - 2 tsp

How to make the Tamarind chutney

Wash and soak the tamarind in water for about 15 mins for it to become soft. Extract pulp from it.

Likewise soak the jaggary and remove the impurities.

In a pan, take the tamarind water and bring to boil. Continue boiling till it becomes little thick. Add the jaggary water and continue cooking.

When the liquid is quite thick, add the red chili powder. It will start to boil over.

Simmer and add the cumin powder, Kala Namak, sugar and chat masala.

Sim for another 10 mins and check if the chutney is thick enough. It should not be thin and dropping, but rather thick to touch.

When done, cool and preserve.

Imli Ki Chutney

You can use this chutney with Bhel Puri, Pani Puri, and other chat dishes.

For Pani Puri, you can make it very thin water.

Stuffed Chilli Bajji or Fritters | Stuffed Mirapakaya Bajji | Bajji Mirapakaya Step by Step Recipe

Recently we came across these stuffed chilli bajjis in some magazine and Amma wanted to make these for evening snacks. Though we got the ingredients needed, until the last moment I didn't really give lot of attention to them. I was really surprised that it had pomegranate seeds along with nuts. And I was glad that both Konda and Peddu loved it!

I wasn't sure what I was thinking when I was writing this post, I had scheduled without the pictures or the anything else. So just edited it again with the pictures.

We went to Don 2 along with kids and they enjoyed it a lot. Well if I should refer the Popcorns and the Corn Chat that accompanied, well it was a great evening..:)

Stuffed Chilli Bajji or Fritters

Ingredients Needed:

Bajji pepper - 250 gms (10 - 12)

For the Stuffing:

Potatoes / Aloo - 2 to 3 medium

Paneer / Indian Cottage Cheese - 3/4 cup

Coriander leave, finely chopped - 3 -4 tsp

Chat powder - 1 tsp

Chilli powder - 1 tsp

Chopped dry fruit (Cashew nuts, Almonds) - 1/2 cup

Pomegranate seeds - 1/2 cup

Green chilli, finely chopped - 3 medium

Oil - 2 tsp

For the outer coating

Gram Flour / Besan - 1 cup

Rice flour - 1 tbsp

Soda a pinch

Salt to taste

Oil for deep frying

How to make Stuffed Chilli Bajji or Chilli Fritters

For the Stuffing

Wash and make slits on the potatoes. Microwave for 6 mins. Once done, cool in water and peel the skin. Mash then well.

Make Paneer as you normally make. You need not worry about pressing them to a shape as you will need to crumble them for this recipe. Chop the nuts and keep it aside.

Heat a non stick pan, add 2 tsps of oil, saute aloo, then crumbled paneer, dry fruits. Saute well.

Then add salt chilli powder, chat powder and mix everything well. Once done, allow to cool.

Remove and add the pomagrante seeds, coriander leaves and green chillis.

For the Chillis

Wash and pat dry the chilis, slit in the middle and remove the seeds completely. continue with the rest and keep them ready.

For the outer coating

Take the besan in a bowl, add rice flour, soda and salt. Slowly add water and make a batter of pouring consistency.

Stuffing and frying

Heat a pan with oil for deep frying. Make sure the oil is hot and not smoking.

Now stuff the chilis with spoonful of the aloo mix into the chilis. Press well. Dip these stuffed bajjis into the besan and gently slide into the hot oil.

Cook on both sides and drain on a kitchen towel.

Serve hot with ketchup.

This goes for my Snack Mela, which is on till the end of the month.

And to my Kid's Delight, hosted by Veena this month themed on colourful palette

Wafer Chat | Potato Chip Chat | Step by Step Recipe

December always reminds me of holidays and celebrations. Though the month starts off with the half yearly exams, the kids look forward to the ten long days of vacation and the parents join the fun too. Even at work, it normally ends up being fun filled and holidaying mood. I remember the many Christmas based events and games we always had during December and this year too, we decided that we should do something similar. 

A team was formed with the juniors being given the responsibility of coming up with different themes, including games and other events. As always no event or celebration is complete without food and yes, I was asked what I could make. My colleagues quickly referred the blog and just that day I had the Snack Mela announced and everybody loved the concept. Couple of years ago, when we had a lunch cooked for 100 employees, I had a team of 20 members helping me with all the dishes. Though we thoroughly enjoyed that day, it was little hectic. Plus given the fact that most wanted snacks to be prepared, I agreed to make snacks in the evening. We had great fun zeroing on the snacks. The organizing team tagged the event as December Drizzle!

The snacks had to be something different from our usual fare plus the fact that we were going to cook for 100 people. We had planned for four days and three are done. All the three have been a smashing hit and everybody simply enjoyed themselves. I made Pancake with condensed Milk and cinnamon topping, next Royal Idlis and finally last week it was a wafer Chat. 

