Dahi Bara, Aloo Dum and Ghuguni Chaat...

Monsoon came, and its a perfect time to hav some chatpata things like chats, gupchups/panipooris, and pakodas...So i am welcoming the monsoon by making the famous street food of Cuttack, Orissa...You talk to any Cuttacki and they will swear by their dahi bara, aloo dum and ghughuni chat! Ofcourse each local region will have its own favorite. Some will swear by Eshwara's dahi bara, while other's will only touch Raghu's dahi bara and others are purists who love their chandi chowk's dahi bara...Funny is'nt it... :-)

Cuttack is my sasural(in law's place) and therefore im so lucky to have this chat usually in the evenings or even in breakfast sometimes...i just enjoyed the food with my in laws wenever i ws thr...Now me and my hubby ws missing this very badly, so i decided to make this at home...Dahi Bara is urad dal fritters in spicy and tangy curd, Aloo Dum is a spicy potato curry and Ghuguni is a curry made of  dried  yellow peas  and to make it a chat we just hav to mix all these 3 things with some chopped onions, bhujia,coriander leaves and chopped green chilllies.... You can't escape from the aroma of this....very tempting and enticing, I should say!!

I already post the recipes to make Allo dum and Ghuguni, so u can follow that...Here i'll post the recipe for Dahi bara as well as to assemble these 3 to make the famous Chat...and here it goes:-

Ingredients

For the Bara


Urad Dal/Black gram(without skin) - 1 cup soaked overnight
2 -3 green chillies
Bunch of coriander leaves
1 inch of ginger - Minced
1/2 tsp Baking soda
Salt to taste
Oil for frying


For the Dahi  mixture



Dahi/Curd - 1 cup
Water - 1 cup (adjust consistency based on taste).
2 tbsp Grated Ginger
1-2 Green chillies cut into thin slices
Black Salt to taste
Sat to taste
1-2 tsp Roasted cumin powder

Tempering

Oil
Few Curry leaves
1 tsp of Mustard seeds
1-2 Dry Red Chilli
Pinch of hing

Method

Drain the water from soaked Urad dal(black gram) and grind to a paste .
If the paste is too free-flowing, add a few tbsps of rice flour or semolina/sooji to thicken it.
It should be thick enough such that you can just hold the mixture with your hand and give it a round shape before frying it. It should not be too thick or too thin.
Mix salt and baking soda along with the ginger, chillies and coriander leaves to the dal paste.
Keep aside in a warm place for 6-8 hrs.
(If  u r in India don't mix salt and leave aside , it is too warm and the Bara becomes too sour. Add salt only before deep frying)

Just before deep frying, get the dahi mixture ready. It is simple, beat the curd with salt and black salt.
Once it is a smooth paste, add water , cumin powder , grated ginger and chillies.
Taste at this point and adjust any of the above as per your liking.

Put both ur hands in the water before taking the mixture in one palm.
This prevents the mixture from sticking .
Give it a round shape and make a hole in the middle with ur fingers of another hand.
Carefully drop the shaped bara into the oil and fry it on medium flame for 1 to 2 min.
Flip it on to the opposite side. Fry till it becomes golden brown on both sides.

Once removed from the oil, drop them in water for a few minutes before transferring them to the dahi mixture.
This step keeps the bara soft and drains out the excess oil..


Now season the dahi mixture with the tempering.
Take a small pot, and heat oil in it.
Add mustard seeds , wgen it crackles, add red chilli, hing and curry leaves .
Fry for 1 min and pour it over the dahi bara...

Make the Allodum and Ghuguni by following my previous posts..

>Aloo dum

U can also have this with roti/poori/paratha/rice...or have it simply like this by adding some chopped onions and bhujiyas...

>Ghuguni

U can also have this with roti/poori/paratha/rice....or have it like this by adding chopped onions,curd,tamrind chutney, coriander leaves and bhujiyas...

Chaat

To assemble the chat we have to follow these steps:-

Take 3-4 Dahi Bara in a container.
Add 1-2 tbsp of the Aloo Dum.
Add 1-2 tbsp of Ghuguni.
Top it with Bhujia, chopped onions, chopped chilli and coriander leaves.
Sprinkle some roasted cumin powder..
You can add a sprinkle of black salt (optional).
Enjoy monsoon with this aromatic, tasty ,spicy, tangy and chatpata Chaat..