Healthy Option: Aloo Tikki Chaat

Aloo Tikki Chaat by Chinskitchen

A couple of years ago when I started feeling really sluggish,tired and overweight my plan of healthy eating kicked in, not only for me but for the whole family. Since then I seldom make fried foods or use excess oil, majority of my cooking is made with a low calorie spray or very little oil. Given that, as I have children I can’t completely eradicate the use of oil and fats and when it comes to baking sweet treats there is no healthy eating in there but pure indulgence. My theory is if everything else I consume is healthy then consumption of my treats in piddling amounts is acceptable. Being Gujarati and from Kenya I still crave for certain delicacies which have a very high fat and calorie content but the taste is just awesome, writing about them is making my mouth water. Over the weekend I was craving for Aloo Tikki Chaat but resisted walking into a restaurant to curb my cravings ,instead I made my version at home which I can consume in colossal amounts. Yep I made baked tikkis and there was no compromise on taste or appearance. Aloo Tikki’s or chaat is usually served as a light snack or a starter, here I served it Canapes style and they went down so well.

Makes approx 15 Tikkis.
Slimming World syns: Date and Tamarind Paste- 3syns per 25g so add syns accordingly
1 Tsp oil- 2syns in whole recipe

Ingredients:
Fry light or low calorie spray
3 Medium potatoes peeled, boiled and mashed
2 Tbsp instant mash potato
1 Medium Onion finely chopped
1 Tsp oil
2 Tbsp Cumin seeds
2 Green chillies finely chopped
2 Tbsp minced ginger
1/4 Tsp garam masala
1/4 Tsp Turmeric powder
1.5 Tsp Salt or to taste

To serve

Date and tamarind sauce
Fat free plain yoghurt
Fresh coriander chopped

Method:

1. In a pan heat the oil, add cumin seeds and onion and sauté for a few minutes, add chilli, ginger, turmeric,salt and garam masala, sauté for 1-2 minutes.
2. In a bowl add the boiled and mashed potatoes, instant mash, spice mix from step 1 and mix together until all ingredients combined. Taste and add further measure of spice and salt if required.
3. Roll small balls and flatten slightly into a patty shape.
4. Heat a non stick frying pan and spray with frylight to cover the base. Add the Tikkis on the fry pan and cook for 5 mins, spray with fry light and turn the tikki’s over and cook the other side for 5 mins. In the mean time pre heat the oven to 250 degree C or 230 for fan assisted.
6. Spray baking tray with fry light, transfer tikkis from frying pan to baking tray and bake in the oven for 20 mins till they turn brown all over. Flip the tikkis over and bake for a further 10 minutes.
7. Once they are cooked remove them from the oven.
8. To serve, arrange tikkis on a plate, spoon yoghurt over each tikki, followed by date and tamarind sauce and coriander.

These delightful treats work well served as canapes when you are entertaining as they are bite size. Alternatively you can also top tikkis with toppings such as sev, chickpeas or simply serve them with a dip.