Creamy, crisp and crunchy pastry discs in yoghurt (Delhi papri chaat)

“If you haven’t tried this dish before then you are in for a big treat. It’s from the chaat family so it’s finger-licking good street food (chaat meaning to lick). Papri are simply little fried pastry discs which are then topped with potato, chickpeas, spiced yoghurt, chutneys and crisp vermicelli noodles, so the cooking is minimal and the whole dish can be whipped up very easily. Just make sure you assemble it just before serving or the pastry discs and noodles will lose their crunch.” Anjum Anand, Anjum's Australian Spice Stories

Credit: Anjum’s Australian Spice Stories

• serves

  4-6

• prep

  10 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 15-20 papri (see notes)
• 1 large potato, boiled, peeled and cut into 2 cm cubes
• 1 large handful cooked chickpeas, rinsed if canned
• 250 g-300 g plain yoghurt
• ½ tsp chaat masala
• ½ tsp roasted ground cumin
• 2 tbsp finely chopped red onion
• 3-4 tbsp tamarind
• 3-4 tbsp green herb chutney
• 1 large handful fine sev (see notes)
• good pinch of sugar and salt, to taste
• handful of pomegranate seeds (optional)
• pinch of red chilli powder (optional)

Instructions

Place the papri on a platter, then scatter over the potatoes and chickpeas.

Place the yoghurt in a bowl and if necessary, whisk in a little water to make it a thick pouring consistency. Stir in the spices, sugar and salt to taste. Spoon the yoghurt all over the top, then spoon over the 2 chutneys. Scatter with the onion, then the pomegranate seeds (if using) and the sev. Serve immediately with loads of napkins.

Notes

• Papri are fried or baked pastry discs made from wheat flour. They are sold in packets from Indian food stores and come in a variety of sizes.

• Sev are fried vermicelli noodles made from chickpea flour (besan) and seasonings such as turmeric and cayenne pepper. Sold in packets from Indian food stores and come in a variety of sizes.

Anjum's Australian Spice Stories starts Monday 4 April 2016 on The Food Network Australia. Visit the program page for recipes and more.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.