Bhalla Papri Chaat

Everyone loves chaat and it is so easy to make.

Preparation time: 1.5 hours
Cooking time: 15 mins
Serves 9 to 10

Ingredients:

For Bhalla

• 1 cup urad dal
• 4 cups water
• 1tsp ginger mince
• 1 pinch hing(asafoetida)
• 1tsp salt
• 1tsp cumin seeds

For Papri

• 1 cup wheat flour
• 1/2 cup sooji
• 1tsp salt
• 1/2tsp ajwain seeds(carom)
• 1tsp oil
• water to knead dough

For plating Chaat

• 500ml curd(yogurt)
• 2 potatoes boiled and diced into small cubes
• 1/2 cup black grams(kala chana) pressure cooked with water
• 3 onions finely sliced
• handful coriander leaves chopped
• finely chopped green chilies(optional)
• 1 cup imli chutney
• 1tsp salt
• 1tsp black pepper crushed
• 1tsp cumin powder
• 1tsp chat masala powder
• 3tbsp castor sugar
• 1tbsp cashews(chopped)
• 1tbsp raisins
• 1/2 cup sev
• julienne ginger(optional)

• oil for frying

For making bhallas soak the dal in the water over night. Drain excess water and grind the dal along with rest of the ingredients for bhalla. You may require 1-2tbsps of water to grind the dal properly. To check if your batter is ready to be fried, drop a small amount of the batter in a bowl of water. If it floats, it is ready. If it sinks, you need to beat your batter to incorporate air. Heat the oil and drop balls of batter into the oil. This amount of batter would make around 20 golf sized balls. Fry them till golden-brown and place them on paper towel to remove excess oil.

For making the papri, mix all the ingredients and knead to form a smooth, non-sticky and soft dough. Divide the dough into around 20 equal sized balls and roll them into small circles with a rolling pin. Heat the oil and fry the papris till golden-brown. Place them on paper towel to remove excess oil.

Soak the bhallas in water half an hour before plating them. Squeeze them to remove excess water. Place them in the serving dish along with papri, potato cubes, onions, black grams, cashews, raisins, and chilies. Beat the sugar into the curd to dissolve it and make the curd smooth. Mix the chaat masala, salt, black pepper and cumin powder together. Pour the curd over the serving dish so that it just covers its contents. Sprinkle the masala mix on top. Pour the imli chutney on the top.

Garnish with coriander leaves, sev and julienne ginger. Enjoy!!!