Sareta Puri’s chana chaat

“Chaat” means ‘to taste’ in Hindi and is a common name for a popular street food. It is typically made with aloo (potato) or chana (chickpea). It is served on or mixed into a refreshing kachumber salad and topped with zingy coriander chutney and sev (gram flour sticks as found in Bombay mix).

Serves: 4 

Preparation time:  20-25 minutes 

If you can, use organic ingredients for this recipe. Although we are unsure whether eating organic food reduces breast cancer risk, organic food contains less pesticide residue. We know that certain pesticides are linked to breast cancer risk, so we recommend eating organic food whenever possible. Read more on pesticides here.
 

Ingredients:  

Kachumber

½ cucumber

2 medium tomatoes

¼ red onion

1 teaspoon garam masala

½ lemon, juiced

¼ teaspoon salt, to taste

pinch of fresh coriander and mint leaves (optional)

Chaat

100g potatoes, boiled, and 1 200g chickpeas (in glass jar), drained and washed

¼ teaspoon kala namak (black salt)

pinch asafoetida - a spice often used in Indian cuisine and found in most supermarkets

1 tablespoon sev/boondi/farsan (optional) – available in Indian stores

Pinch of coriander leaves, chopped

Coriander chutney

1 cup of fresh coriander (stalks and leaves)

½ lemon, juiced

½ inch ginger

1 clove garlic

1 green chilli or chilli flakes/powder

0.5 teaspoon ground cumin

0.5 teaspoon salt

Water

Equipment:

Large pan

Grater

Masher

Baking tray

Instructions

• Peel and dice the onion. Grate the carrots. Finely chop or grate the mushrooms. Drain the kidney beans then mash well in a bowl. Roughly chop or blitz the nuts – if you have a food processor you can blitz the carrots, mushrooms, kidney beans and nuts together.
• Peel the potatoes and swede. Dice the potatoes and swede into 1-inch pieces.
• Heat the oil in a large saucepan then fry the onions until soft and translucent.
• Add the lentils and stock, bring to the boil then cover and simmer for about 14-16 minutes until the lentils are soft but not completely mushy and most of the water has been absorbed. Once the lentils are soft, add the oats, 1 tbsp water and a good load of pepper, stir through and cook for 2-3 minutes.
• Add the nuts, carrot, mushrooms, kidney beans, marmite, lemon juice, soy sauce, herbs and spices plus a pinch of salt depending on saltiness of stock, marmite and soy sauce.
• Stir for 5 mins whilst it thickens then taste – it should be a thick doughy porridge consistency and taste rich and peppery, adjust season if required. Turn off the heat and leave to sit.
• Spread the haggis out on a greased baking tray and bake for 25-30 minutes until crisp on the top. Meanwhile, cook the neeps and tatties (swede and potatoes).
• Boil water in two separate pans. Put the swede in one pan and the tatties in the other and cook for 12-15 minutes until the neeps and tatties are tender.
• Drain the potatoes and retain about 2 tbsp of the potato water with the potatoes in the pan. Add the milk, butter/oil, mustard and season to taste with salt and pepper then mash until smooth.
•  Drain and return to the pan. Stir through the butter/oil and season with salt and pepper then mash until smooth.
• Serve 1-2 scoopfuls of each of the haggis, neeps and tatties.

Why this is good for you  

Chickpeas are rich in fibre and can help you reach your daily fibre goal of 30g a day. A diet high in fibre reduces breast cancer risk. Additionally, chickpeas are an excellent source of plant proteins and make a great alternative to processed meat. .

Enjoyed this chana chaat recipe and are craving more recipes like this? Breast Cancer UK’s brand new recipe e-book Download (for free) ‘Organic Flavours’ and Sareta Puri’s website have got you covered! What are you waiting for? Get cooking. 

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