Aloo Tikki Chole | Indian Chaat

The third and final combo dish in the series and Jagan’s all-time favourite chaat order, here is Aloo Tikki Chole. He actually prefers his chole with samosa but that wasn’t one of the Combo dishes list in Blogging Marathon. So Aloo Tikki Chole it was. The Aloo Tikki Chole turned out really well and Jagan enjoyed it thoroughly.

You could deep fry the Aloo Tikkis for that wonderful crisp, yumminess that only deep fried foods can provide. Shallow frying is a good alternative if you don’t want to use up too much oil and that tastes pretty good too. This combo is substantial enough to be served for a filling breakfast. That’s what I did. But you could serve it along with evening tea as well. I am writing this post from home, so there’s no time for funny stories. Just the recipe this time. Lucky you guys!

Prep time: 30 mins
Cooking time: 45 mins
Serves: 4

Chole Ingredients

Kabuli Channa/White Chickpeas – 1-1/2 cups soaked overnight
Black Cardamom – 3
Cinnamon – 1 inch stick
Cloves - 3
Onions – 2 large chopped fine
Tomatoes – 2 large chopped fine
Ginger Juliennes – 1 tsp
Red Chilli powder – 2 tbsp
Garam Masala powder – 2 tsp
Salt to taste
Oil – 2 tbsp
Butter – 1 tbsp

Aloo Tikki Ingredients

Potatoes – 4-5 large boiled, peeled and mashed
Red chilli powder – 1 tbsp
Garam Masala – 1 tsp
Turmeric powder – ½ tsp
Coriander powder – ½ tsp
Amchur powder/Raw Mango powder – 2 pinches
Salt to taste
Oil – 3 tbsp

Garnish

Sweet Tamarind chutney – 2-3 tbsp for garnish
Green chutney – 2-3 tbsp for garnish
1 Large onion – chopped fine for garnish

Method

1.       Prepare a potli (small cloth bag) tying together the whole spices – black cardamom, cinnamon and cloves together. Drop it into the pressure cooker. Rinse the soaked chickpeas and dump them into the cooker. Now throw in a tea bag as well. If you don’t have tea bags, just add a teaspoon of tea leaves/tea powder to the potli. Add sufficient water and pressure cook till soft. Switch off, discard the potli and set aside.

2.       To a kadai, add 2 tbsp oil and when hot throw in the ginger juliennes followed by the chopped onions. Fry till they turn translucent. Then add in the chopped tomatoes and fry till they turn soft. Then add the spice powders and salt and mix well. Add the boiled chickpeas and mix well. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove a ¼ cup of the chickpeas and blend to a paste. Then add back the chickpea paste to the chole and mix well. Simmer till it is the desired consistency. Stir in a tablespoon of butter. Switch off and set aside.

3.       For the tikka, boil and mash the potatoes and add in the spice powders and mix well to form a dough. Pinch small lemon sized balls of the potato mixture and flatten to make a tikka.

4.       Heat a tawa/pan and add about 2 tbsp oil and place the tikkis in a single layer on the pan. Cook on medium-low till the underside is browned. Flip over and cook till the other side is also browned. Remove on to a plate. Set aside.

5.       To assemble, ladle chole into a bowl. Place 2-3 tikkis atop the chole. Garnish with chopped onions, sweet tamarind chutney and green chutney. Serve hot.