This is a spicy Indian-style sweet potato chaat recipe . The best part of this chaat recipe is the crispy air fryer sweet potatoes. You can serve it as a healthy snack for vrat (fasting).
Shakarkandi Ki Chaat
Shakarkandi is the Hindi term for sweet potatoes.
If you go on a food tour of Delhi during the winter season, the sweet potato chaat is the street food delicacy you cannot miss out on. It is commonly known as Shakarkandi Ki Chaat.
Traditionally for making chaat, the sweet potatoes are roasted in the fire till they are charred. After removing the skin, the soft smoked potato is diced and tossed with spices. A drizzle of lemon and fresh coriander jazz it all up.
A sweet potato is much healthier than a regular potato. Hence, many people include them while fasting (upvas) to get the required energy, nutrients, and calories.
I am sharing a delicious sweet potato chaat you can eat while fasting. It is a farali snack recipe.
Ingredients Required
Sweet Potato : Use any type of sweet potato, from orange skin to light pink, for making chaat.
Spices: If you make this chaat for vrat (fasting), add only black pepper powder and cumin powder. No other spices.
Ghee : It helps in air frying the potatoes.
Salt: Use only rock salt (sendha namak) for making farali chaat.
Other Ingredients: Lemon Juice, Fresh Coriander, Roasted Peanuts
How To Make
Step 1) Peel and discard the skin of sweet potatoes. Wash them nicely. Cut into bite-size pieces.
Step 2) Preheat the air fryer to 180-degree Celsius.
Step 3) Combine diced sweet potato, ghee, spices, salt, and ginger paste. Mix nicely to coat each piece of sweet potato with the masala and ghee (images 1 & 2) .
Step 4) Transfer the masala-coated sweet potatoes to the air fryer basket. Air Fry them for 20 minutes, shaking the basket twice.
Step 5) To make sweet potato chaat, transfer crisp, sweet potatoes to a bowl while they are hot. Sprinkle chopped coriander, drizzle lemon juice, and roasted peanuts. Toss them together nicely.
Before serving, drizzle sweet curd, green chutney , or sweet tamarind chutney over chaat if you prefer. Else, it tastes delicious without chutneys as well.
Serving Suggestion
You can serve sweet potato chaat in two ways.
One, without any accompaniments, simply tossed in spices, lemon juice, and fresh coriander leaves. This is a classic way to serve shakarkandi ki chaat.
Second, layering the crispy masala-coated sweet potatoes with curd, green chutney , and tamarind chutney like a true Indian chaat.
More Indian Chaat Recipes
- Corn Chaat
- Lobia Chaat
- Peanut Chaat
- Dahi Vada Chaat
- Dahi Papdi Chaat
- Bread Basket Chaat
If you try this recipe and love it, please leave a comment and a rating. This helps us grow and reach other food lovers like you.
Ingredients
- ▢ 250 gram sweet potato (shakarkandi)
- ▢ 2 tablespoon ghee
- ▢ 1 teaspoon cumin powder (jeera powder)
- ▢ 1 teaspoon black pepper powder
- ▢ 1 teaspoon rock salt
- ▢ 1 teaspoon ginger paste
- ▢ 2 tablespoon chopped fresh coriander
- ▢ 2 tablespoon roasted peanuts
- ▢ 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- ▢ 1 tablespoon pomegranate
Instructions
- Peel and discard the skin of sweet potatoes. Wash them nicely. Cut into bite-size pieces.
- Preheat the air fryer to 180-degree celsius.
- Combine diced sweet potato, ghee, spices, salt, and ginger paste. Mix nicely to coat each piece of sweet potato with the masala and ghee.
- Transfer the masala-coated sweet potatoes to the air fryer basket. Air Fry them for 20 minutes, shaking the basket twice for even cooking.
- To make sweet potato chaat, transfer crisp, sweet potatoes to a bowl while they are hot. Sprinkle chopped coriander, drizzle lemon juice, pomegranate, and roasted peanuts. Toss them together nicely.
- Before serving, drizzle sweet curd, green chutney , or sweet tamarind chutney over sweet potato chaat if you prefer. Else, it tastes delicious without chutneys as well.
