Make this easy stuffed aloo tikki chaat at home on Diwali, Holi parties, for your next potluck or anytime you are craving chaat. It can be served as an appetizer, a snack or as a side dish.
Love indian potato recipes? Another of our favorite indian street food recipe is this Delhi Style Aloo Chaat.
Chaat is the most loved savory snack on roadsides in India (and the Indian subcontinent). In Hindi, the word chaat means “tasting or licking”. Usually Indians love to gorge on chaat as tea time evening snack.
Indian chaat recipes offer a wide range of lip smacking hot and spicy foods weaving together a unique blend of spices and textures. While chaat like sprouted moong chaat, warm chickpeas chaat or matar kulcha chaat are lighter versions, papri chaat, aloo chaat and samosa chaat offer a deeply satisfying, indulgent bite on streets of the country.
What Is Aloo Tikki Chaat
Aloo = Potato, Tikki = Patties
Aloo Tikki is a popular potato snack particularly in the north india. There are lot of versions of aloo tikki across the country now depending on cook to cook and region to region. The main ingredients of aloo tikki is humble potato and the differences come down to the spices, the method of frying (deep, shallow or pan) and the binding agents that go in.
Similar to hash browns you may ask. Yes very! However indian style crispy aloo tikki are eggless.
Though you can serve aloo tikki on its own with a dipping sauce like green chutney or ketchup, serving it with chaat condiments takes it to another level.
A plate of aloo tikki chaat features kurkuri (crispy) potato patties topped with various sweet and spicy chaat toppings like creamy whipped yogurt, fiery green chutney, sweet tamarind chutney, fresh cilantro, chopped green chillies and a generous sprinkle of chaat masala. You may also add grated mooli (daikon), beets or pomegranate arils. The best part for me is how one could vary the addition of these toppings to make a plate personal!
Spicy, sweet, sour, salty, tangy, crispy, crunchy- aloo tikki chaat is a legend when it comes to that satisfaction we all desire from chaat. It has a beautiful balance of flavors and textures!
About Delhi Style Aloo Tikki Chaat
How Is it Different Delhi chaat style aloo tikkis are stuffed with lentils. Stuffed tikkis are shallow fried to golden brown. They are a bit thicker and larger than unstuffed aloo tikkis. Outside is crispy potato patties with a creamy mashed layer inside and at the very core there is a stuffing of spiced lentils. Heavenly! Be it from the mobile chaat carts that sell door to door or chaat stalls outside the halwai (sweet) shops or the chaat corners inside the food courts of malls, eating a plate of aloo tikki chaat in Delhi always sends me into food coma. On the streets of Delhi, you can spot the chaatwalla (vendors) from a distance for the aroma of frying aloo patties fills up the air. The large concave tawa(pan) infront of them is filled with a pool of oil and the sizzling aloo tikkis swimming in there makes one hungry. You always have to wait for your turn, for they are always crowded.
Aloo Tikki Chaat is
Carb Heaven - will satisfy your chaat cravings. Mouthwatering with a good balance of spicy, creamy, savory and tangy Easily made gluten free- skip the hing Very filling and delicious to eat Easily made vegan (skip the yogurt) You can use these aloo tikkis not just for chaat but for a ton of other things (read the variations section for a few of my ideas)
Ingredients (Notes & Substitutions)
For The Aloo Tikki
Potatoes - I like to use a mix of russet and gold potates for the best taste and texture. You could use only russet potatoes if you wish. Boil, peel and grate the potatoes (don’t mash). Corn Starch / Corn Flour - Helps in binding the tikkis. You could use rice flour too or a mix of cornstarch and rice flour however I haven’t tried it. For The Stuffing Chana Dal - Bengal Gram lentils. Or you could use yellow moong lentils. Soak the lentils for 5-6 hours and pressure cook with salt and turmeric. To Temper The Chana Dal- Chopped Ginger, Green Chillies, Hing, Cumin Powder & Chaat Masala. To Fry the Aloo Tikki & Temper the lentils- I used avocado oil Chaat Toppings
Yogurt- Indian style Dahi or Greek Yogurt (I like whole yogurt) works great. Mix with some kala namak (indian black salt), sugar(optional) chaat masala and salt, black pepper powder. Tamarind Chutney - Use store bought or homemade tamarind chutney. Coriander Mint chutney- Recipe of cilantro mint green chutney Spices - Roasted Cumin Powder, Chaat Masala, Red Chilli Powder (or cayenne powder) Bhujia or Crispy Sev -Needed to add crunch! I use aloo bhujia. It adds a wonderful crunch! Skip if not available. You could also crumble some papdi on top if you have those at home. Other Ingredients that can be added - Chopped Green Chillies, Fresh chopped cilantro, Chopped red onions, grated mooli (daikon, delhi chaat wallas add this), pomegranate seeds.
Tips for Best Aloo Tikki
Potatoes
Boil the potatoes a day ahead or at least 4-5 hours ahead. Cold boiled potatoes dry up a bit and the tikkis crisp up well. If you work with fresh boiled potatoes, the steam from hot potatoes gets in and makes them soft while grating and you will need to add extra cornstarch. Too much cornstarch makes the tikkis taste chalky. Grate the potatoes. Grating potatoes makes sure that the potato mixture is lump free and you don’t have to squish the potatoes (can make them gooey). Salt the potatoes just when you are about to shape and fry. Sometimes the potato mixture gets loose if it sits for long with salt mixed in. To check the potato mixture- Before starting to shape tikkis, I heat up the oil and add a tiny ball of potato mix to it. If it does not spread, potato mixture is good to go else add more cornstarch. Potato quality has a role to play here. To avoid aloo tikki from breaking or spreading - There could be a few reason for this. The oil temperature might be too hot or cold. Secondly, the potato mixture has high moisture content (it needs more binding). Lastly, the oil temperature can drop drastically if you overcrowded the frying pan.
