Aloo tikki chole

January is a special month for us for many reasons. For one, it is the beginning of a new year and so, a time for renewed beliefs and hopes. It is also the birth month of the little girl and she starts planning her birthday right from January 1st. Everyday, she adds people to her invitee list and comes up with ideas for possible dishes on the menu.
This aloo tikki chole chaat is something that is filling, looks good and tastes good too. Crisp and perfectly cooked potato patties topped with a spicy, warm chickpeas curry and then layered with chopped raw onion, cilantro, sev and a tangy chutney. What's not to love about it, eh?



What you need :
For the tikki :
Potato - 4, medium sized, boiled, peeled and mashed
Bread - 4 slices
Salt - to taste (Please resist the temptation to add onions, cilantro, garam masala or any other condiment)

For the chole :
Kabuli chana/white chick peas - 1 cup (soaked in water overnight)
Onion - 1, chopped
Tomato - 2 , chopped
Ginger - a one inch piece, chopped
Garlic - 4 cloves
Black peppercorn - 4
Clove - 4
Cardamom - 3
Chole masala - 2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Oil - 2 tbsp
Salt - to taste

For serving:
Onion - 1, chopped very fine
Corriander - chopped fine
Tamarind-date chutney
Sev


To make tikkis :
Dip the bread in water. Squeeze out all the water and add it to the mashed potatoes. Add salt. Mix well and shape into patties. Shallow fry on a tawa drizzling a little oil over the patties until well browned on both sides.
 
To make chole:
Pressure cook the chick peas until soft.
Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a pan. Add the black pepper, clove and cardamom. Fry a little and then add chopped ginger, garlic and onion. Saute till onions are translucent. Add the tomatoes and cook till they soften.
Let this cool and then grind to a smooth paste.
Heat the remaining oil in a kadai. Add the ground paste, turmeric powder and the cooked chick peas. Add salt and chole masala. Reduce the heat and let it boil for 15-20 minutes or until the chole thickens.

To serve:
Arrange two tikkis on a plate. Pour a generous helping of chole on the tikkis. Top with some chopped onion, corriander, chutney and sev.

This post is part of the Blogging Marathon under the theme Combo dishes. Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 36
This is also my 7th post for Blogathon 2014, a daily blogging event for the month of January.