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Papri chaat
Serves 4 (makes about 16) Starters and mains
Ingredients
- 100g potatoes (any variety), roughly chopped into small pieces
- 1tsp ground turmeric
- 200g puff pastry, rolled out to
- 5mm thick and cut into 16 discs, around 5cm in diameter
- 1tbsp vegetable oil
- 1tsp black mustard seeds
- 1⁄4tsp ground asafoetida/hing (optional)
- 1 red chilli, deseeded if you wish, finely chopped
- 1tsp garam masala
- juice of 1⁄2 lemon
- sea salt
Topping
- 1tsp cumin seeds
- 4tbsp thick natural yogurt
- 4tbsp date chutney
- 1⁄2 small red onion, finely chopped
- 2tbsp roughly chopped fresh coriander
- seeds of 1 pomegranate (optional)
- 2tbsp sev (optional)
Method
Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/ Gas 6. Fill a saucepan with cold water, add the potatoes with half the turmeric and some salt and bring to the boil. Cook until soft (around 10 minutes). Once cooked, drain well.
In the meantime, lay the pastry discs on a baking sheet lined with nonstick baking paper. Place another sheet of baking paper and a baking sheet on top to stop them puffing up. Bake until golden brown on both sides (around 10 minutes). keep an eye on them, as they colour quickly.
Heat a heavy-based frying pan over low heat and toast the cumin seeds for the topping for a few minutes until golden brown and fragrant. Pour into a mortar, allow to cool for a few minutes, then roughly crush with a pestle. Put to one side.
Heat the oil in a saucepan and add the mustard seeds, asafoetida/hing (if using) and the remaining turmeric. Once sizzling, stir in the chilli, cooked potatoes and garam masala. Using a fork, roughly mash the potatoes into the spices. Squeeze over the lemon juice and season with a pinch of sea salt. After a few minutes the spices will have cooked through, so taste and adjust the seasoning.
Put the potatoes to one side to cool a little, and also allow the puff pastry discs to cool down before putting it all together.
To serve, start by laying out the puff pastry discs. Top with a heaped tsp of the spiced potato and then a good dollop of the yogurt and chutney. Scatter over the onion, coriander, pomegranate and sev (if using), and add a good sprinkling of toasted cumin seeds.
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