Pancake was made using the ready made mix, still estimating, mixing 4 & 1/2 kgs of flour was a huge task and I had very efficient team helping me blend the mix. I completely forgot to take my blender and had to relay on muscle power. I was told it was a great exercise to those who helped me blend the batter..:)

Second was the Royal Idlis, and this was another interesting challenge as everybody thought I was going to make Masala Idlis.  They never expected such a twist to the idlis and must say many went for 3 helping too. Even though when I posted this dish, it was supposed to have been with leftover idlis, it hardly was then. You can make with fresh batch anytime.

We had a platter of Manchurian planned but I finally said making that will be really a tougher job, considering the deep frying part plus not knowing how the reception would be. Finally others voted against it as it was a regular dish. They wanted the surprise element to be still there. 

So the fourth week's dish was moved to week three and it was Wafer Chat. One of the organizing member ate this at a restaurant and he loved it. So we experimented it once and I said I will surely have to improvise on the things that went in. I was really happy with the way I was able to change few of the components and the end dish turned out really fantastic. Pair the chat with a Chocolate Milk Shake, and you have one happy lot!

The ingredients required for making the entire quantity was mind blowing! We custom ordered 8 kilos of Potato Wafers. The wafers had to be thin and crispy. I am sure listing out the other ingredients in their whole quantity will not surely work out. So I will scale down to a smaller measurement.

Of course when it comes to chat there is never enough!

Since the other two recipes were already blogged, I requested my colleague to click pictures while I was preparing it.

Chocolate Milkshake is always a winner and it can never go wrong in pleasing.  Since I had made it previously, there was a common demand for it to be made again.


Step by Step Pictures

Chocolate Milkshake with Chocolate shavings


15 liters milk was used, 2 big Hershey's chocolate syrup with 10 20 gm chocolate bars along with 2 huge vanilla family packs. There was an unlimited supply flow and I have never seen such content faces before this. 

Wafer Chat | Potato Chip Chat


Ingredients Needed:

For Assembling the chat

Potato Wafers - 1/2 kg
Chat masala
Kala Namak
White Pepper
Finely chopped onions
Finely chopped tomatoes
Coriander leaves
Sev
Coriander leaves
Lemon
Potato Mash
Green Chutney
Sweet Sour Chutney
Curds

For the Potato mash

Boiled Potatoes - 4 medium
Roasted Cumin powder - 2 -3 tsp coarsely ground
Salt to taste
Green Chillies - 4 -5 medium
Oil - 3 - 4 tsp

Wash and chop potatoes and boil till soft. Crumble and keep it aside. Heat a pan and roast the cumin seeds. Once cooled, grind it coarsely to a powder.

Heat the pan again and add oil. Add the mashed potatoes, cumin powder, salt and finely chopped green chillies. When you are making large quantity make sure you don't mash it completely. Just crumble it enough to get blend together.

Allow it to cool and crumble again to get it to dropping consistency.

For the Green Chutney

Mint leaves - 2 bunch
Coriander leaves - 2 bunch
Red Chilies - 8 - 9
Salt to taste

Wash all the leaves and grind to a fine paste adding water and salt.
I normally add green chilies, though red chilies give a wonderful taste.

For the Sweet Sour Chutney

Dates, pitted - 250 gms
Tamarind - 250 gms
Jaggary - 250 gms
Red Chilies - 100 gms

Wash and soak the dates in hot water, remove the seeds and allow it to soak well
Similarly soak the tamarind in hot water. When both tamarind and dates become soft, add more water and bring to boil. When it starts boiling, add the jaggary. Grind the red chilies using water and add to the boiling mix.
pulp and dilute if the sauce is very thick.

Curds / Yogurt Sauce

Thick Curds - 2 cups
Coriander leaves, chopped - 1/2 cup
Salt to taste
Kala Namak
Sugar

Hung curds in a muslin cloth for 15 mins. Using a blender, blend the curds to a thick and smooth consistency.

Make a paste of the coriander leaves and add to the thick curds, continue blending further. Finally add the salt, kala namak and sugar. The taste should be salty and curd tangy. And you should feel that mild coriander taste. Mix in cold water to make it pouring consistency.

Assembling the Wafer Chat in the following way

Assemble the wafers on a plate,
add the potato mash on top,
Next pour the curds over it
Next goes the green chutney and sweet sour chutney.
Then the onions, tomatoes, coriander leaves.
Next the sev
Finally sprinkle the chat masala, Kala Namak, White pepper. You can repeat any of the other ingredients depending on your preference.

Make sure you assemble and serve this right away as potatoes tend to get soggy if allowed standing.

Other Chat Recipes from my Kitchen

Dahi Papdi Chat Recipe
Dahi Samosa Chat Recipe
Ragda Patties | Aloo Tikki Chat
Masala Peanut Chat
Pani Puri / Gol Gappe
Aloo Tikki Recipe

This goes for my Snack Mela, which is on till the end of the month.

And to my Kid's Delight, hosted by Veena this month themed on colourful palette