Chole Tikki Chaat

Aloo Tikki Chole or Chole Aloo Tikki is a much-loved chaat dish that can be seen and enjoyed on the streets of North India. The two elements, Aloo Tikki – spiced potato cutlets or patties (sometimes with different fillings) and Chole – the well-known spicy chickpea curry, are quite the match made in heaven. This Aloo Tikki Chole recipe has the addition of yummy chutneys which takes the overall flavor, a notch higher!

You must try this super delicious, hot and spicy Chole Aloo Tikki Chaat, that is packed with flavors from a tamatari chana masala and topped with chutneys, onions and sev making it truly lip smacking delicious. This chaat makes a great part dinner or even a Sunday evening snack.

The Chole Aloo Tikki Chaat is a simple recipe of the popular street food of India. The aromatic taste emanating from the chola, the chutneys and the pungent onion, along with that crispy sev on the top makes it an all time favorite Indian street chaat.

Serve this delicious Chole Aloo Tikki Chaat for the Diwali party, as an evening snack or even weeknight dinner with family and friends. 

What are the 4 different sub-recipes required for Chole Tikki Chaat? 

Every chole tikki or chola tikki recipe is different due to the mix of various dishes used. These dishes are aloo tikki, chana masala, mint coriander chutney, and tamarind chutney.

1. Aloo Tikki:

Aloo Tikki or spicy potato patty is a popular, delicious, crisp, and flavourful North Indian street food. 

Tikkis are crispy from outside and soft from inside. Here I am using the moong dal stuffed aloo tikki recipe, where the potato mixture is only seasoned with salt and has a spicy lentil filling. However, you also use a spicy aloo tikki recipe where potato mixture is also spiced. 

2. Chana Masala (Chickpea Curry):

Any Chana Masala for chole masala recipe can be used for making chaat. I made a chana masala recipe that can specifically be used for this chole aloo tikki chaat. But I have also shared other chickpea recipes on the blog, so you can choose any of them. 

3. Green Chutney or Hari Chutney:

Green chutney adds a nice herby punch to chaat. It can be made with coriander leaves, or with mint and coriander leaves.

4. Tamarind Chutney:

Tamarind chutney or meethi chutney adds a nice sweet, tangy and flavorful element to the chole tikki chaat. You can use this Tamarind Chutney  recipe. Or you can also use your own tamarind chutney recipe. 

Chutneys are a must for any types of chaat, so make sure not to skip the chutney part. If you are unable to make both chutneys, then at least make tamarind chutney.

Amazing features of this Chole Aloo Tikki Chaat:

✔︎ is fuss-free, and simple to make

✔︎ makes a great party or brunch get-together snack

✔︎ can easily be customized

✔︎ is vegan and vegetarian

✔︎ tastes just like the street chaat

✔︎ is ready in under 50 minutes

✔︎ can be served as a chaat, or snack

How to serve Chole Aloo Tikki Chaat?

Make and serve this delicious Chole Aloo Tikki Chaat to enjoy with family and friends. Also, every time I cook any type of chickpea curry, I make sure that I cook some extra for the next day to enjoy them with aloo tikki. 🙂

No matter what type of chickpea curry you are using for the Chole tikki recipe, it would always come out super delicious. This is because this pair of aloo tikki is meant to be super delicious. So feel free to choose any chickpea curry for this chaat recipe. 

Can I bake Aloo Tikki for Tikki Chole Chaat recipe?

Tikki Chole Chaat tastes best when you shallow fry them. But you can surely bake them. 

To bake, pre-heat the oven to 200°C.

Line a baking tray with the parchment paper and arrange tikkis in a single layer.

Brush aloo tikki with some oil. Switch the temperature to 180°C and bake for about 22-25 minutes or until tikkis are crispy and golden.