Recipe Notes:
- If you are not making this chaat for fasting, add spices like Chaat Masala, Red Chili Powder, sev bhujia, or regular salt for the flavor.
- You can use white, yellow, or orange sweet potato for this chaat recipe.
Nutrition
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Sweet Potato Chaat Recipe
Equipment
- Mixing Bowl
- Air Fryer
Ingredients
- 250 gram sweet potato (shakarkandi)
- 2 tablespoon ghee
- 1 teaspoon cumin powder (jeera powder)
- 1 teaspoon black pepper powder
- 1 teaspoon rock salt
- 1 teaspoon ginger paste
- 2 tablespoon chopped fresh coriander
- 2 tablespoon roasted peanuts
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon pomegranate
Instructions
- Peel and discard the skin of sweet potatoes. Wash them nicely. Cut into bite-size pieces.
- Preheat the air fryer to 180-degree celsius.
- Combine diced sweet potato, ghee, spices, salt, and ginger paste. Mix nicely to coat each piece of sweet potato with the masala and ghee.
- Transfer the masala-coated sweet potatoes to the air fryer basket. Air Fry them for 20 minutes, shaking the basket twice for even cooking.
- To make sweet potato chaat, transfer crisp, sweet potatoes to a bowl while they are hot. Sprinkle chopped coriander, drizzle lemon juice, pomegranate, and roasted peanuts. Toss them together nicely.
- Before serving, drizzle sweet curd, green chutney , or sweet tamarind chutney over sweet potato chaat if you prefer. Else, it tastes delicious without chutneys as well.
Notes
- If you are not making this chaat for fasting, add spices like Chaat Masala, Red Chili Powder, sev bhujia, or regular salt for the flavor.
- You can use white, yellow, or orange sweet potato for this chaat recipe.
Nutrition
This kala chana recipe is a pressure cooker-friendly one-pot wonder. A spicy, vegetarian Indian curry without onion and garlic.
The Brown Chickpeas
In the Indian subcontinent, the brown chickpeas are commonly used to make curry, kebab, salad , or other snacks. They are commonly known as kala chana. It is a fantastic plant-based vegan protein.
Many communities in India follow a no onion, no garlic diet regime. The reason is mainly religious. Hence, there is a whole section of Indian food recipes without onion and garlic .
This kala chana masala is one such curry recipe that is perfect for festive feasts and does not require onion and garlic.
Reasons To LOVE Kala Chana Masala
- easy to cook
- one-pot wonder
- vegan and gluten-free
- plant-based high protein
- meal-prep and microwave-friendly
Soaking Brown Chana
Like many other legumes and beans, the dry black chana requires a soaking time of 5 – 6 hours before cooking.
The soaking process reduces the cooking time , deactivates anti-nutrients , and improves the amount of magnesium, zinc, and iron you absorb .
I would not recommend cooking dry black chickpeas without soaking. They taste bland and take a hell lot of time to cook.
If you are using canned chickpeas, then this step is not required. Rinse the canned chickpeas nicely and add to the curry masala.
How To Make Chana Curry
I am using a stovetop pressure cooker for this Kala chana recipe. You can follow the same process in an instant pot as well.
Tomato Paste: Combine ginger, tomato, and green chili to make a smooth paste in a blender ( image 2 ).
The Aromatics: Heat mustard oil in a pressure cooker till it starts smoking. Reduce the heat to low. Add bay leaf, black cardamom, and cumin seeds. Saute for a minute to release the aroma of the spices ( image 4) .
Fry Masala: Add tomato paste made in Step 1 along with salt, red chili powder, turmeric powder, and coriander powder. Fry the masala over low heat till oil separates ( image 6 ).
Soaked Chana: Drain water from the soaked chana. Add them to the pressure cooker. Mix nicely to combine all the ingredients. Fry for a minute.
Pressure Cook: Add 1 – 2 Cups of water. Stir to combine. Close the lid of the pressure cooker. Put the whistle. Cook brown chana over low heat for 15 minutes or 3 – 4 whistles.
