In Old Delhi the aloo tikki is a chaat, not a side — a potato patty stuffed with spiced chana dal, shallow-fried on a vast iron tawa swimming in oil, then broken open on the plate and drowned in whisked yoghurt, tamarind and green chutney. The Delhi tikki is set apart by that lentil filling and a restrained set of toppings — yoghurt, the two chutneys, a dust of roasted cumin and chaat masala, a little sev — where the Mumbai version buries the patty under ragda. Crispness is the whole point: the potato is mashed dry, bound with a little cornflour, and pressed flat against the hot tawa until the crust shatters. This version follows Archana Doshi of Archana’s Kitchen, whose Delhi-style tikki keeps the chana-dal filling and the chaat-stall assembly intact.
INGREDIENTS
- 4 large floury potatoes (about 600g, boiled, cooled and mashed dry)
- 2 tbsp cornflour (cornstarch)
- ½ tsp salt (for the potato)
- ¼ cup chana dal (soaked 4 hours)
- 1 tsp ginger (grated)
- 1 green chilli (finely chopped)
- ½ tsp Kashmiri red chilli powder
- ½ tsp ground cumin
- ½ tsp amchur (dry mango powder)
- ¼ tsp salt (for the filling)
- oil (for shallow-frying)
- 1 cup plain yogurt (whisked with a pinch of salt and sugar)
- 4 tbsp tamarind (imli chutney)
- 4 tbsp coriander-mint (green chutney)
- roasted cumin powder (chaat masala and red chilli powder, to sprinkle)
- sev and chopped coriander (to garnish)
METHOD
- Cook the soaked chana dal until just tender but not mushy, then drain well.
- Sauté the dal briefly with the ginger, green chilli, Kashmiri chilli, cumin, amchur and salt until dry, then cool.
- Mix the mashed potato with the cornflour and salt to a firm, dry dough.
- Take a portion of potato, flatten it, spoon in some dal filling, seal it over and press into a patty.
- Shallow-fry the tikkis on a hot tawa or pan in a little oil, pressing gently, until deep golden and crisp on both sides.
- Set two tikkis on each plate and break them open slightly.
- Spoon over the whisked yogurt, then the tamarind and green chutneys.
- Dust with roasted cumin, chaat masala and chilli, scatter with sev and coriander, and serve at once.
