Looking to make easy homemade Samosa Chaat?
Our tangy and spicy Samosa Chaat recipe is a vegetarian snack popularly served as a North Indian street food.
Crunchy veggie samosas are served with chickpeas, yogurt sauce, chutneys, minced onion, crunchy puffed rice and fresh cilantro.
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What Is Samosa Chaat?
Chaat is a broad culinary term in Indian cuisine representing a wide range of street food snacks.
Chaat recipes usually feature some kind of crunchy deep fried dough with various ingredients that typically create a harmony of spicy, tangy, and salty flavours.
Chaat’s are beloved for their ability to perfectly contrast several complex layers of flavours and textures. They often feature ingredients that are crunchy, tender and soft. Scoop a spoonful of chaat into your mouth and you’ll likely enjoy an explosion of flavours that are simultaneously spicy, tangy, salty and sweet.
Most traditional chaat are savoury and served at roadside stands as a quick meal or grab and go snack. You can also make a sweeter offering like this fruit chaat recipe.
Samosa Chaat is traditionally made with a base of chana masala (chickpea curry) and deep fried samosa. Popular toppings include tamarind and cilantro chutneys, thin sev, cilantro and occasionally finely chopped onions or pomegranate seeds.
Travel to India by Making Samosa Chaat at Home
I love traveling through Asia.
My first visit to Asia had me living in South Korea for a year as a teacher and it’s where I was first introduced to fermented vegetables like kimchi.
After my contract ended in Seoul I travelled throughout Asia for 6 months, visiting the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, The Maldives and India.
I spent over a month traveling through India. I started in the capital, eating my way through the bustling markets and fine dining restaurants in Delhi. I then embarked on a magical weekend getaway to awe-inspiring Taj Mahal in Agra. In India’s north you’ll find plenty of barbecue, wheat-based flatbreads and street-style Samosa Chaat.
For the second half of my Indian adventure I explored the southern state of Kerala. The south is famous for its seafood, coconut, tropical fruits, and rice based side dishes like crispy dosa. The colonial capital of Cochin was formerly run by the Portuguese. It’s also one of the only places in India you can find beef on a menu.
After enjoying a jaunt to the Maldives my India trip came to a close in the Bollywood capital, bustling and cosmopolitan Mumbai. The city is famous for its specialty street foods and fine dining restaurants at opulent luxury hotels. The Taj Mahal Palace in particular serves one of the world’s most famous Afternoon Teas.
What I found most fascinating is India’s distinct regional food cultures. Much like the regional cuisines found in France, Germany, Italy or Spain, each city in India had its own local speciality.
After you’ve traveled to India, return home to prepare a tangy and spicy snack for friends and family featuring this easy Samosa Chaat recipe!
Where To Eat Chaat
If you live in a large city in Canada or America you’ll likely have access to local Indian restaurants that serve their own unique Samosa Chaat.
Haven’t traveled to India before? It may be helpful to first sample Samosa Chaat at a local Indian restaurant to better understand how the dish is served. You can determine how many samosas to serve on each plate, ideal spicy heat level and desired toppings and chutney flavours.
In Toronto, popular Indian restaurants that may serve Samosa Chaat include Udupi Palace, Lahore Tikka House and Kothur Indian Cuisine.
My Family Loves Vegetarian Samosa Chaat
I’ll never forget my first experience eating traditional Samosa Chaat.
It was my first day in Delhi after flying to India from Canada and I was very jet lagged. Half awake, I waddled into the hotel lobby to meet a local guide who would spend the day touring me around the city.
The guide knew I was a food writer so she took me to famous spice markets, popular restaurants and one of the city’s most beloved street food spots.
For lunch we stood in line to enjoy a cheap and cheerful Samosa Chaat meal. My eyes bulged as I watched skilled cooks juggle their aromatic chaat ingredients, sprinkling each small bowl with puffed rice, squirt of chutney and steaming chickpea curry.
After enjoying a trip to India I wanted to share my love of Samosa Chaat with my family so I recreated the dish in my kitchen at home.
My easy Samosa Chaat recipe uses store bought veggie samosas filled with potato and peas. I purchased them fresh at a shop in Toronto’s Little India but you can also buy frozen samosas at your grocery store.
