Masala Puri

Anyone from the Indian subcontinent will agree to one things about food - there is nothing more tantilising and taste-buds satisfying than a spicy, tangy, fresh CHAAT!! Wheather it is a vada-pav on the side streets, pani puri from the carts, gobi manchurian from a fancy restaurant or good old sev puri made at home, a good Chaat can bring a smile on anyone's face :) 

Having visited the south of India recently, we made sure we indulged in one of our favourites, MASALA PURI. Being back home sweet home though, it was too tempting not to re-create that Masala Puri magic..so here it is, my version of the very famous Masala Puri, made in a quick and easy way!

Ingredients (for two servings): 1.5 cups of green peas, 1 potato, 1 red onion, 1 tomato, 1 carrot, corriander, few cinnamon sticks, few cloves, salt, chilli powder, chaat powder, 1 spoon garlic paste, crisp papdis (Indian wheat biscuits), sev.

Make: In a pan, lightly fry in a spoon of oil, chopped onion and garlic until golden brown. Add cinnamon sticks and cloves and fry lightly. Add the peas and chopped potatoes with half a glass of water. Add salt and cover. Simmer in low heat for 15 to 20 minutes and you should see the peas and potatoes have cooked well and become very soft. At this stage, add chilli powder and chaat powder. Simmer again for 5 to 10 minutes. This version requires no grinding etc, so is much quicker than the traditional version. 

Remove from heat and serve immediately (remove the cinnamon sticks & cloves before serving), with toppings of grated carrot, chopped tomato, roughly broken papdis, chopped onion, corriander and sev. Not only will it look mouth-watering, it will taste amazing with the mix of spicy and tangy flavours! Double the winner also as it only takes about half an hour to prepare :)