Tikki chole - crispy potato patties with easy chickpea curry - a popular Indian snack, has an absolutely amazing flavor! Serve with tamarind or cilantro chutney for even more deliciousness.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 20 minutes
  • Cook time: 45 minutes
  • Total time: 65 minutes
  • Yield: 4
  • Category: Main Course
  • Cuisine: Indian

Ingredients

For the Tikki (Potato Patties)

  • 3 medium potatoes boiled and mashed
  • 1 cup cooked quinoa (or use cooked millet or couscous or rice or omit, ([adjustable]1/3 cup [/adjustable] uncooked quinoa))
  • 1/2 cup chopped onion (red or white finely chopped)
  • 1 hot green chili (such as Serrano or Indian, finely chopped)
  • 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
  • 1 tablespoon chopped ginger
  • 1/2 teaspoon carom seeds (- Ajwain, or use cumin seeds)
  • 1/2 teaspoon Cayenne or paprika
  • 1 teaspoon ground coriander
  • 1/4 teaspoon kala namak (black salt, optional or use [adjustable]1/2 teaspoon [/adjustable]chaat masala blend)
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
  • 1 slice stale bread (crumbled (omit to make gluten-free or use coarsely ground oats))

For the Chickpea curry - Spices and Onion

  • 1 teaspoon oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
  • 1 black cardamom (partially opened)
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 2 whole cloves
  • 1/2 cup chopped onion
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt (divided)
  • 2 teaspoons Kashmiri chili powder
  • 1 tablespoon ground coriander
  • 1 teaspoon chole masala blend (or use garam masala)
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried fenugreek leaves
  • 1/4 teaspoon kala namak (or [adjustable] 1/2 teaspoon [/adjustable] dried mango powder)

For the Rest of the Curry

  • 1 tablespoon ginger garlic paste (or [adjustable] 1/2 inch [/adjustable] ginger and 4 cloves garlic, minced)
  • 2 tablespoons non dairy yogurt
  • 1 teaspoon minced ginger
  • 1 cup water (or more, if needed)
  • 15 ounce can of chickpeas (drained, or use [adjustable] 1 1/2 cups [/adjustable] cooked chickpeas)
  • cilantro, lemon juice, and pepper flakes for garnish

Method

Make the tikki.

  1. Cook the potatoes and quinoa if you haven’t already. Add the uncooked potatoes and quinoa to a saucepan of water over medium heat. Bring to a boil then cover and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, until the potatoes are tender. Drain and add to a large bowl.
  2. Mash the potatoes and quinoa well. Add the rest of the tikki ingredients, mix well. Add more breadcrumbs if needed. Shape into patties and pan fry or bake them. See baking instructions in notes below. Heat 2 teaspoons oil in a skillet over medium heat. When hot, add the potato patties. Cook for 3 minutes or longer until golden then flip and cook the other side as well until golden and crisp. Short on time or missing spices for the chickpea curry? Make just these delicious potato patties and serve with your favorite dip or chutney.

Make the chole (chickpea curry)

  1. Heat a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the oil, and once the oil is hot, add the cumin seeds and cook them until they're very fragrant and change color significantly, about 1/2 to 1 minute. Then, add in the black cardamom, bay leaves, and cloves. Mix in for 15 to 20 seconds, then stir in the onion and 1/4 teaspoon of the salt. Continue to cook until the onion is golden, adding splashes of water in between to help the onions cook evenly, 6 to 8 minutes.
  2. Then, stir in all of the ground spices and two tablespoons of water, and then add the ginger garlic paste. Mix in and cook this for about a minute, so that the spices and the ginger garlic paste can cook and get roasted.
  3. Add in the non-dairy yogurt, minced ginger, remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1 cup of water, and chickpeas and bring to a boil. Cover with the lid, reduce the heat to medium, and continue to simmer this for about 10 minutes or longer.
  4. Open the lid and adjust the consistency by adding more water, if needed. Taste it and adjust the salt and flavor, adding more salt, heat, or tang, if needed. Mash some of the chickpeas, and switch off the heat. Garnish with cilantro, pepper flakes and lemon juice.

Serve

  1. To serve the tikki chole, add a good helping of the chickpea curry and top it with the potato patties. Top the whole mixture with some chopped onion, tomato, cucumber, a squeeze of lemon juice, salt, and pepper and serve. You can also drizzle some chutneys, like tamarind chutney or mango chutney and some non-dairy yogurt, for an authentic Indian street food experience.
  2. Store the patties and chickpea separately for upto 3 days in the fridge. Chickpea curry is freezer friendly.,

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.