 

Important tips, tricks, and variations to make best tasting Street Style Chole Aloo Tikki Chaat:

1. Plain yogurt can be added to balance the spiciness of the overall dish adding a refreshing and cooling effect. However, tikki Chole chaat can be served with or without yogurt. The choice entirely depends on the one who is going to devour the Tikki Chole chaat.
2. I have used moong dal stuffing for aloo tikki, but you can skip the stuffing part. Or choose any other stuffing of your choice.
3. This recipe makes 6 large tikkis, but you can also make 9 medium-sized tikkis.
4. This is a spicy recipe, but you can surely adjust the amount of spices according to your taste buds.
5. You can also garnish chaat with some pomegranate arils.
6. If you are planning to make it for a party or get together, then you can make the aloo tikki a day before and fry them lightly. Let them cool and store in an air-tight container. Re-fry them right before serving. 
7. I used oil for frying aloo tikkis, but instead of oil, you can also use ghee for frying aloo tikki.

Chole Aloo Tikki Chaat (Step-by-step instructions)

How to make Chana Masala (Chickpea Curry):

1. Rinse and soak chickpeas in enough water for 8-10 hours or overnight.
2. Drain out the excess water and rinse them again with fresh running water in the morning and set aside.
3. Add rinsed chickpeas to a pressure cooker or in an Instant Pot along with salt, water, tea bags, cinnamon stick, black cardamom, peppercorns, and clove.
4. Pressure cook chickpeas for 4-5 whistles on low heat or pressure cook in instant pot for 20 minutes.
5. Let the pressure come off completely before opening the lid.
6. Heat oil/ghee in a pan over medium heat.
7. Add bay leaf, dried red chili, cumin seeds, asafetida and sauté them for few seconds or until they are fragrant.
8. Now add onion paste and sauté it for 2-3 minutes on medium heat.
9. Once the onion is slightly translucent, add the ginger-garlic paste and sauté 2 minutes on medium heat.
10. Next, add tomato puree and stir well to combine. Let the puree cook for 2 minutes.
11. Add chopped chilies and cook for another 1 minute.
12. Next, add the ground all the spices (red chili powder, turmeric powder, coriander powder, amchur, cumin powder, and garam masala powder). Let the masala cook for 2 minutes or until tomatoes are cooked and the raw smell goes off.
13. Once the masala is ready, add cooked chickpeas along with the water and mix everything well.
14. Add 1 tablespoon of chana or chole masala powder. Mix well and let it come to a boil.
15. Cover and simmer for at 15-20 minutes on medium heat.

For Aloo Tikki:

Aloo Tikki

INGREDIENTS

Ingredients For Chana Masala:

• 1.4 cups chickpeas (kabuli chana)
• 2 black tea bags (or 1 tablespoon black tea leaves wrapped in a muslin cloth)
• 1 inch cinnamon stick (dalchini)
• 4-5 cloves (laung)
• 4-5 black peppercorns (kali mirch)
• 1 black cardamom pod (moti or kali ilaichi)
• Salt to taste
• 2 tablespoons oil or ghee
• 1 bay leaf (tej patta)
• 1 dried red chili (sukhi lal mirch)
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds (jeera)
• pinch of asafoetida (hing powder)
• 3/4 cup onion paste (make it by blending onions in a blender)
• 2 tablespoons homemade ginger-garlic paste (adrak lehsun ka paste)
• 1 cup tomato puree (you can use homemade or store-bought)
• 1 tsp chopped chilies (kati hui lal ya hari mirch)
• 1 teaspoon coriander powder (dhaniya powder)
• 1 teaspoon red chili powder (lal mirch powder)
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder (haldi powder)
• 1 teaspoon roasted cumin powder (jeera powder)
• 3/4 teaspoon dried mango powder (jeera powder)
• 1/4 teaspoon garam masala powder
• 3/4 teaspoon black salt (kala namak)
• 1 tablespoon chole or chana masala powder
• 1 tablespoon coriander leaves

Ingredients For Aloo Tikki:

