Chana Chaat (White Chickpea Chaat Snack)

Chana chaat is a tasty, tangy and easy variety of chaat snack made with white chickpeas (chana or chole), spices, herbs, onions, tomatoes and lemon. This chaat is quick to assemble if you have canned or leftover boiled chickpeas. If using canned chickpeas, then you just need to mix the spices, potatoes, onions, tomatoes etc and savor the chana chaat.

Chana chaat can be compared to a chickpea salad. However, the taste of any chaat snack is nowhere to a salad. So the comparison does not do much justice to the recipe.

While a salad is simple and sober, a chaat is full of bursting flavors and taste. So is this chana chaat. It has salty, sour and spicy taste with melt in the mouth chickpeas, crunchy onions, tangy tomatoes, earthy potatoes and bold spices.

What makes a chaat different from salad is the addition of green chillies, black salt, chaat masala, onions and lemon juice. You can even add tamarind chutney and green coriander chutney to perk up the flavors more. Some fresh curd can also be added.

In the recipe post, I have cooked the chickpeas first. I have also added boiled potatoes that can be skipped.

Once the chickpeas are cooked, then it is very easy to make and assemble the chaat. You could serve the chole chaat warm or cold. It can be served as a starter, snack or even can be had as a brunch. I have also shared a different recipe of Aloo chana chaat.

How to make Chana Chaat

1. Soak 1 cup kabuli chana (white chickpeas or chole) in enough water overnight or for 8 to 9 hours. Later drain all the water. Rinse the chickpeas in running water and again drain the water.

You can also use 2.5 to 3 cups canned chickpeas. If using canned chickpeas, then jump to step 11 and read from there. As you just need to mix the onions, tomatoes, ground spices, herbs, potatoes etc with the canned chickpeas.

2. Take the chickpeas in a 2-litre pressure cooker. Add ½ teaspoon salt.

You can also cook the chickpeas in a pan or Instant pot. Cooking them in a pan will take more time.

3. Add 2 cups of water. If you use a large cooker, then you will have to increase the amount of water.

4. Place a bowl on top of the chickpeas. Rinse and keep a medium to large potato inside the bowl. You can skip the potato if you want.

5. Cover tightly with the lid and initially pressure cook on medium flame. When you start hearing the hissing sound in the cooker, lower the flame a bit and cook for 10 to 12 whistles.

6. When the pressure falls on its own, then only remove the lid

7. Check the potato by sliding a knife or fork through it. The fork or knife should be slid easily.

8. Also check the chickpeas. You should be able to mash the cooked chickpeas easily. There should be no hardness in the center. The chickpeas should have a melt in the mouth texture.

If the chickpeas is not cooked, then add some more water and pressure cook for a few more whistles.

Preparation for chana chaat

9. Drain all the water and keep the cooked chickpeas aside.

10. Peel the potato once it becomes warm. Then chop and keep aside.

11. Rinse, peel and then finely chop 1 medium onion, 1 medium tomato and 1 green chill. Also rinse and then finely chop some coriander leaves. Keep aside.

Making chana chaat

12. Take the cooked chickpeas in a mixing bowl.

13. Add the following spice powders:

• 1 teaspoon Kashmiri red chilli powder or paprika
• 1 teaspoon roasted cumin powder
• 1 teaspoon chaat masala
• Add both black salt and regular salt as per taste. 
• You can also add ½ teaspoon dry mango powder (amchur powder) for some more tang. However it is optional.

14. Add the chopped potatoes.

15. Mix very well so the spice powders, salts coats the potatoes and chickpeas.

16. Add the finely chopped onions, finely chopped tomatoes, chopped green chillies and coriander leaves (cilantro).

17. Add 1 to 2 teaspoons lemon juice or add as required.

18. Again mix very well. Check the taste and you can add salt, chaat masala, red chilli powder, green chillies, lemon juice more if you want.

19. Serve chana chaat in a bowl instantly. While serving garnish with some coriander leaves and sev. Adding sev to your chole chaat is optional. You can even garnish with some crushed papdi or pani poori or golgappa.

Helpful Tips to make Chana Chaat

1. You can add more or less of the ground spice powders, black salt and lemon juice as per your taste buds.
2. When you boil the chickpeas, add some salt to the water while boiling.
3. Do not add green chilli if you do not want to eat a spicy and hot chaat. Skip green chillies and Kashmiri red chilli powder for small kids. You can also add black pepper powder instead of red chili powder.
4. If you want to serve the chana chaat cold, then refrigerate. Do not add the onions, tomatoes, crushed pooris, sev and coriander leaves while refrigerating the chaat. When you plan to serve, at that time you add and mix these ingredients for best taste and texture.
5. The chole chaat will be warm if you have freshly cooked the chickpeas and are not using leftover cooked chickpeas.
6. If you cook the chickpeas in a pot then the preparation time will be 30 to 45 minutes.
7. To cook the chickpeas in a pot or pan, soak the chickpeas overnight. The add 3 to 4 cups water in a pan with the soaked chickpeas and salt. Also add a few drops of oil, so that the foaming and frothing are reduced. If the water froths too much, then cook without the lid.
8. For canned chickpeas add about 2.5 to 3 cups in the recipe.
9. You can even add some finely chopped cucumber, grated carrot or beetroot in the chole chaat. This will make it more nutritious.

More awesome Indian street food recipes

• Aloo chaat – too good chaat made with potato.
• Bhel puri – the popular Mumbai street food made with puffed rice
• Fruit chaat – this is a Delhi style spicy, tangy and tasty fruit chaat recipe.
• Papri chaat – popular North Indian street food made with papdis, boiled chickpeas, potatoes, pakoris and curd.
• Aloo tikki – popular North Indian street food snack of spiced, crisp and tasty potato patties.

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This Chana Chaat recipe post from the blog archives (first published in June 2011) has been updated and republished on 4th July 2021.