Crispy spinach chaat

The resulting bite is crispy, hot, cold, creamy, herby and ever so tasty. Although this is deep-fried, it doesn’t absorb a lot of oil and still feels fresh.

Credit: Martin Poole

• serves

  5

• prep

  10 minutes

• cook

  15 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

North Indians have a love for chaat, the finger-licking street food which comes in many guises. You wouldn’t actually find this type on an Indian street, but it takes super-quick crisp baby spinach pakoras and mixes them with typical street food yogurt chaat-style ingredients.

Ingredients

Chaat

• 50 g (generous ⅓ cup) chickpea flour
• 1 tbsp cornflour (cornstarch)
• ⅓ tsp salt
• ¾ tsp ground coriander
• ½ tsp chaat masala
• ⅛ tsp ground turmeric
• ⅛ tsp chilli powder, or to taste
• good pinch of carom seeds (delicious, but omit if you don’t have any)
• 40 g baby spinach, really roughly chopped
• vegetable oil, to deep-fry

Tangy Herb Chutney (Makes 200ml)

• 60 g coriander leaves and some stalks
• 2 tbsp lemon juice, or to taste
• 20 g mint leaves
• 25 g pistachios (shelled weight)
• salt
• ½ garlic clove (optional)
• 4 tbsp water

To serve

• 150 g Greek-style yoghurt
• 1 good tsp roast and ground cumin seeds
• salt
• 5 tbsp sweet tamarind chutney
• 5 tsp rounded Tangy Herb Chutney
• sev (Small crispy vermicelli, optional)
• pomegranate seeds (optional)

Instructions

1. Mix together all the dry ingredients for the chaat. Add 4 tbsp water and stir well, then put in the spinach and stir well to mix. It will be a bit gloopy.
2. Heat a large wok or karahi with 7.5-10 cm of oil. When the oil is hot (around 180°C), or until a tiny piece of the spinach mixture sizzles straight away, take walnut-sized balls with your hands and flatten so they are 1-1.5 cm thick. They will be irregular, which will help them be crispy. Add them all, then reduce the heat a little and fry until golden brown, turning occasionally. Remove with a slotted spoon and place on kitchen paper to blot off any excess oil.
3. To serve, whisk the yogurt with the roast cumin and salt it lightly. Place 2 spinach pakoras on to a small plate, I like to arrange them overlapping each other at an angle. Dollop over 2 tbsp of the yogurt, leaving the edges clear so they remain crispy. Spoon over 1 tbsp sweet tamarind chutney and 1 rounded tsp Tangy Herby Chutney. Sprinkle liberally with the sev or pomegranate seeds, if using, then serve.
4. For the Tangy Herb Chutney, blend all the ingredients until smooth and creamy; it might take a minute or so. Taste and adjust the seasoning and tang (lemon juice) to taste. Keep in an airtight glass jar in the fridge or freeze until ready to use.

 

Recipe and image from I Love India by Anjum Anand.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.

North Indians have a love for chaat, the finger-licking street food which comes in many guises. You wouldn’t actually find this type on an Indian street, but it takes super-quick crisp baby spinach pakoras and mixes them with typical street food yogurt chaat-style ingredients.