Chickpeas, garbanzo, channa, chole, too many name and very many more dishes for this protein packed beans. Chickpeas are one of my favourite and I really do enjoy cooking with them. Whether it’s a salad, a curry, soup or a rice dish, these little beauties really do add a satisfying and delicious flavour to any dish.
On the streets of grand old India, you can find street vendor and shops who sell a large variety of mouth-watering savoury snacks known as ‘Chaat’. These chaat’s can be made from different ingredients just as bean and potatoes which also are the main ingredient. It is often the case that the main ingredients are cooked and it is topped with raw ingredients like onions, peanuts, tomatoes, cucumber etc. There are no hard and fast rules for creating chaat’s. Another example is samosa and kachori chaats which are made of cooked samosa and kachori’s and topped with different chutneys, relishes, chickpeas, potatoes, onions, yogurt etc. The flavours can be very exciting, from sweet and sour, tangy and sour to aromatic and warm.
This particular dish is a hit with everyone and can be made in advance. It can be served as a lunch, side dish or as a main meal. I served it cold with warm garlic naan and iced chaas, it was awesome! I prepared my salad 3 days in advance to allow the flavours to marinate into the beans and left the bean slightly undercooked. By the time the flavours had been marinated into the beans, they were also cooked to a softer texture. The recipe requires the ingredient called Chaat masala, which can best be described as a mixture of amchoor powder, cumin, coriander, and other aromatic spices which can be found in any local Indian store.
Let me know how this chaat masala worked for you.
PS: no photos yet, but will be up soon.
Chaat Masala Three Bean Salad
Ingredients
150g red kidney beans
150g chickpeas
150g black eye peas
150g sweetcorn
150g green beans
2 large tomato
1 large red onion
1 cucumber
2 medium potatoes (cooked)
Dressing Ingredients
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 ½ tablespoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons chaat masala
1 tablespoon finely chopped coriander
Black pepper to taste
Method
- Soak all the beans in water for 8-10 hours or leave over night. Following on from this period of time, check that the beans are soft by pressing them. If they are hard leave in fresh water for another 3 hours. If this is too much work you can just use canned beans instead.
- Boil the potatoes in salty water and once done, peel and allow them to cool completely.
- Finely dice the cucumber, tomatoes(de-seeded) and onions, mix and set aside. Dice the boiled potatoes and set aside separately.
- Wash the soaked beans and allow them to dry naturally on a towel. Once dried, pour into a large mixing bowl.
- Add sweetcorn and diced cucumber, onions and tomatoes. Combine well.
- Add the diced potatoes to the beans and mix gently, ensuring the potatoes and beans do not break.
- In a separate bowl, mix together all the ingredients for the dressing and the pour over the three bean salad and mix well.
- Allow the dressing to be soaked into the salad for at least an hour in the fridge.
Best Wishes,
Krishna
Cooking With Krish 