Finishing Touch: Once chana masala is cooked, add mango powder, garam masala , and dry fenugreek leaves (kasuri methi). Stir to combine. Cook for a minute.
Garnish with julienned ginger, green chili, and fresh coriander.
Serving Suggestion
The best way to enjoy kala chana masala is with piping hot chapati, palak poori , atta poori , or paratha.
If you make them with extra gravy or curry, serve them with jeera rice or basmati rice.
For a wholesome gluten-free and vegan meal, you can also serve chana masala with quinoa or bulgar wheat .
Navratri Prasad Sukha Kala Chana
On the festive occasion of Navratri Pujan or Ram Navmi, the prasad of Halwa , Chana, and Puri is offered to the Goddess Durga.
No onion, garlic, tomato, ginger, green chili, or garam masala is added to the prasad chana.
It is cooked in pure ghee with cumin seeds, turmeric powder, red chili powder, salt, and water. A true Sattvic-style dish.
More Indian Curry Recipes
- Paneer Butter Masala
- Phool Makhana Curry
- Dahi Potato Curry
- Boondi Ki Kadhi
- Chana Masala
- Aloo Ki Sabzi
- Arbi Ki Sabzi
If you try this recipe and love it, please leave a comment and a rating. This helps us grow and reach other food lovers like you.
Ingredients
- ▢ 2 Cup Black Chickpeas (kala chana)
Ingredients To Make Paste:
- ▢ 1 Cup chopped tomato
- ▢ 1 green chili
- ▢ 1 tablespoon chopped ginger
Other Ingredients:
- ▢ ⅛ Cup mustard oil or other cooking oil
- ▢ 1 black cardamom (badi elaichi)
- ▢ 1 bay leaf
- ▢ 1 teaspoon red chilli powder
- ▢ 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
- ▢ 1 teaspoon coriander powder
- ▢ Salt to taste
- ▢ 1 teaspoon Garam Masala ( see recipe )
- ▢ 1 teaspoon dry mango powder (amchur)
- ▢ 1 tablespoon dry fenugreek leaves (kasuri methi)
- ▢ 1 tablespoon chopped fresh coriander
- ▢ 2 Cup water
Instructions
- Clean, rinse, and soak black chana overnight or for 5 – 6 hours in water.
- Meanwhile, make a paste of tomato with ginger and green chili in a blender.
- Heat mustard oil in a pressure cooker till it starts smoking. Reduce the heat to low. Add bay leaf, black cardamom, and cumin seeds, Saute for a minute to release the aroma of the spices
- Once cumin is roasted add tomato paste along with salt, red chili powder, turmeric powder, and coriander powder. Fry the masala over low heat till oil separates.
- Drain water from the soaked chana. Add them to the pressure cooker. Mix nicely to combine all the ingredients. Fry for 1 – 2 minutes.
- Add 1 – 2 Cups of water. Stir to combine. Close the lid of the pressure cooker. Put the whistle. Cook kala chana over low heat for 15 minutes or 3 – 4 whistle. Turn off the heat.
- Let the steam release naturally from the pressure cooker. Check chana for doneness. It should soft and mushy. Taste and add more seasoning if required. Slightly mash the chana with the back of the ladle.
- Add mango powder, garam masala, and dry fenugreek leaves (kasuri methi). Stir to combine. Cook for a minute over the flame. Garnish with coriander, ginger, and green chili.
- Serve Kale Chane warm with poori and raita .
Recipe Notes:
- If channa is soaked, it does not take more than 15 – 20 minutes to get cooked.
- Adjust the quantity of water as per the gravy required. I prefer semi-dry chana masala. Hence, I add only 2 cups of water. If the chana masala seems too thick you can add more water once it is cooked.
- Instead of mustard oil, you can use ghee, refined oil, or coconut oil to cook chana masala.
- This is a moderately spicy chana masala recipe. Hence, adjust the quantity of green chili and spices accordingly.
- You can store the leftover chana masala in the refrigerator for 2 – 3 days. Reheat in a microwave or stovetop before serving.
Nutrition
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