Potato Fritters Chaat

Potato fritters are prepared by dipping the sliced potato in gram flour batter and deep frying them in oil till golden in color. Then the potato fritters are stuffed with finely chopped onion, spices, herbs and peanuts. Finally lemon is squeezed to finish it off. Serve potato fritters chaat immediately.
Makes: around 5 Potato Fritters Chaat.

Ingredients:

• Potato 1
• Besan 1/2 Cup
• Onion 1 Large
• Roasted Peanuts 2 tbsps
• Whole Red Chile 1 Small
• Red Chile Powder 1 tsp
• Cilantro few sprigs
• Salt to taste
• Lemon 1/2
• Soda bi Carb a Pinch
• Oil for deep frying

Method of preparation:

Peel, wash and slice the potato into thin circles.
Make sure the circles are not too thin and soak them in cold water until required.
Peel and finely chop the onion.
Clean, remove hard stems and finely chop cilantro.
Grind the red chile and a tbsp of chopped onion into coarse paste with enough salt.
In a small bowl, add red chile onion paste and stir in potato slices and leave aside for few minutes.

Heat oil in wok on medium high heat for deep frying, add few pinches of salt.

In a mixing bowl, add besan, few pinches of red chili powder, salt and soda-bi-carb.
Add sufficient water little by little to make thick flowy batter almost having honey like consistency.
Dip each potato slice in besan batter making sure the batter is coated on both the sides of the potato.
Remove the dipped potato slice from the mixing bowl and slowly drop into hot oil.

Potato slice should sizzle once it hits hot oil else oil has not reached required temperature.
Repeat the same with other potato slices.
Fry on both sides until light golden brown and remove the potato fritters on to kitchen napkin.
Once warm enough to handle, slit each fritter in the middle making sure not to cut it into half.

In a mixing bowl, mix thoroughly chopped onion, roasted peanuts, cilantro, salt.
Stuff the potato fritters with spoonful of the prepared chopped onion mixture.
Squeeze few drops of lemon juice on each stuffed potato fritter.
Layer a big pinch of red chile powder and little salt on each potato fritter.
Serve potato fritters chaat as a snack with few wedges of lemon on the plate.
Notes:Make sure potato fritters are fried properly before removing from heat.

Suggestions: If the fritters come out too thin, make sure the besan batter is thick enough. If the fritters are little hard to touch, add pinch of soda bi carb to the batter and try again.
Variations: Layer a pinch of chaat masala on top of the stuffed potato fritters if desired.
Other Names: Potato Fritters Chaat, Alu Bhaji, Aloo Bajji.