Last Updated on December 14, 2020 by Chef Mireille
Papdi Chaat – Delhi Street Food – Make this street food at home w/ freshly made papdi. A great bite for your next party.
Street food is very popular in India and there is so much variety you can survive an Indian vacation only on street food and never get bored. Known in India as chaat, which literally translated means to lick. However, beware!!!
Many people from Western countries often get sick when they try all that delicious looking street food in India. The reason is that refrigeration does not follow the same standards that we follow here in America and bacteria levels in the food are high. Most Indian people have developed antibodies to combat the bacteria since they have been eating this food their whole lives. We don’t have these antibodies.
I have a strong stomach and rarely get sick from food. I have been on vacations where my whole family, except me, became ill. When I visited India, I stayed with a local friend in Mumbai and she knew the reliable vendors to get the piping hot samosas from and Juhu Beach is a great place to experience some of the best of Mumbai Street Food…and I didn’t get sick! If you’d like to check out more about all the foods I had in Mumbai, you can check out the posts below.
Mumbai Food & Travel
- Juhu Beach
- 24 Hour Foodie’s Guide
- Samrat – Restaurant Review
- Lakeview Cafe at Renaissance Hotel
Maybe you’ve been to India and were tempted by all that delicious looking street food but were too scared to try…Well you can recreate it at home very easily by a quick trip to an Indian supermarket.
While I am going to show you how to made the papdi at home, even this is available in store bought versions. Here’s your shopping list so you can create this chaat at home:
- papdi (if not making them yourself)
- mint or coriander chutney
- date tamarind chutney
- sev (fried chickpea noodles)
- chaat masala spice blend
All the other ingredients are things you can purchase at any supermarket.
Papdi are fried crackers, which are the foundation for many of India’s chaats.
IN THE MAKING – HOW TO MAKE PAPDI
Like Washington DC here in the Union States, Delhi is India’s national capital. Rather than having a state identity, Delhi is an amalgamation of different people who have migrated to Delhi from all other states of India. Their cuisine reflects this fusion, with a lot of influence from Mughal & Punjabi cuisine.
Dahi Papdi Chaat is one of the most popular chaat’s in Delhi. Sweetened dahi (yogurt) characterizes this chaat. I have seen two different versions of this chaat. There is one where the chaat is simply dolloped with the yogurt and others have the papdi sitting in the bottom of a bowl of yogurt. This second version did not appeal to me as I was afraid the papdi would get soggy in the yogurt.
IN THE MAKING – HOW TO MAKE DAHI PAPDI CHAAT
This Delhi Street Food is perfect for entertaining. Serve at your next party and it will be a hit!
You won’t be able to resist this snack!
Papdi Chaat – Delhi Street Food
Ingredients
- Papdi Ingredients:
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon semolina
- 1/2 teaspoon black onion seed/nigella kalonji/nigella seed
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon ghee
- approximately 1/3 cup warm water
- oil fry frying
- Dahi Papdi Chaat Ingredients:
- 16 papdi
- 1 potato boiled until cooked, peeled and chopped
- 1/4 cup chickpeas canned or cooked until tender
- 1/4 teaspoon red chile powder cayenne pepper
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1 plum tomato finely chopped
- 1/4 English cucumber finely chopped
- 1/4 cup mint chutney
- 1/4 cup date tamarind chutney
- 1/2 cup plain yogurt
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 2 tablespoons sev
- 1/2 teaspoon chaat masala
Instructions
- Combine flour, semolina, onion seed, salt and ghee in a large bowl and mix well. Add water a little at a time, until you have a soft dough.
- Cover with a damp towel and leave to rest for 30 minutes.
- Divide dough into 8 equal sized balls.
- On a lightly floured board, roll out one ball into a round circle as thin as possible. Dust flour on top as necessary to avoid sticking. Prick with a fork. Using a 2 1/2" biscuit/cookie cutter, cut out rounds. Repeat until all the dough has been utilized.
- Heat enough oil for deep frying.
- Place cut out rounds in oil in a single layer and fry until both sides are golden brown.
- Now, let's put together our chaat
- In a small bowl, combine the chickpeas, potato, salt and red chile powder. Stir to combine.
- In a small bowl, combine tomato and cucumber. Stir to combine. (onion would normally also be included, but I do not like raw onion)
- In a small bowl, whisk yogurt with the sugar.
- On each papdi, spread a little of the mint chutney.
- Add a little of the chickpea-potato combination. Add the tomato-cucumber combination on top. Top with a little of the date-tamarind chutney.
- Add a dollop of sweetened yogurt on top.
- Sprinkle chaat masala on top.
- Garnish with sev on top.
Notes
Nutrition
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We don't eat street food much here because of the same problem.The spices and the water they ise does not agree with us all the time. So I made it at home. And you have done an extremely good job with this chaat. Loved your write up and the pics 🙂