Chana Chaat – a classic Indian street-side snack that is easy to make and tastes extremely delicious. This spicy, sweet, tangy, irresistible snack takes less than 10 minutes to make with tinned chickpeas or with boiled chickpeas if you have it on hand. This dish is vegan, nut-free and gluten-free.
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Chaats such as dahi papdi chaat, peanut chaat, bhel puri and masala puri chaat are such an easy and fuss-free dish that gets ready in just a few minutes when the pre-made chutneys, spices and rest of the ingredients are on hand.
This vibrant aloo chana chaat can be served as a tea-time snack or as a starter. It is sure to entice guests at your next party and potlucks. Arrange all the ingredients on a table and let your guests assemble the chaat themselves. This allows people to play around and customise the chaat to their own taste.
This allows people to be creative and build their own chaat to suit their taste - more sweet, more spicy, more crunchy, more tangy, more vegetables, it’s entirely up to them!
Tinned chickpea is one of the useful ingredients to have in a pantry that comes handy on busy days or on lazy days when you don’t want to spend more time in the kitchen. You can make a simple yet tasty chickpea spinach curry or butternut squash curry with chickpeas to go with rice or chapati for a weeknight dinner, healthy and light Simple Chickpea Salad for guilt-free snacking or for lunch and healthy chickpea vegetable patties.
Sweet tamarind chutney is an essential condiment used in every chaat recipe. It could be made in advance and stored in the fridge. It takes hardly 5 minutes to make chana chaat if you have this pre-made chutney and boiled chickpeas on hand.
Ingredients
Vegetables: onion, tomato, green chilli, coriander, potato, lemon juice.
Spices: chilli powder, chaat masala, roasted cumin powder.
Toppings: Pomegranate, fine sev, sweet tamarind chutney.
Chickpea: I've used tinned chickpeas. Discard the liquid in the tin, wash the chickpeas with fresh water a couple of times and then use it. Dried chickpeas could also be used, just ensure to soak them for at least 6 hours, discard the water and then cook with fresh water until soft.
How to make chana chaat?
In a wide bowl, add chickpeas and the rest of the vegetables, salt and dry spices and mix until well combined.
Now top it with tamarind chutney, pomegranate, fine sev and coriander.
Serve the delicious chana chaat immediately.
Tips and Tricks
It is not necessary to follow exact measurements for chaats. Consider adding as much chutney, spices and vegetables as you wish to suit your taste.
Homemade chutneys are better than store-bought ones as they provide fresh flavours and elevate the taste of the chaat.
Assemble this easy no-cook Indian snack just before you serve as the vegetables tend to release moisture and the sev could go soggy.
Do not skip the lemon juice as it enhances the flavour of chana chaat.
Do not add green chillies and either reduce or skip chilli powder for kids. Alternatively, add a pinch of crushed black pepper instead of chillies and chilli powder for older kids if they can handle a little heat.
Variations
Add a handful of roasted peanuts for extra crunch.
For a change, try adding boiled sweet potato cubes or corn.
Along with sweet tamarind chutney, green chutney makes a great addition and imparts lovely flavours.
Chopped raw mango adds a tangy flavour to chana chaat.
Notes
You may swap Bombay mix with fine sev.
Each 400gms tin yields approximately 240gms of chickpeas when drained.
Serving Suggestions
Great as a tea-time snack with a cup of masala chai or rose milk tea.
Perfect party appetiser to serve guests. Have all the ingredients ready on a table and let people assemble themselves.
Serve it along with a glass of mango lassi/ rose lassi or smoothies such as my tropical smoothie or pineapple banana smoothie to compensate for the spiciness just in case!
FAQs
Potato, onion, tomato, cucumber, sweet tamarind chutney, dry spices such as chili powder, roasted cumin powder, salt, chaat masala and lemon juice are the main ingredients added to chana chaat. However feel free to be creative and add papdi, green chutney, pomegranate, sev or any fancy topping that you would like. Options are endless and the sky is the limit when it comes to making a chaat!
Arrange all the required ingredients on a table in the sequence they are supposed to be used while assembling to help those who are not familiar with chaats. Next to serving plates place base ingredients followed by chutneys, crunchy toppings, vegetables and dry spices such as chaat masala, chilli powder.
Chaat is an amalgamation of flavours and textures - spicy, tangy, sweet, sour and crunchy. This incredible blend of complex flavours are incredibly addictive and craveable.
Chickpea salad contains boiled chickpea, vegetables, seasoning and an optional simple dressing. Whereas the list of ingredients required to make chickpea chaat is long. Apart from boiled chickpeas, vegetables and seasoning, it requires tamarind chutney, dry spices and crunchy sev for topping.
📖 Recipe Card
Chana Chaat (Chickpea Chaat)
Ingredients
1 Cup = 250ml ; 1 Tablespoon = 15ml ; 1 Teaspoon = 5ml
- 3 tins Chickpeas 400 gms each tin
- 1 large Onion chopped
- 1 medium Tomato chopped
- 2 small Potatoes boiled, peeled and cubed
- 1 Green Chilli chopped
- ¼ teaspoon Chilli Powder
- ½ teaspoon Chaat Masala
- ½ teaspoon Roasted Cumin Powder
- Salt as required
- Lemon Juice from 1 lemon
- 4 - 5 tablespoon Sweet Tamarind Chutney
- Coriander handful
- Sev handful
- Pomegranate pearls handful
Instructions
- In a wide bowl, add chickpeas and rest of the vegetables, salt, lemon juice and dry spices.3 tins Chickpeas, 1 large Onion, 1 medium Tomato, 2 small Potatoes, 1 Green Chilli, ¼ teaspoon Chilli Powder, ½ teaspoon Chaat Masala, ½ teaspoon Roasted Cumin Powder, Lemon Juice, Salt
- Mix until well combined.
- Now top it with tamarind chutney, pomegranate, fine sev and coriander.4 - 5 tablespoon Sweet Tamarind Chutney, Sev, Pomegranate pearls, Coriander
- Serve delicious chana chaat immediately.
Notes
Nutrition
More No Cook Recipes
Dahi Papdi Chaat 
Peanut Chaat 
Simple Chickpea Salad
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