Samosa Chaat
What Is Samosa Chaat?
Chances are you know and have tried samosas, right? (Who doesn’t?) But have you ever tasted samosa chaat?
It’s a dish made of samosas and luscious chickpea curry (garbanzo beans) drizzled with mint yogurt chutney and imli chutney (tamarind sauce). It’s garnished with crispy fine Sev or crushed papdi.
As you can imagine, that dish has a lot going on. So, even though it is categorized as a snack dish, it’s quite filling and hearty.
It’s pretty much about enjoying your samosa at the next level.
All these different ingredients give different textures and flavors to the dish and make it unique.
The first time I heard the name and tried the dish, I was apprehensive.
I love samosas, don’t get me wrong. But to think of having them together with chickpea curry, yogurt, and tamarind chutney was just not my kind of thing.
But because I love chaat and chickpeas too.
Oh my, I’m glad I did.
The crispy samosas go so well with the spicy chickpea curry. The yogurt and tamarind sauce gives the dish a yummy combo of creaminess, tang, and sweetness. And, of course, we must not forget the crunchy garnish of fine Sev.
In short, it is simply scrummy.
The samosa chaat recipe I’m sharing here is rooted in the Pakistani way of making it.
Best way to enjoy your samosa chaat
This savory, sweet, spicy, and tangy snack is traditionally served as an appetizer or a snack.
It is one of the most sought-after street foods in the Indian subcontinent.
People enjoy this chaat at any time of the day. For breakfast, brunch, lunch, afternoon tea, or dinner.
I find it quite filling, and I usually eat it as a meal, like at lunchtime.
I know many people who serve this samosa chaat as an appetizer at gatherings or parties. Breaking fast in Ramadan (which is called iftar) or festivities such as Eid are also occasions for people to have the chaat.
What You Need to Make It
As the name implies, the main ingredient of this dish is samosas. You can use your leftover meat samosas or vegetarian samosas.
You can also use homemade ones or shop/restaurant-bought ones.
Originally, samosas were deep-fried. But nowadays, people try to avoid deep-frying for health reasons. You may be one of them.
In that case, you can use air-fried samosas or baked samosas.
All of the choices are good as long as you like them.
Next are chickpea curry, mint yogurt chutney, and imli chutney (tamarind).
When it comes to chutneys, you can make them yourself or use shop-bought ones. I suggest you make your own yogurt chutney, as it’s so easy to make and doesn’t need cooking.
You also need fine Sev or papdi for a crunchy garnish.
And if you like, you can throw in some pomegranate seeds for extra texture and yumminess.
Equipment You Need
- Chopping board.
- Kitchen knife.
- Cooking pan.
- Slotted spoon.
How to Make It
Get your samosas ready while you prepare the other ingredients. If they have been in the refrigerator, warm them up before you assemble this samosa chaat.
Next, let’s make our chickpea (garbanzo beans) curry.
Fry chopped onion in 2 tablespoons of cooking oil until soft and translucent. Then, add a tablespoon of ground ginger and garlic.
You can grind ¼-inch ginger with 2 garlic cloves into a paste using a pestle, mortar, or a chopper.
I love using my chopper as it saves me much time and hassle. My chopper also has a grinder, so I now grind some spices myself, such as coriander, cumin, cinnamon, etc. It’s my essential kitchen gadget now.
Back to our garbanzo beans curry.
Add cumin powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder, red chili powder, ground black pepper, and salt to the onion. Stir and fry until the spices release an aroma.
Then add the chopped tomatoes and ¼ cup of water. Leave it to cook until the tomatoes are slightly softened. Then, add the garbanzo beans.
Let it cook at medium-low heat for 5-7 minutes until the chickpeas are softened. If you find the curry too dry and would like more gravy, add more water.
When your chickpea curry is ready, you can assemble your samosa chaat.
Take a serving dish and place your samosas on it. Break, crush, or smash your samosas. But take care not to break them into small pieces completely.
Then, spoon the garbanzo beans over and around the samosas. Followed by dollops of mint yogurt chutney and drizzles of tamarind chutney.
