Yummy Home made Papdi Chaat

It's almost six months since we tried any outside foods because of this Covid-19 situation and something yummy was asked by the kids. So this time, we decided to make the Papdi Chaat at home.

It's not very difficult to make these and more ever, it was much tastier than what we get on the streets. And of course 100% hygienic 😀.

Take some Refined flour (Maida), add a bit of oil ( to make it crispy), salt, little Black Cumin(Kalonji), mix them well with the flour. Add water and knead it to make a soft dough and keep for 15 mins. Then roll it and cut out small papdis and then fry in medium heat till they are ready. You can keep them on food grade paper tissues to drain the oil . And if you want to use them later, you can make more and keep them in air tight containers.

The other ingredient is Yellow Peas Curry. You need to soak the Yellow Peas in lukewarm water for 1-2 hrs, so plan that before. Pressure Cook them with some salt and turmeric till they are boiled and some potatoes (if you like, for us its always included). Then take some oil in a pan, heat it, add chopped onions and fry till it gets golden yellow. Then add ginger garlic paste, cumin powder, coriander powder. You can add chilli powder based on your taste. Alternatively you can add kashmiri mirch powder if you want it to look very colorful. Fry them in low flame for 5 mins till it's crispy or the oil separates out ( you can make out from the smell as well) , then add some chopped tomatoes and fry for one more minute. Now add the boiled peas,diced potato,water ( a cup should suffice), salt and stir it well. Then cover it with lid and cook for 5-7 minutes and your Yellow Peas Curry is ready. We also use the Yellow Peas Curry with other breakfasts or even dinner (idly/vadas/roti/paratha etc). So this is a utility item to learn 😁

Now those were the main ingredients , but to make them tasty you need the secret sauces. The Pudina (Mint) chutney was made out of my farm fresh Mint from the roof top - its quite simple, just take the leaves and grind them adding salt. You can add roasted cumin powder to make it more tasty. And it's a digestive fire so you can prepare and use it on a regular basis. The fresh made is the best but you can probably keep in freezer for a day or two max.

The other taste booster for Papdi Chaat is Tamarind chutney. They are available in market some times, but we needed a sweet and tangy flavor, so we made it out of raw Tamarind. Soak the Tamarind for half an hour in warm water, melt some jaggery on a pan, leave it till it becomes cool, now take the seeds out of tamarind and bash them in the liquid jaggery. Add salt , a little water to make it thin ( to mix well with the chat) and cook for 2 minutes. Add a little cumin powder, garam masala and chili powder, stir and leave.

Finally keep some chopped onions and fried cumin powder and serve them one by one on a plate - Yellow Peas Curry (should have been a bit thick) - followed by chopped onions. Top with tamarind chutney, sprinkle a little cumin powder, chat masala and black salt over it. You can add yogurt if you like - it boosts the taste. You can also add coriander leaves and thin sev (we have always from market). And then the Papdis kept aside which need to be bashed. Add the Pudina (Mint) chutney on the top along with a little more tamarind chutney. Bash and mix the Papdis just before eating, because if you mix them and leave for more than 5 minutes, then they becomes soft and will not be tasty.

Don't focus on the order of mixing the items, they all will mix at the end 😁.

Hope you can make and enjoy this yummy street food at home during the Lock down. And if you are making it at home, don't forget to share it with your neighbors - that's what we do - they share something they prepare as well.