Samosa Chaat Recipe (Street Style)

Samosa Chaat is a popular North Indian street food made with crushed samosas topped with chana masala, green chutney, sweet tamarind chutney, onions and spices. The combination of crispy samosa, tasty chutneys and spicy chickpea curry makes it flavorful and filling. A sprinkle of chaat masala and fresh coriander adds the finishing touch. This street style samosa chaat is perfect as an evening snack or festive treat.

About Samosa Chaat

This Samosa Chaat recipe includes an easy one-pot chana masala that is served with the samosas. I cook the chickpeas in a pressure cooker for faster cooking, but you can also make them in a pot or pan on the stovetop.

I made this chaat using my Whole Wheat Baked Samosa. I baked one batch and air fried another, and used the air-fried samosas to make the chaat.

Since the samosa crust was made with whole wheat flour and the samosas were not deep fried, it made for a lighter version of this popular street food.

To make this street style samosa chaat, you will of course need samosas. You can make traditional potato stuffed Samosa at home or use good quality store-bought samosas.

When making them at home, you can deep fry, bake or air fry the samosas. You can also use crispy Onion Samosa (Patti Samosa) or the Bengali Singara, though these are not the traditional or commonly used options for samosa chaat.

Along with the samosas and chana, you will need the following chaat chutneys:

1. Mint Chutney or Green Chutney or Coriander Chutney
2. Sweet Tamarind Chutney
3. Red Chilli Chutney (spicy chutney)

If you prefer a different chickpea preparation, you can also use any of these recipes:

1. Amritsari Chole
2. Chole Recipe
3. Chana Masala

Once the samosas, chana and chutneys are ready, simply assemble the samosa chaat and serve it immediately.

How to make Samosa Chaat (Stepwise)

Prepare Chana Masala

1. Soak 1 cup of dried chickpeas in enough water for 7 to 8 hours or overnight.

Make sure the chickpeas are fresh and within their shelf life. The aged chickpeas take more time to cook and also don’t taste as good as the chickpeas that are fresh and in their shelf life.

2. Next day drain all the water and rinse the chickpeas with fresh water. Keep aside.

3. Heat 3 tablespoons oil in a 3 litre pressure cooker. Add ½ teaspoon carom seeds (ajwain) and let them splutter on low heat.

4. Then add ⅔ cup chopped onions. Keep the heat to low to medium-low.

5. Sauté the onions stirring often till they turn translucent.

6. Next add 2 teaspoons ginger-garlic paste. Sauté till the raw aroma of both ginger-garlic goes away.

7. Then add 1 cup of finely chopped tomatoes. Stir and mix well.

• 8. Next add the following ground spices:
• ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder (ground turmeric)
• 1 teaspoon red chili powder
• 1 teaspoon coriander powder (ground coriander)

Stir and mix very well.

9. Saute this onion-tomato masala till the tomatoes soften and become pulpy. You will also see some oil releasing from the sides of the masala paste.

10. Then add 2 to 3 green chilies (slit).

11. Next add the chickpeas.

12. Stir and mix the chickpeas very well with the masala and then add ½ teaspoon black salt, ½ teaspoon rock salt or regular salt or add salt as per taste.

13. Add 2½ cups of water. if chana takes less time to cook then add 2 cups water. Depending on the quality of chana, it may take less or more time to cook.

14. Pressure cook for 12 to 14 minutes on medium heat. When the pressure falls down on its own in the cooker, then open the lid and check the doneness of the chickpeas. If the chickpeas still feels uncooked, then pressure cook for some more time.

15. Keep the cooker on the stovetop and simmer chana masala on a medium heat. Mash a few chickpeas so as to thicken the gravy.

When the chana masala starts simmering, add 1 teaspoon garam masala powder (or chana masala powder) and 1 teaspoon dry mango powder (amchur powder). Stir and mix very well.

16. Continue to cook till the gravy becomes slightly thick.

17. There should be no watery consistency in the chana masala and the gravy should be medium to medium-thick. Keep aside.

Assemble & Make Samosa Chaat

1. Take the samosas and the chutneys. Warm the samosas in an oven, microwave or in a pan if they are at room temperature.

2. In a serving plate, add the hot chana masala.

3. Break or smash 1 small to medium sized samosa and add it on top of the chana masala layer.

4. Top with some green chutney.

5. Then top with some red chili garlic chutney.

6. Next add some sweet tamarind dates chutney. You can add the sweet and spicy chutney less or more and as per your requirements.

At this point you can also add some Curd (yogurt).

7. Now add some chopped onion.

8. Sprinkle some chaat masala powder.

9. Garnish with some coriander leaves and drizzle some lemon juice. Prepare the remaining servings of the samosa chaat this way.

If you want you can also add fresh curd, fried green chilies or sev and crushed papdi in the toppings.

10. Serve samosa chaat immediately. Two more delicious snacks you can make with samosas are Samosa Sandwich and Samosa Pav.

Helpful Tips

1. Use fresh dried chickpeas that are within their shelf life. Older chickpeas take much longer to cook, may need extra water, and do not become as soft or taste as good.
2. The cooking time will vary depending on the quality and freshness of the chickpeas. Fresh chickpeas usually cook faster. If they become tender sooner, start with about 2 cups of water while pressure cooking and add more only if needed.
3. Along with black salt (kala namak), you can use rock salt (sendha namak) or regular salt. Black salt gives the chaat its characteristic street-style flavor, so I recommend using it if you have it.
4. You can use chana masala powder instead of garam masala powder for a more robust North Indian flavor. Taste and adjust the quantity as needed, since every brand varies slightly.
5. Adjust the sweet chutney and spicy red chutney to suit your taste. Add more sweet chutney for a sweeter chaat or increase the spicy chutney if you prefer extra heat.
6. For extra texture and flavor, top the chaat with fresh curd (yogurt), nylon sev, crushed papdi, or fried green chilies. A squeeze of lemon juice and a generous sprinkle of chopped coriander leaves also make a nice finishing touch.
7. Assemble the samosa chaat just before serving. This keeps the samosas crisp and prevents them from becoming soggy.

If you are looking for more Chaat recipes then do check:

• Papdi Chaat
• Dahi Bhalla
• Chana Chaat
• Raj Kachori
• Aloo Chaat

Samosa Chaat recipe from the archives was first published on Jan 2017.