There is one heart-throb snack that keeps winning us all over again effortlessly. Did someone utter aloo Tikki? Yes…it's the crispy, Karari Aloo Tikki which is not just the soul of all those chaats and chunky chole but is a full-fledged snack in itself. The profound enjoyment of the tikkis comes however when it's karari meaning crisp and crunchy. But this one, in particular, is a thorough sensation that goes out of its way to get unforgettable crunchiness with cornflakes and rice combined with peas and chana dal stuffing. This one can be your next saviour snack to impress your guests and a spicy mouth-watering treat for your family.
When and where did the aloo tikkis come from? Well no points for guessing the place of origin. It is the product of our very own Indian sub-continent and pretty common throughout India, Bangladesh and Pakistan. As for the date, there is no certain date that can be attributed to its origin. One can safely assume that the advent of potatoes in India followed by cutlets also gave rise to this one. Tikki means a small cutlet or croquette. These are potato patties prepared variously with many interesting combinations of vegetables. A typical aloo Tikki is made of boiled potatoes, mashed and combined with various vegetables like peas, capsicum, and carrot and seasoned with various curry spices and deep-fried in oil. It is usually served hot along with different kinds of chutneys and sauces, commonly coriander-mint chutney, tomato chutney, tamarind chutney, and at times with dollops of yoghurt. The usage of aloo tikkis as stuffing, fillers and taste enhancers in sandwiches, burgers, and chaat is very common throughout India and especially in North Indian eateries and street food. Different cities have created their version of a lot of tikkis over the years. For instance, Mumbai's version of aloo tikki is called Ragda Pattice and is served with spicy curry and chutneys. Whereas Bangalore relies more on coriander for making their kind of aloo tikki.
1. ½ kg boiled potatoes
2. 125 g cornflakes
3. 4 tbsp rice flour
For stuffing:
1. ½ cup boiled chana dal
2. ¼ cup peas
3. 2 chopped green chillies
4. 1 tsp chopped ginger
5. ½ cup chopped coriander
6. A pinch of asafoetida
7. ½ tsp whole cumins
Masala:
1. 1 tsp red chilli powder
2. 1 tsp amchur powder
3. ½ tsp gram masala powder
4. ½ tsp coriander powder
5. Salt to taste
6. ¼ tsp rock salt
Method:
1. Firstly refrigerate the boiled potatoes and then grate them.
2. Take cornflakes in a bowl and pour about 7-8 tbsps of water.
3. Meanwhile, coat the potatoes with rice flour, and mix it with a fork but don't mash them.
4. Then add cornflakes, mix them with potatoes and cover with a cloth and leave for an hour.
5. Now in a pan, heat oil, and add asafoetida, cumin, ginger and chillies. Sauté it for 2 minutes until the aroma of the spices starts exuding.
6. Then add boiled dal, and peas and mix them up well with spices, sauté for 5-7 minutes and add coriander.
7. Allow it to cool a bit and mash it up with a potato masher.
8. At this point, mash the potatoes as well.
9. Grease your hands with little oil, take small balls of mashed potato, flatten it and shape them like a small bowl, fill in the stuffing of mashed chana and peas.
10. Deep fry these in oil. Take out when golden brown on both sides.
11. Top it up with yoghurt, tamarind and coriander chutney, and garnish with grated beetroot and chopped coriander.
Spruce up your regular aloo tikki with a little prep of peas and boiled chana dal filling. What are you waiting for? Just dab your hot tikki in the chutney and yoghurt and munch slowly on all of that delicacy.