Palak Patta Chaat is a chaat snack made with crispy fried spinach fritters topped with spicy green chutney, tangy and sweet tamarind chutney and onions, sev, curd and spice mixes.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 15 minutes
  • Cook time: 15 minutes
  • Total time: 30 minutes
  • Yield: 3
  • Category: Snacks
  • Cuisine: Indian

Ingredients

  • 12 to 15 spinach leaves ((palak patta), medium-sized)
  • ½ cup gram flour ((besan))
  • 1 pinch turmeric powder
  • 1 pinch asafoetida ((hing))
  • 1 pinch red chili powder (or cayenne pepper)
  • 1 generous pinch fennel seeds powder ((saunf powder))
  • ¼ teaspoon ajwain ((carom seeds or bishops weed))
  • salt (as required)
  • 1 tablespoon Rice Flour (- optional)
  • water (as needed)
  • oil (for deep frying, as required)
  • 1 onion (- small-sized, finely chopped)
  • 1 small bowl curd ((yogurt) or any plant based yogurt)
  • 1 small bowl Coriander Chutney (or Cilantro Mint Chutney)
  • 1 small bowl Tamarind chutney
  • sev ((fried gram flour vermicelli), as required)
  • Papdi (- crushed, as required)
  • ¼ cup pomegranate arils (- optional)
  • chaat masala (as required)
  • roasted cumin powder (as required)
  • red chili powder (as required)
  • black salt (or salt, as required)
  • 1 or 2 teaspoons lemon juice (- optional)

Method

Making palak pakora for chaat

  1. Remove only the leaves from the palak bunch. Rinse them well in water.
  2. Wipe them dry with a kitchen towel.
  3. In a bowl mix all the dry ingredients - gram flour, turmeric powder, asafoetida, red chili powder, fennel powder, carom seeds and salt.
  4. Add water as needed and make a thick flowing batter.
  5. Heat oil on medium heat for frying in a kadai or pan.
  6. Dip each spinach leaf in the batter and place them in the medium-hot oil.
  7. Fry them in batches till golden and crisp. Drain on kitchen tissues to remove excess oil.

Making palak chaat

  1. On a serving plate/plates, place the fried palak pakoras. You can crush the pakoras lightly if you prefer.
  2. Top with the green chutney and sweet chutney as required.
  3. Sprinkle some chopped onions.
  4. Pour 2 to 3 tablespoon of yogurt (curd) or as required.
  5. Sprinkle with chaat masala, cumin powder, red chili powder, black salt as required.
  6. Top with some sev and crushed papdis (flat crispy puris).
  7. Lastly garnish palak chaat with some chopped coriander leaves and pomegranate arils.
  8. Serve Palak Chaat immediately.

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.