Chana Chaat — Iftar's Fastest Crowd-Pleaser
The tangy chickpea chaat of Ramadan tables and summer evenings — boil, chop, toss. Serves 4.
· 1 min read
Prep: 20 minCook: 40 minTotal: 60 minServes: 4
Ingredients
- 250g White chana, soaked overnight — buy at AkBaat
- 1 cup total Onion, tomato, cucumber — diced
- 2 tsp Chat masala — buy at AkBaat
- to taste Green chillies + fresh coriander
- 2 tbsp Lemon juice or sirka — buy at AkBaat
- 1 Boiled potato, cubed (optional)
Instructions
- Boil soaked chana with salt until tender but intact — 35-45 minutes. Drain and cool fully.
- Toss with diced vegetables, potato if using.
- Dress: chat masala, lemon/sirka, chillies, coriander. Toss again.
- Rest 15 minutes — the chaat needs its marination minute.
- Serve cool, extra chat masala on the table.
Chana chaat is the iftar opener that costs pennies and disappears first — tangy, cold, and infinitely scalable.
Serving Suggestions
Iftar's first bowl beside the sharbat; summer evenings as the guest snack that beats biscuits. Papri or slanty crumbled on top is the street upgrade.
Storage
Undressed boiled chana refrigerates three days — dress portions fresh; dressed chaat wilts by next day.
Cook's Notes
Fully cooled chana takes the dressing better (warm chana drinks it and dulls). The double chat-masala move — tossed in, then table-side — is how the stalls do it.
