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If you love snacking on the best India’s streets have to offer and you haven’t tasted the Kulle Ki Chaat served on the streets of Old Delhi, then you are really missing something. Also known as Kuliya Chaat, this delectable snack is super-healthy and nutritious, which is why it makes for the perfect Iftar snack for those keeping a fast during the holy month of Ramadan. Here’s everything you need to know about the recipe and the dish itself.
Kulle Ki Chaat is actually not one snack but a whole range of sweet and savoury snacks prepared the same way. The word Kulle is actually derived from the word Kulhad, which means an earthen pot. Various types of fruits and vegetables are hollowed to resemble the Kulhad, making Kulle Ki Chaat a street-style snack that doesn’t require and plates or packaging as such. A truly sustainable and eco-friendly snack, right?
The vendors of Old Delhi either take hollowed out boiled potatoes or tomatoes with their centre scooped out to make the savoury version. The hollowed centres are then filled up with a spicy, tangy and umami mix made predominantly of chickpeas, both black and white. Some add onions to the mix, while others go for vibrant garnishes like pomegranate, green chillies, ginger and coriander leaves. To make the sweet version, the vendors scoop out fruits like musk melon, oranges or watermelon and fill them up with cut fruits and chaat masala.
Apart from being vibrant to look at, delicious to taste, and eco-friendly because no packaging is required, Kulle Ki Chaat is also very nutritious. You get a variety of fruits and veggies mixed with delicious spices in one bowl, and the bowl itself is edible too! This is the reason why any type of Kulle Ki Chaat works really well for Iftar. However, we suggest you go with the one with potatoes and chickpeas because, after a day-long fast, you need a tasty punch of protein to boost your energy levels more than anything else. So, here’s the recipe for Kulle Ki Chaat. Go give it a try.
Image used for representative purpose only. Image courtesy: Facebook/Swati Jain
Ingredients:
2 cups chickpeas, boiled
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp salt
3 tbsp tamarind paste
1 tbsp chaat masala
1 tsp black salt
1 tsp lime juice
For the potatoes:-
5 potatoes, parboiled
2 tsp cumin powder
2 tsp chaat masala
3 tbsp tamarind paste
Salt, to taste
Black salt, to taste
3 green chillies, finely chopped
4 tbsp coriander leaves, finely chopped
2 tbsp pomegranate
Method:
1. Cut the potatoes lengthwise in half, then scoop out the potatoes from the centre to make a hollow. The potato cups should be as thin as possible.
2. Chop up the centre scraps and place them in a large bowl.
3. Add the boiled chana, salt, cumin powder, tamarind paste, lime juice, chaat masala and black salt.
4. Mix well, then set aside for later use.
5. To make the paste for the potatoes, place lime juice in a bowl.
6. Add cumin powder, chaat masala, tamarind paste, salt, and black salt.
7. Mix well, then coat the insides of all the potatoes with this paste.
8. Now, place the chana mix into all the hollowed potatoes.
9. Transfer all the Kulle Chaat to a serving plate, then sprinkle green chillies, coriander leaves and pomegranate on top.