Stuffing
Soak the lentils before cooking. Soaked lentils cook evenly and the texture is great. Quantity of water while cooking the lentils is key. We dont want a gooey stuffing. The perfect texture is soft lentils with a few grains still intact. Spice the lentils as you wish. I like to keep them on the mellow side so that I can still taste the dal.
Stuffing
Oil your hands in the beginning and then as often, this really helps in shaping the aloo tikkis. Add about a tablespoon of fillling to each tikki. Dont overstuff else they will break during frying. Make sure that the dal filling is fully sealed in.
Frying The Aloo Tikki
Shallow fry the tikkis on low medium flame, don’t deep fry. You could pan fry too however on the streets, they shallow fry. Use a heavy bottom pan like cast iron skillet for frying the aloo tikki for a crisp tikki. Dont flip again and again else the tikkis will break or start sticking. Drain the tikkis on a paper towel and then transfer to a wire rack till you are ready to assemble the chaat, this way they stay crispy.
Tip :- If you want to freeze the aloo tikkis, cool them this way on wire tack so that they don’t get soggy.
How To Make Aloo Tikki Chaat (Step Photos)
Preparation
(You can prepare a day or two ahead and keep refrigerated)
Soak the chana dal for 5-6 hours. Pressure cook with salt and turmeric for 4-5 whistles until soft but the grain is intact. Temper with ginger, green chilies, powdered spices. Saute for 5 -6 seconds taking care not to burn and then add the boiled lentils (along with the water) and sprinkle the roasted cumin powder and chaat masala. Mix and lightly mash the dal as you mix. We dont want to make it super smooth, few grains should be intact. Let cook for 2-3 minutes. Don’t dry out the dal stuffing a lot, it will also dry up a bit as it cools down. The lentils should not be powdery.
Boil potatoes. Peel and let cool down completely and in a large mixing bowl, grate using a box grater Add salt and cornstarch(cornflour) to the potatoes. Gently mix and knead together to make a smooth dough.
Prepare The Chaat Condiments
Make the green and sweet tamarind chutney and store refrigerated. Thin the yogurt with little water and whisk until creamy. It should be thickish but pourable. Mix in salt, black pepper, kala namak and chaat masala. Store refrigerated. If you are using red onions or mooli, prepare them like chopping or grating. To Make roasted cumin powder, add ¼ cup cumin seeds to a pan and dry roast on medium heat for good 4-5 minutes stirring with a spoon. You will notice that the seeds swell up, turn dark brown and smoky. We want that smoky! Switch off the stove and let cool a bit before adding to your spice grinder and making a powder. Store in an air tight container and use as needed.
Shape and Stuff The Aloo Tikki
Take a portion of the potatoes, spread and flatten on the palm of your hand. Place a tablespoon of the chana dal filling in the center. Bring around the edge to completely seal the tikki. Make sure that no dal is visible. Oil your hands as and when needed. Gently press to make a flat tikki. Make all tikis in similar fashion.
Shallow Fry The Aloo Tikki
Heat up oil in a heavy pan for shallow frying. Shallow fry the aloo tikki in oil until golden brown on both sides. Use a flat spatula to flip the tikkis. Dont press or flip again and again. Just flip once or twice.
Assemble The Chaat Plate
In a plate, add tikki (s). The street vendors slightly smush the crisp tikkis before adding toppings, you can do so if you wish. Drizzle yogurt, add chutneys and sprinkle spice powders like chaat masala, red chilli powder and roasted cumin. Add fresh herbs if you wish. Skip the yogurt for vegan aloo tikki chaat. Or you could substitute with non dairy yogurt of your choice.
Variations
Plain Aloo Tikki Chaat - Skip the lentil stuffing and add some powdered spices like coriander powder, cumin powder, red chilli powder, little bit of grated ginger, finely chopped cilantro and green chillies to the grated potatoes and then shape them. Aloo Tikki Chaat With Chickpeas - Add boiled garbanzo beans as a topping on top of chaat. Matar Aloo Tikki Chaat- Instead of chana dal, you could use green peas as a stuffing. Simply blanch some peas and temper them the way I mentioned. Smush the peas a little and the stuffing is ready. Aloo Tikki Burger or Sliders - Tuck the aloo tikkis inside toasted buns slathered with green chutney. You could add onions slices, tomatoes and lettuce. A slice of cheese makes them suoer delicious! Make Aloo Tikki Bread Sandwiches - Add tikkis between two slices of bread with chutney, sriracha mayo or any sandwich spread you like and veggies of choice. Serve As it is - Serve aloo tikki with sweet and spicy chutneys and a cup of masala chai.
Storing & Reheating
If you have leftover aloo tikki, store them in an air tight container in the refrigerator. These can be heated up in the air fryer or heat o a hot tawa to crisp up. Dont micro wave, they wont remain crispy. You could freeze fried aloo tikkis for a month. I layer the cooled fried aloo tikkis in a single layer on a cookie sheet and freeze for 2-3 hours. Once they are hard, pack inside a zip loc bag and freeze. Thaw for a few hours and then reheat as mentioned above.