Lastly, sprinkle some fine Sev or crushed papdi over the chaat. You can also scatter some pomegranate seeds.
Storage Matter
Samosa chaat is best eaten right away after you assemble it. If you leave it too long, the samosas, Sev, or papdi will go soft and soggy.
Therefore, if you are serving the chaat to others, assemble it near the time they eat it.
If you are having a party and want to serve samosa chaat to many people, make all the ingredients before the party day. Keep them in your refrigerator.
On party day, you can quickly warm the samosas in the air fryer, oven, microwave, or instant pot. Then, heat the chickpea curry in the microwave. Then, assemble your chaat.
I don’t recommend storing the assembled samosa chaat in the refrigerator because it will go sloppy.
More Chaat Recipes
Thank you for checking out this samosa chaat recipe. I hope you will try it soon.
When you do, please share what you think about the recipe in the comments below. I appreciate it.
If you need more ideas for elevating your snack by adding a few things, you can try these salt and pepper spring rolls.
Before you go, why don’t you look at my other chaat recipes you may like?
- Fruit chaat.
- Papdi chaat: potato and chickpea salad.
- Chana chaat: sweet, spicy, and tangy chickpea snack.
Lastly, please follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest. To sneak a peek at what’s cooking in my kitchen.
Take care and all the best.
Samosa chaat recipe
Equipment
- Cooking pan
- Wooden spoon
- Casserole dish.
- Mixing bowls.
Ingredients
- 3-4 cooked samosas.
- 14-15 ounces canned garbanzo beans/ chickpeas. Drain and discard the water.
- 1 small brown onion.
- 2 tablespoons cooking oil.
- 1 tablespoon ground ginger garlic.
- ½ teaspoon coriander powder.
- ½ teaspoon cumin powder.
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder.
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper.
- ¼ teaspoon red chili powder.
- ⅓ teaspoon salt or according to taste.
- 2 small tomatoes chopped.
- ⅓ cup water.
- ¾-1 cup mint yogurt chutney.
- ½-⅔ cup imli sauce/ tamarind sauce.
- A handful of crispy fine Sev or crushed Papdi.
- Pomegranate seeds optional.
- Cilantro leaves chopped (optional).
Instructions
- Peel, chop, and fry the onion in 2 tablespoons of oil.
- When the onion becomes light golden in color, add the ginger garlic paste
- Then add the coriander powder, cumin powder, turmeric powder, ground black pepper, red chili powder, and salt. Continue cooking until the spices release an aroma.
- Add the chopped tomatoes and ⅓ cup of water. Let it cook until the tomatoes are softened.
- Next, add the garbanzo beans/ chickpeas and give it a stir. Put the lid on and leave it to cook at medium-low heat until the beans are softened. It takes approximately 5-7 minutes, or longer if you prefer your beans to be softer. And add more water if you find the curry is too dry or if you prefer to have a bit of gravy.
- To assemble, break or smash the samosas and place them on a serving dish.
- Spoon the cooked garbanzo beans over the samosas.
- Dollop the mint yogurt chutney onto the samosas and the beans.
- Then drizzle the imli sauce/ tamarind sauce over the samosa chaat.
- Lastly, sprinkle some fine Sev or crushed Papdi, some pomegranate seeds, and chopped cilantro (coriander leaves).
Notes
- You can use it with vegetarian samosas or meat samosas. The number of samosas in this recipe is based on the slightly large-sized samosas. Feel free to add more samosas if it’s needed.
- If you don’t have fresh tomatoes, you can use canned tomatoes. ½ cup of canned tomatoes is enough for this recipe.
- As for the chili powder, I use Kashmiri red chili powder more often than not. You can use ordinary red chili pepper powder or even cayenne powder. If you like the garbanzo beans to be spicier, just add more chili powder than the suggested recipe.
Nutrition
Disclaimer
Nutritional info in this recipe is only estimate using online calculator. You should refer to it as a guide only. Please verify with your own data if you seek an accurate info.
Especially on rainy days when all I want is something warm, spicy, and comforting.
Oh yes, nothing can beat good samosa chaat with a cup of chai on a rainy day.