• 4 medium-sized potatoes
• 2 tablespoons bread crumbs
• 2 tablespoons corn starch
• Salt to taste
• Oil for frying
• chopped green chilies
• chopped onions
• cilantro
• black salt
• turmeric

Other Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup chopped onions
• 4-5 tablespoons chopped coriander (cilantro) leaves
• 1/3 cup mint coriander chutney or coriander chutney
• 1/2 cup tamarind chutney
• 1 tablespoon chaat masala powder or as required (optional)
• 1 teaspoon red chili powder or as required (optional)
• Nylon (thin) sev (Optional)

Method:

How to make Chana Masala (Chickpea Curry):

1. Rinse and soak chickpeas in enough water for 8-10 hours or overnight.
2. Drain out the excess water and rinse them again with fresh running water in the morning and set aside.
3. Add rinsed chickpeas to a pressure cooker along with salt, water, tea bags, cinnamon stick, black cardamom, peppercorns, and clove.
4. Pressure cook chickpeas for 4-5 whistles on low heat.
5. Let the pressure come off completely before opening the lid.
6. Heat oil/ghee in a pan over medium heat.
7. Add bay leaf, dried red chili, cumin seeds, asafetida and sauté them for few seconds or until they are fragrant.
8. Now add onion paste and sauté it for 2-3 minutes on medium heat.
9. Once the onion is slightly translucent, add the ginger-garlic paste and sauté 2 minutes on medium heat.
10. Next, add tomato puree and stir well to combine. Let the puree cook for 2 minutes.
11. Add chopped chilies and cook for another 1 minute.
12. Next, add the ground all the spices (red chili powder, turmeric powder, coriander powder, amchur, cumin powder, and garam masala powder). Let the masala cook for 2 minutes or until tomatoes are cooked and the raw smell goes off.
13. Once the masala is ready, add cooked chickpeas along with the water and mix everything well.
14. Add 1 tablespoon of chana or chole masala powder. Mix well and let it come to a boil.
15. Cover and simmer for at 15-20 minutes on medium heat.
16. Once done, open the lid and add some chopped coriander leaves and cook for 1 more minute.
17. Chana masala is ready. Keep this covered.

Make Aloo Tikki Mixture:

1. Fill a pan with the water, and add whole potatoes. Cover the pan with the lid and boil for 10 minutes or until they are tender. You can also pressure cook potatoes for 2 whistles on high heat. To check doneness, insert a knife and fork, if it slides gently then the potatoes are cooked.
2. Drain the water and let them cool completely before peeling the skin. Once cooled, peel the potato skin. On a plate, grate boiled potatoes.
3. Add bread crumbs, corn starch, salt, chilies, turmeric, cilantro, black salt and red chili powder.
4. Now mix everything together until everything binds well. You should get a smooth non-sticky ball. If for some reason your mixture is still sticky, then add 1-2 tablespoons of more corn starch. Aloo Tikki mixture is ready.

Shallow Fry Aloo Tikki:

1. Heat oil in a broad non-stick or cast iron pan.
2. Once the oil is hot, switch the heat to medium-low and slide tikkis gently into the hot oil. Shallow fry tikkis from the bottom, until they are lightly golden.
3. Now gently flip the tikkis using a spatula and fry from both sides until they are golden and crispy.
4. Drain, fried tikkis on a kitchen towel-lined plate. Shallow fry the rest of the tikkis.

To Assemble the Chole Aloo Tikki Chaat:

1. Place 2-3 fried Aloo tikkis on a serving platter.
2. Pour about 2-3 ladlefuls of hot chana masala on top of the hot tikkis.
3. Drizzle with 1-2 tablespoons of tamarind and 1-2 tablespoons green coriander chutney.
4. Sprinkle with chopped onions and chopped cilantro leaves.
5. Sprinkle with some chaat masala powder, red chili powder, and some sev. Enjoy!