This recipe here is fun, easy and something that has got a burst of flavours and textures – spicy, tangy, sweet, sour, crunchy and fresh! What’s even better, this also falls under the very popular Indian snack category – chaat.
‘Chaat‘ is a type of quick snack that is made with chutneys – sweet-tangy (date and tamarind) and spicy (coriander and mint) and sometimes yoghurt – that are an accompaniment to a main food item in the dish. If potatoes are the main ingredient then it becomes an ‘aloo chaat‘, if the main items are chickpeas then its a ‘chhole chaat’, if it has got ‘samosa’ then its a ‘samosa chaat’ – so on and so forth. The possibilities and options are endless really!
This recipe is that of a non-vegetarian chaat. And since it has got some nice, succulent, grilled chicken pieces as its main ingredient it is a chicken tikka chaat!
I have served the chicken tikkas in baked edible bowls or katoris, made of wheat and plain flours. I had developed this recipe for a food challenge once and now it has become a favourite with my family and friends.
Essentially there are four steps to the recipe:
(1) Making the katoris
(2) Preparing the chicken tikka
(3) Making the chutneys for the chaat
(4) Assembling the chaat
Now, while this may seem like a long process, trust me its an easy one.You will definitely be able to impress your loved ones with this snack. And be certain that everyone will ask for more!
Also, once you make the chutneys, you could easily freeze them and store for later use!
This recipe makes six chicken tikka chaat bowls.
Some of my other quick and easy snack recipes:
Peri peri chicken, corn and cheese sandwich
Easy chicken tikka chaat in edible baskets
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup wheat flour
- 1/4 cup plain flour
- 1 tsp carom seeds
- 200 g chicken thighs bite sized pieces
- 2 tbsp yoghurt
- 1 tsp red chilli powder
- 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tsp garam masala
- 4 tsp lime juice
- 200 g coriander leaves
- 100 g mint leaves
- 1/2 tsp ginger paste
- 1/2 tsp garlic paste
- 3-4 cloves garlic
- 1 inch ginger roughly cut
- 3-4 tsp chaat masala
- 100 g dates deseeded and chopped
- 2 tbsp tamarind pulp
- 3-4 dry red chilles roasted
- 2 tsp cumin seeds roasted
- 1 tsp pink salt
- 1 medium red onion finely chopped
- 1 medium tomato finely chopped
- 2-3 fresh green chillies finely chopped (optional)
- 1 cup sev (fried gram flour ribbons)
- 1 tsp vegetable oil
- 1 tbsp mustard oil
- sugar to taste
- salt to taste
Instructions
For the edible baskets (katoris)
- Mix the flours with salt, vegetable oil and carom seeds
- Knead into a stiff dough by adding water gradually
- Using a rolling pin, roll out small discs from the dough
- Stick the discs on individual cups of an inverted and greased muffin tray
- Pinch the sides so that the discs stick well on to the cups
- Bake these in a pre-heated oven at 180 degrees C for 15-18 minutes or until the baskets or katoris are well baked and lightly browned
- Remove and set aside to cool
For the chicken tikka
- Marinate the chicken pieces with salt, mustard oil, red chilli powder, garam masala, yoghurt, ginger-garlic paste and lime juice for an hour
- Heat a griddle pan and roast the chicken until well done
- Remove and set aside to cool
For the spicy green chutney
- Grind together the coriander and mint leaves with chillies, garlic cloves, ginger pieces, lime juice, chaat masala and salt
- Use water as required to make a smooth fine paste
For the sweet & tangy chutney
- Grind together the dates, tamarind pulp, pink salt, sugar, dry red chillies and cumin seeds
- Use water as required to make a smooth fine paste
Assembling the chaat
- Start with filling the katoris with the chicken tikka
- Top this with the two chutneys - sweet-tangy & spicy
- Layer this with chopped onions, tomatoes and chillies
- Sprinkle some pink salt and chaat masala
- Add some lime juice and finish off by garnishing these wonderful katoris with sev and chopped coriander leaves!
Notes
- The amount of chutneys to be added in the final chaat is to taste
- Cool both - the katoris and the chicken tikka - before you start assembling the final chaat
- The chicken pieces can be marinated in vegetable oil too is mustard oil is unavailable or not preferred
