tikki

Back in Delhi, when I was a little girl, there used to be a tikki, chaat and golgappa  vendor who would pass by our street every evening. The distinct sounds of ‘tun-tun’ that the steel ladle made as it hit the iron tawa and the sizzling and sputtering of the golden fried crispy potato patties were nothing less than a musical melody. For me, it was truly a sound of pure joy. The real flavours of the Delhi street food lie in the tempting chaats. The display of mouth-watering street food during Dusshera and Diwali, is simply irresistible. Street vendors serve a variety of freshly-cooked  aloo-tikkis, samosas, kachoris, paapdi chaats, dahi bhallas, golgappas etc to hungry passers-by at all times of the day.

The famous aloo-tikki chaat is a golden, crispy fried potato patty, often stuffed with peas and dal masala and topped with an assortment of tangy,spicy sweet and sour chutneys, a creamy spiced yoghurt or both. It is assembled in a little, dried leaf plate known as dona and is possibly the mother of all the street food experiences.

Recipe: Serves 4

Ingredients

  • Potato boiled peeled and mashed (4 medium sized)
  • Salt 1/2tsp
  • Cornflour 2tbs
  • Oil for frying for stuffing
  • Channa dal  3tbs
  • Salt to taste
  • Red chilli powder  1/2 tsp
  • Coriander powder 1/2 tsp
  • Garam masala 1/4 tsp
  • Amchoor 1/4 tsp
  • Ginger 1/4 tsp
  • Green chillies chopped  1/4 tsp

Accompaniments

Green chutney 1/4 cup

Sweet tamarind chutney  1/2 cup

Beaten curd 1/2 cup

Method

  • Soak channa dal for two hours in water. Drain water.
  • Heat oil in a pan. Add ginger and green chillies.
  • Add channa dal, salt, red chilli powder, coriander powder and garam masala. Fry till dal is done. Keep it aside.
  • Mix potato, salt, and cornflour well.
  • Take one and a half table spoon of potato mixture in your palm and flatten it.
  • Stuff 1/2 tsp of filling into it. Make it into the shape of a tikki.
  • Shallow fry them to get crispy outer layer that covers the soft and spicy inner crust of the potatoes and dal mixture.
  • Serve tikkis with sweet imli and green chutney.

 

  • Seema Goel is a gourmet cook, a teacher, a singer and most importantly a mother committed to a lifetime of nurturing.