chickpea chaat for breakfast or for a meal ..

Garbanzo beans or the white chickpeas are great heart healthy and diabetic friendly food . A good source of soluble and insoluble fiber , good quality proteins and trace minerals .... also the tryptophan , the precursor molecule of serotonin ... the feel good molecule ..

The name of Chhole ( hindi n punjabi name of this bean )itself is a feel good exercise for the desi punjabis .... you would agree if you have tasted the chhole bhatoore or chhole kulche even once .....chaats are not uncommon and the chaat idea I am posting here is a favorite of many people around here.

I keep some boiled chickpeas in the fridge whenever i make any kind of chhole . These are used for making a quick hummus or a chaat like this one , just thrown in some assorted chutneys and a wholesome snack is ready and if you are liberal in portion size it can be a filling meal too ...

Most of the times we like it with a few paapdi ( a white flour fried cracker ) spread out over the chaat platter and that is where i have improvised . This papdi is made with whole wheat flour and without any shortening . Whole wheat four is kneaded using a little lemon juice and water , along with some ajwain seeds ... Rolled out and cut in thin squares and then fried in hot oil . It doesn't absorb much oil this way and is crisp and nice for this chaat.

Apart from the papdi , we used a red tamarind ginger chutney called sonth ki chutney , a green coriander chutney  some fresh curds , some chopped onions and some chaat masala as the main ingredients.

The sonth ki chutney used here is an instant one .

To make sonth ki chutney I used 2 tbsp of ready made tamarind pulp , 1/2 cup of water 4 tbsp of grated jaggery , 2 tsp of dry ginger powder , 1 tsp of red chilly powder and 1/2 tsp of my special garam masala ..... all the ingredients are mixed and cooked till a thick saucy chutney is ready ... i microwaved them all for 3-4 minutes , taking breaks after every minute to avoid spilling .

For the green chutney i used a bunch of coriander leaves , 5-6 cloves of garlic , an inch piece od ginger 5-6 green chillies and a tbsp of roasted peanuts . Added salt to taste and some lemon juice and whizzed them all in my trusted mixie.

Mix the chaat masala in boiled warm chickpeas , toss to make the chaat masala well absorbed well into the cracked chickpeas .... and then ladle out chickpeas into serving plates and top with chopped onions , the crushed papdi and the chutneys and curds ........

 Coriander leavas are optional as there is enough coriander flavor in the green chutney ... this chaat is an excellent example of different flavors and textures mingling together to give a satisfying experience ......

A sprinkling of red pomegranate seeds gives another dimension to the taste and texture of this wonderful chaat ........ actually a desi chickpea salad . How many of you would like to have it for a meal ???

For me it can be anytime meal , snack or just anything something ......... anything something .... when the family says they want to eat something ...anything ...this is one such option and if we keep any kind of boiled beans in the fridge this is the anytime anything ready in a jiffy...