Healthy Snacking : Chick Pea Chaat

For those of you not familiar with the word Chaat,it is a Hindi word which literally means to lick and it refers to a broad genre of essentially street food items found in the Indian subcontinent,where a variety of raw/boiled vegetables,legumes or fruits are dressed up with hot,sweet,spicy or tangy sauces/chutneys and the zing quotient is upped even more with a horde of spice powders or masalas. Added to that is a generous dose of lemon juice and seasoning to make the dish truly lip-smacking. There is even a special powdered spice mix called the Chaat Masala (the spice for licking) sold by various Indian companies under various brand names like Everest,MDH among many others. A chaat is something you can buy off the street for as less as 5-10 rupees or you could walk into shops that specialise in these items, good examples being the Haldiram and Ganguram branches found all over the country. Being mostly no-cook,no-oil,they make excellent low-calorie high on health and nutrition snacking alternatives.And yes,they taste incredible and are pretty easy to put together as well.If you've never had a chaat before,go ahead,make one today.I assure you,you will be hooked. And if you like me,have grown up on chaats,then you know what i'm talking about and hopefully this post will tempt you enough to make yourself some chaat today.

Chickpeas are called Kabuli Chhola in my part of the country and are an absolute favourite with most bengalis who use it to make a spicy dry curry called the Ghoogni,which is served on special festive occassions.Today I used them to make this chaat for some evening snacking.It was put together in a matter of minutes,and was gobbled up by my family in even lesser time.That's the way it should be with chaats,they should be finger-lickin' good,and this one sure was.



CHICK PEA CHAAT

(Serves:3)





1.Soak a cup of chickpeas overnight.Boil them once they have soaked up the water and become bigger.Set aside.
2.Finely dice 1 medium tomato,1 onion,half a cucumber and a few sprigs of cilantro.
3.Boil one medium potato.Dice into small pieces.
4.In a bowl,combine all the above ingredients from steps 1-3.
5.Now comes the horde of spices that will jazz the salad up to a chaat.To the items in the bowl,sprinkle:
1 tsp chilly powder
1 tsp cumin powder ( freshly roasted and ground works best)
1 tsp aamchoor ( dry mango powder,available in most Indian grocery shops)
1 tsp chaat masala ( I'm partial to Everest,but you can use any available brand)
juice of 1 lemon
salt to taste
6.Toss all the ingredients and coat well with spices.Taste and adjust the seasoning according to your taste. Enjoy the chaat with friends and family over an evening of fun and relaxation.


It is the 2nd of October today,the birth anniversary of one of the greatest leaders that the world has seen and our very own Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi. Wishing every Indian everywhere a very happy Gandhi Jayanti. May peace,non-violence and love of your friends and family guide you today and throughout the year.