Jersey Royal Aloo Chaat by Kricket

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Jersey Royal Aloo Chaat

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Jersey Royal Aloo Chaat

Indian

Side

1.5 hours

Vegetables/vegetarian

Medium

Serves

Lotus root and sev adds real texture and bite to this dish. You shoud be able to find both of these ingredients at your local Indian store. Ramsons are the flowers of wild garlic leaves that grow in the woodlands during Spring. Fermenting is a great way to preserve this special ingredient, making it available all year round: simply sprinkle the whole ramson flower heads with a little sea salt. Massage the salt into the ramsons for around 10 minutes then pound them using a rolling pin to break down the plant fibres and release more liquid. Tranfer the ramsons to a flat tray – you will start to see the moisture come out of the flowers. Pour the plant matter and all it’s liquid into a sterilised jar, and press it down to make sure it’s completely submerged in it’s liquid. Leave for 2–3 weeks before tasting.

Note: If you are making larger batch of the coriander chutney, omit the lemon juice, sugar and salt until just before serving. This will allow the chutney to retain its colour.

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Extracted From Kricket: An Indian-Inspired Cookbook By WillBowlby (Hardie Grant, £26) Photography: Hugh Johnson

Recipe courtesy of

Ingredients

For the Aloo Chaat

400 g (14 oz) Jersey royal potatoes, washed and cut in half
1 litre (34 fl oz/4 cups) vegetable oil, for deep-frying
4 generous pinches of chaat masala, plus extra for seasoning
200 g (7 oz/scant 11/2 cups) canned chickpeas (garbanzos),drained and rinsed
4 tablespoons Coriander Chutney (see below)
1 large red onion, finely chopped
5 tablespoons Tamarind & Date Chutney (see below)
5 tablespoons sweetened Greek yoghurt
a handful of fresh coriander (cilantro), finely chopped
sea salt, to taste
a handful of sev
1 small pomegranate, halved and seeds scooped out
3 tablespoons fermented ramsons (see recipe introduction, above)
1 lotus root, thinly fried until crisp

For the Coriander Chutney (makes about 450g / 1lb)

500 g (1 lb 2 oz) fresh coriander (cilantro), stems and leaves
200 ml (7 fl oz/scant 1 cup) vegetable oil
a thumb-size piece of fresh ginger root
4 garlic cloves, peeled
2 green chillies
6 tablespoons lemon juice
caster (superfine) sugar, to taste
sea salt, to taste

For the Tamarind & Date Chutney (makes about 900g / llb 12oz)

500 g (1 lb 2 oz) tamarind paste
2 cinnamon sticks
1 teaspoon black peppercorns
2 fresh Indian bay leaves
300 ml (10 fl oz/scant 1¼ cups) water
2 tablespoons Kashmiri red chilli powder
4 tablespoons date purée or a handful of fresh
dates (6–7 dates)
200 g (7 oz) jaggery or caster (superfine) sugar

Method

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Method

For the Coriander Chutney

Blitz the coriander in a food procressor with the oil, ginger, garlic and green chillies until it forms a fine paste.
Add the lemon juice and season to taste with sugar and salt. Store in sterilised jars in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. This chutney will also freeze well.

For the Tamarind & Date Chutney

Boil all the ingredients in a large heavy-based saucepan over a low heat for about 1 hour until well blended and thick. Set aside to cool. If you have used fresh dates, you may need to blitz the chutney in a blender until smooth.
Once cool, store in sterilised jars in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. This chutney will also freeze well if you wanted to keep it for longer.

For the Aloo Chaat

Cook the potatoes in a pan of boiling salted water for about 15 minutes until just tender. Drain and leave to cool. Crush the potatoes gently with your hand just to break the skins.
Pour the oil in a heavy-based saucepan, and heat until it is about 180°C (350°F). The oil is hot enough when a cube of bread sizzles when dropped into it.
Deep-fry the potatoes for about 5 minutes until crisp and golden.
Remove from the pan, drain on kitchen paper, then season with chaat masala.
Put the chickpeas in a bowl along with with the coriander chutney, red onion, one-third of the tamarind chutney, one-third of the sweetened yogurt and half the coriander. Season well to taste with salt and chaat masala. Mix the chickpeas with the potatoes, then spoon into 4 serving bowls. Top with the remaining tamarind chutney, yogurt and coriander, the sev, pomegranate seeds, ramsons and lotus root crisps. Serve immediately.