Samosa Chaat is the kind of snack food I crave in the middle of a shopping or sight-seeing afternoon, late at night after a few drinks, or as a pre-meal appetizer. It’s a combination of flavors and textures that is deeply irresistible.
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This Samosa Chaat recipe is a popular Indian street food. It has all the delicious elements you look for in chaat. Spicy, savory, and saucy Chana Aloo Masala is topped with crispy samosa.
Next it’s drizzled with sweet, tangy, and creamy chutneys. And finally, it’s finished off with bits of hot pepper, fresh cilantro, and crunchy thin sev.
It’s tangy, spicy, sweet, sauce, crunchy, creamy, and so satisfying!
I’m a big fan of street food of all sorts and especially Indian street food. I just can’t get enough of those contrasting flavors and textures. These snack foods are just bursting with flavor and I am here for it.
What is chaat?
Chaat is a type of Indian snack foods that boast intense flavors and contrasting flavors. Chaat dishes are known for being sweet, spicy, and crunchy.
Cool creamy yogurt serves as a backdrop for crunchy panipuri. Sweet and tart Tamarind Chutney balances spicy Cilantro Mint Chutney. Chaat is a lot of things, but it is always a symphony of textures and flavors.
Chaat is popular street food sort of like Indian tapas. Like tapas, chaat can be enjoyed as bar food, as appetizers, as a quick snack on your way from one place to another, or as a light meal.
Why you’ll love this samosa chaat
- This Samosa Chaat has all the delicious flavors and textures you expect from chaat. It balances sweet, sour, savory, and spicy flavors. It’s saucy and crunchy with a hearty base of chickpeas and potatoes.
- It’s a great way to use up leftovers or chutneys you’ve got in the fridge. If you make Samosa, Onion Samosas, or Air Fryer Samosas and have some left over, you’re golden.
- You can alter the recipe to use ingredients you have on hand. Don’t have Chana Masala? Use canned chickpeas instead. Don’t have sev? Make some fried onions or shallots in the microwave. Don’t want to make homemade Samosas? No problem. You can use storebought ones (and the same goes for all of the elements).
- It’s quick to make and super satisfying.
Ingredients you need
The ingredients for this Samosa Chaat recipe are usually either leftover from other meals or dishes or store-bought. If you don’t want to do all that cooking, stop by your favorite Indian restaurant or Indian grocery store. Here’s what you need:
- Chickpeas: Chana masala (chickpea curry) or Chana Aloo Masala (chickpea and potato curry) serves as the base of this samosa chaaat. If you don’t have prepared chole or chickpea curry, you can use canned chickpeas or cooked chickpeas made from dried chickpeas.
- Samosa: The heart of this chaat is a flaky, plump filled aloo samosas. You can use homemade Samosa, Onion Samosas, Air Fryer Samosas, store bought samosas, or frozen samosas.
- Chutneys: Like chaat in general, this dish gets flavor and balance by combining sweet, tart, spicy, and creamy flavors. Sweet, spicy, and tangy chutneys add tons of flavor. Green chutney, like Cilantro Mint Chutney is spicy and herbaceous. Sweet Tamarind Chutney is both sweet and tart. Plain yogurt brings creaminess and a bit more tang. You can also substitute Cucumber Raita for the yogurt.
- Toppings: Spicy green chili peppers, chopped cilantro, crunchy sev, and chat masala all add even more texture and flavor. You can add other toppings if you like, such as finely chopped onions, chopped scallions, or pomegranate seeds.
What is Chaat Masala?
Chaat Masala is a spice mixture, similar to Garam Masala or curry powder. It is used frequently in chaat recipes like Samosa Chaat. It usually contains amchoor or amchur (dried mango powder), black salt, black pepper, chili powder, ground coriander, ground cumin, ground ginger, and asafoetida.
What is sev?
Sev is an Indian snack made from chickpea flour shaped into small noodle-like pieces, seasoned with turmeric and other spices, and deep fried to a crispy golden brown. You can eat it alone or use it as a topping for your favorite chaat recipes. This recipe uses thin sev. You can buy it in Indian grocery stores or online.
How do you make it?
Chaat is meant to be a quick snack or appetizer, so it’s not something you want to spend hours preparing. It’s super easy to make samosa chaat! This Samosa Chaat recipe uses mostly ingredients that are already prepared, so you can just throw it together in a flash.
Here’s how to make this Samosa Chaat recipe:
- Spoon the Chana Aloo Masala (or chana masala/chole masala) onto a salad plate.
- Top with the samosa halves.
- Drizzle the cilantro chutney, tamarind chutney, and yogurt over the top.
- Sprinkle the chopped chili, cilantro, and sev over the top. Add optional toppings like chopped onions or coriander leaves if you like, too.
- Serve Samosa Chaat immediately.
How do you serve it
This Samosa Chaat recipe makes a great party appetizer. I serve it with my homemade Chana Masala and Tamarind and Cilantro Mint Chutneys.
Sometimes I sprinkle pomegranate arils over the top both because it’s pretty and because the bright pops of flavor bring a little something extra to the mix.
Serve it with tea or an ice cold beer.
More Indian Recipes You’ll Love
I love to use my own homemade Samosas or Air Fryer Samosas when I’m making Samosa Chaat recipe.
If you love Indian cuisine as much as I do, you’ll want to try my other Indian recipes, like Chicken Pakoras, Paneer Pakora, Palak Paneer, Instant Pot Chicken Korma, Chicken 65, Instant Pot Chicken Biryani, Shrimp Biryani.
These chutneys are great in this Samosa Chat and have lots of other delicious applications, as well: Tamarind Chutney, Cilantro Mint Chutney, Garlic Chutney, and Cucumber Raita.
Samosa Chaat
something you want to spend hours preparing. This one uses mostly ingredients that are already prepared, so you can just throw it together in a flash.
Ingredients
- 1 cup chana masala or chana aloo masala warmed
- 1 samosa cut in half
- 1 tablespoon Cilantro Mint Chutney
- 1 tablespoon Tamarind Chutney
- 2 tablespoons plain yogurt
- 1 green serrano chile finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
- 2 tablespoons fine sev
- 1/4 teaspoon chaat masala
- Optional toppings: chopped onion roasted cumin powder, fresh coriander leaves, or red chili powder
Instructions
- Spoon the Chana Aloo Masala onto a salad plate.
- Top with the samosa halves.
- Drizzle the cilantro chutney, tamarind chutney, and yogurt over the top.
- Sprinkle the chopped chile, cilantro, and sev over the top.
- Serve immediately.
OMG I completely forgot sev existed. Back in college we had a roommate from India and he’d always buy hot sev as as snack form the Indian market. We’d always eat it all on him!
Anyway, thanks for the memories. I’ve never had chaat but I feel like I need to make it now!
This recipe ticks a lot of boxes for us! Tangy, crispy, and flavorful, we all loved it!
This is so flavorful! I loved the combination of flavors and textures!