Kutchi Dabeli

This lovely street food Kutchi Dabeli or Kachhi Dabeli  has a crunch, and color, a burst of taste with spicy, sweet, sour, tangy and all the flavors in the universe!

Dabeli is one of the most loved snack/chaat items in India, and my personal favorite as well, has it’s origins in Kutch​​, Gujarat. It is a burst of flavors, textures, taste hidden in a humble ​Pav or ​bread bun​. Once you try it, you cannot stop at eating just one!! It is an easy recipe with​ a​ lot of components​ or elements​, which can be prepared ahead of time. A party pleaser, hit with the crowd and tastebuds – add this one to your next party and it is sure to be a winner. It can also be called Indian Burger as the concept is quite similar of stuffing the bread bun with patties, veggies, and condiments.

This is a vegetarian recipe, and can easily be made vegan by skipping the slight butter used in toasting the bread, and using a vegan bread. It can be made gluten-free by using a gluten-free bread. The recipe can be made into a Jain recipe by skipping the onions as well as garlic chutney.
As I mentioned, Dabeli has many components, but if planned well, this can be a quick to put together snack. The chutneys can be pre-made and refrigerated, the masala peanuts can be pre-made as well. The bread buns can either be made at home or purchased from a store. If making at home, the dough etc. can be done in advance. Though typically eaten with Pav / bread bun, the bread can be replaced with the simple slices of bread if need be you don’t have pav/bread buns handy.
The main components are: Pav, Dabeli mixture, 3 Chutneys, Masala Peanuts, and Garnishes. I have given the recipe of Dabeli below, along with all the chutneys and masala peanuts.

Recipe:

Ingredients:

Dabeli Potato Mixture

• 4 Potatoes – boiled, peeled, and mashed
• 1 Onion, finely chopped
• Chaat masala
• Salt – to taste
• a pinch Black salt
• 2-3 teaspoons Oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoon Dabeli masala (or to taste)
• 4 tablespoons Date-tamarind chutney (recipe given below)
• a pinch Asafetida

Condiments & Garnishes & Pav

• 1/2 cup Date-Tamarind chutney
• 1/4 cup Coriander mint chutney
• 1/4 cup Garlic chutney
• 1/2 cup Masala peanuts
• 1/2 cup thin Sev (thin noodles made out of gram flour)
• 1/4 cup Pomegranate seeds (optional)
• a handful Coriander leaves, finely chopped
• 6 Pav / Bread buns
• 1 tablespoon Butter
• 2 tablespoons Onion, finely chopped (for garnishing)

Instructions

Preparing the Dabeli Potato Mixture:

1. Boil potatoes, peel, mash it.
2. Heat oil, add a pinch of asafetida, when it sizzles, add onion and saute on medium heat, until translucent.
3. Sprinkle the regular salt, black salt, chaat masala, dabeli masala. Please note: each of these elements have some salt in it, so be mindful of how much regular and black salt you add. More can always be added later after tasting, if need be. Mix well.
4. Add the mashed potatoes, tamarind chutney, mix really well. Adding the date-tamarind chutney to the potato mixture is a secret to making yummy potato masala for dabeli. Turn off the heat and let it cool.

Assembling the Dabeli:

1. Spread the dabeli potato mixture on a plate.  Garnish it with pomegranate seeds, some masala peanuts, and coriander leaves. Take some sev on a plate, and some date-tamarind chutney in a bowl.
2. Cut the pav horizontally from the middle, without completely cutting through the end.  This helps unfold the Pav, keeping the hinge intact.
3. Heat griddle, add some butter to it.  Lightly roast the pav on both the sides, remove from hit.
4. Smear the insides of the pav with all Date-tamarind, coriander-mint, and garlic chutneys per taste.  Add a good amount of dabeli potato mixture.  Sprinkle with the masala peanuts, and drizzle some more chutneys per taste.
5. Close the pav, Dip the 3 sides of the pav in date-tamarind chutney bowl, then dip it in the Sev plate, such that the Sev will stick to the sides of the Pav.
6. Garnish the Dabeli with some extra masala peanuts, coriander leaves, chopped onion and pomegranate seeds. Enjoy!!
   
   This blog post is submitted by Sonal Solanki from the blog Eat More Art.