This Samosa Chaat is really quick to make as you don’t have to prepare a chloe (chickpea curry) it uses crunchy chickpeas right out of the can!
My favourite version of this dish features crunchy samosas topped with canned chickpeas, minced onion, puffed rice, lime yogurt sauce, drizzle of coriander and tamarind chutneys, and fresh cilantro.
Health Benefits
Our healthy Samosa Chaat recipe is packed full of healthy ingredients!
Packed with calcium and friendly probiotic bacteria, sour cream and yogurt help keep your bones strong and your gut healthy. Yogurt may also help reduce the risk of obesity, diabetes and some types of cancer.
A rich source of phytochemicals and vitamin C, limes help boost your immune system and neutralize free radicals that cause disease and skin aging. Lemons also protect against heart disease and help improve blood flow to the brain.
Chickpeas are rich in cancer-fighting vitamin C, energy-boosting B vitamins, and gut-healthy fibre.
Onions are a humble vegetable packed with vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals. Regular consumption of onions can help boost digestive health and reduce the risk of developing heart disease.
Tamarind is a rich source of magnesium and contains more calcium than many plant-based foods.
A good source of bone-strengthening vitamin K, cilantro is also rich in antioxidants that help protect the eyes from damage by free radicals.
Samosa Chaat Recipe Cooking Tips
If it’s your first time making Samosa Chaat at home be sure to review our recipe below. Here are some helpful tips and tricks to get you started.
- We’ve used store bought veggie samosas but you can make homemade samosas if you prefer. You can quickly heat samosas in an air fryer.
- Cut hot samosas in half with a sharp knife and place them on a plate or in a bowl so they are easy to eat with a fork after smothered in delicious toppings.
- Top chaat with canned chickpeas, which should be rinsed in cold water and drained before serving. This is a simple way to prepare the dish rather than using a homemade chloe. You can also use dried chickpeas but you have to soak them overnight.
- Add coriander and tamarind chutney for tangy flavour and colourful eye-appeal on the plate.
- Instead of using crunchy sev we prefer puffed rice like Rice Krispies. You can also add a crunchy texture by using pomegranate seeds.
- Garnish the dish with minced red onion and cilantro. Add these last so they don’t get covered in chutney as you want to be able to see them.
What To Serve with Samosa Chaat
Samosa Chaat is one of our favourite quick and easy Indian snacks. After making this recipe we know it will be your favourite way to cook samosas at home.
The healthy vegetarian dish can be enjoyed on its own as a snack or midday meal with a glass of tropical juice like mango or pineapple. The chaat can be made vegan by omitting the yogurt.
If you’re hosting an Indian themed dinner party we like to serve Samosa Chaat as an appetizer paired with a cold craft beer.
You May Also Enjoy These Indian Recipes…
- Indian Vegetarian Paneer Frankie Kathi Roll
- Oven Baked Tandoori Gobi Cauliflower
- Aloo Fry Vegetarian Indian Turmeric Potatoes
- Chanachur Chivda Bombay Mixture Namkeen
- Parippu Vada Recipe With Coconut Chutney
- Indian Pudla Crepes
- Masala Chips / French Fries
- Indian Chicken Boti Kabab
- Tangy Tamarind & Coconut Prawn Goan Curry
- Spicy Indian Chicken Keema Masala Curry
- Aloo Bharta Indian Style Mashed Potatoes
- Kerala Style Ularthiyathu Beef Fry
How To Make Vegetarian Samosa Chaat
Vegetarian Samosa Chaat
Equipment
- Small Bowl
- French knife
- measuring cups
- measuring spoons
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp Plain Yogurt
- 2 tbsp Lime Juice
- 8 Hot Samosas
- 14 oz Canned Chickpeas drained, rinsed
- 1 Red Onion finely chopped
- 3 tbsp Mint Coriander Sauce
- 3 tbsp Tamarind Sauce
- 1/4 cup Puffed Rice
- 2 tbsp Cilantro Leaves
Instructions
- In a small bowl combine yogurt with lime juice and mix into a smooth sauce.
- Place two hot samosas in the centre of each of 4 serving plates.
- Cover the samosas with the chickpeas and onion. Top with mint and coriander sauce, yogurt sauce and tamarind sauce. Finish with puffed rice and cilantro leaves.
Nutrition
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