Kind-of roasted potato chaat with mint yoghurt and crisp chickpeas

Name: Kind-of roasted potato chaat with mint yoghurt and crisp chickpeas
Cook time: 1 h
Yield: 2-3
Cuisine: Indian
Ingredients: 500g small potatoes, halved; ½ cup olive oil; 200g tinned chickpeas, rinsed thoroughly; 1½ tbsp cornflour; 1 tsp ground cumin; 1 tsp garam masala; 1 tsp finely ground chilli powder

Katrina Meynink

March 17, 2021

An Indian-inspired snack of spice roasted potatoes, chickpeas and mint yoghurt.Katrina Meynink

easyTime:30 mins - 1 hourServes:2-3

This loosely – and I mean very loosely – borrows from that wondrous Indian snack of aloo chaat. But instead of little potato patties, I've roasted the veg straight up then layered with various chaat-inspired toppings. The fried chickpeas add delicious crunch.

Ingredients

500g small potatoes, halved
½ cup olive oil
200g tinned chickpeas, rinsed thoroughly
1½ tbsp cornflour
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp finely ground chilli powder

Mint yoghurt

1 cup yoghurt
1 cup loosely packed mint leaves
½ tbsp caster sugar (optional)

To serve

½ red onion, finely sliced
arils from ½ pomegranate
½ cup coriander leaves, coarsely chopped

Method

Step 1
Preheat oven to 170C fan-forced (190C conventional).
Step 2
Add the potatoes and oil to a roasting dish and toss to coat. Season generously with salt then roast for 45 minutes.
Step 3
For the yoghurt, add the mint, yoghurt and caster sugar (if using) to a blender and blitz to combine. Smear generously over the base of serving bowls (you will have some left over).
Step 4
Toss the chickpeas in the cornflour, cumin, garam masala and chilli. Once your potatoes are golden and crisp, working quickly, remove the tray from the oven. Using a slotted spoon, scoop the potatoes onto the yoghurt mixture. Add the coated chickpeas to the residual oil in the roasting dish and shove it back into the oven as quickly as possible. Whack the heat up to 205C fan-forced (225C conventional) and cook for 10 minutes, until they look lightly coated and crisp.
Step 5
Scoop the crisp chickpeas over the potatoes and scatter over the red onion, pomegranate and coriander. You can serve with additional chilli powder and garam masala if you like a really strong hit of flavours.