Sweet potato and spinach chickpea chaat

Sweet potato and spinach chickpea chaat is a healthier take on the traditional chaat recipe in which sweet potato patties is served with spinach and chickpea curry. This is grain free, vegan and pretty healthy recipe which you will enjoy in any time of the day.
Okay, I know there are so many hardcore chaat fans out there who will think foolish of this concept as chaat for any Indian is comfort street food which they adore. I am not telling you to replace traditional chaat with this sweet potato and spinach chickpea chaat. Normally chaat is eaten as an evening time snack or appetiser but this recipe can be perfect for lunch or dinner meals when you want something different or you want to go grain free meal or you are craving sweet and tangy at the same time. Serving this healthy chaat with raw onion, tamarind and green chutney will make it pretty close to the traditional chaat recipe.

Total time: 1 hour
Yield: 4-6 servings
Ingredients of sweet potato patties :-

• 1 lb of sweet potatoes, cooked
• 6 ounce of white potatoes
• 4 green chillies, minced
• 1/2 of small onion finely chopped
• 1/4 cup of chopped cilantro
• 1 tsp of roasted cumin powder
• 1 tsp of chaat masala
• 1 Tbsp of walnuts, finely chopped
• Salt to taste
• 1 Tbsp of oil

Ingredients for palak chole :-

1. 2 cups of dry chickpeas, soaked in 5 cups of water overnight
2. 1 cinnamon stick, 3 cardamom, 4 cloves,1 bay leaf
3. 2 medium tomatoes, cubed
4. 1/2 pound of spinach
5. 15 almond soaked and peeled
6. 2 medium onion finely chopped
7. 8 garlic cloves finely chopped
8. 1/2 tsp of cumin seeds
9. 2 tsp of coriander powder
10. 1/2 tsp of turmeric powder
11. 1 tsp of red chili powder or to taste
12. 1 tsp of garam masala and chaat masala
13. Salt and pepper to taste

To serve :-

• 1/2 cup of chopped onion
• Tamarind and green chutney as per taste

Method for sweet potato patties :-

1. Peel both the potatoes and mash it with the help of a fork.
2. Now add cilantro, green chillies, onion, cumin, chaat masala and salt and mix well.
3. Divide the mixture into 8 parts and form it into patties.
4. In a wide pan, heat oil and fry the patties until golden brown then flip and fry the other side.

Method for palak chole :-
For cooking chickpeas:-

1. Heat a pressure cooker and add drained chickpeas, 5 cups of water, bay leaf, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, tomatoes and salt.
2. Put the lid and whistle on and cook until 3-4 whistles over medium heat or until the chickpeas are fully done.
3. Wait until the pressure goes down then open the cooker and keep it aside.(You can pick out all the whole spices if you want)

For curry :-

1. Heat a wide pan and add spinach with 1/3 cup of water and put on the lid and cook until the spinach wilts(about 5 minutes).
2. Switch off the heat and transfer spinach, soaked almonds and 1/3 cup of cooked chickpeas into a blender and let it cool down for a bit, then puree it and keep it aside.
3. Heat oil in a pan and add cumin seeds, when it sizzles add onions, garlic and salt and let it cook until the onions are translucent.
4. Add coriander powder, turmeric, red chili and garam masala and saute for a minute.
5. Add pureed spinach and let it cook for another minute and add chickpea, mashed chickpea and  its cooking liquid and simmer for 10 minutes. Mix in the chaat masala and turn off the heat.

For serving, in a wide bowl, take 1-2 sweet potato patties then pour 2 ladles of spinach chickpea curry and desired amount of onion and chutney.
Serve sweet potato and spinach chickpea chaat warm as a lunch or dinner.