Aloo tikki chaat recipe

Inspired by the restaurant group Dishoom, this easy vegan dish is bound to be your new go-to when you’re craving a snacky, nibbly dinner. Spiced potato patties and crispy chickpeas are topped with coconut yogurt, tamarind sauce and pomegranates.

Methods

1. For the tamarind sauce, put the dates in a heatproof bowl and cover with 100ml of just-boiled water. Leave to soak for 10 minutes, then transfer to a blender and whizz with the remaining sauce ingredients until smooth. Cover and leave at room temperature. The sauce will keep, chilled, for up to a week.
2. For the aloo tikki, cook the potatoes in a pan of boiling salted water until very tender. Drain and leave to steam-dry.
3. Heat the oil in a wide, non-stick frying pan over a medium heat and fry the ginger, chilli and onion for 8 minutes until soft. Stir in the spices and toast for a minute, then remove from the heat.
4. Mash the potatoes well until smooth, then stir in the onion mixture and 2 tbsp of the flour. Season well and mix to combine. Form into eight small patties (about 60g each).
5. Pat the chickpeas dry using kitchen paper. Toss in a bowl with the remaining flour and some seasoning. Heat a drizzle of oil in a non-stick frying pan over a medium heat and fry the chickpeas for 5-6 minutes, tossing the pan frequently, until golden and crisp. Scoop out using a slotted spoon, drain on kitchen paper and season. Heat a splash more oil in the pan and fry the potato patties for 2-3 minutes on each side or until golden and crisp.
6. Put the aloo tikki on a serving platter. Loosen the yogurt with a little water if needed, then drizzle this over the top. Spoon over the tamarind sauce, crispy chickpeas, sev, coriander and pomegranate seeds. Dust with a little more chilli powder to serve.

Ingredients

• 400g tin chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 2 tbsp coconut yogurt
• a small handful sev or bombay mix
• a small handful coriander, roughly chopped
• 50g pomegranate seeds

TAMARIND SAUCE

• 4 dates, pitted and finely chopped
• 3 tbsp tamarind paste
• ½ tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp soft dark brown sugar
• a pinch kashmiri chilli powder, plus a pinch to serve

ALOO TIKKI

• 500g Maris Piper potatoes, chopped
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil, plus extra for frying
• a thumb-sized piece ginger, peeled and grated to make 2 tsp
• 1 green chilli, finely chopped
• 1 small red onion, finely chopped
• ½-1 tsp kashmiri chilli powder, plus a little extra to serve
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 1 tsp amchoor (dried mango powder)
• 4 tbsp gram or plain flour