Puff pastry chaat is a super interesting Indianised puff pastry appetizer recipe.
If you are looking for ideas for puff pastry appetizers, this is a definite go-to and a crowd-pleaser recipe.
A crispy flaky puff pastry base topped with Indian spices, vegetables, and some sev, this puff pastry chaat is just perfect as a tea-time snack or for your parties and exclusively kids-friendly.
One of those days when my husband gets back home from work after a ‘personalized’ shopping.
Having been married for almost 1.5 years now, of all the things, I have pretty much understood that the Mr.’s shopping includes stuff much more than I have asked him to buy.
He sure knows how to balance the otherwise ‘healthy shopping’ that I usually do, haha!
So, the other day he got puff pastry sheets along with a few of his other stuff.
As requested by him, I baked Indian veg puff with one half of the pastry sheet and kept the other back in the freezer.
After a not-so-impressive browsing session for some unusual recipes with puff pastry sheets, my super creative husband (ahem) came up with this idea of making some chaat with this.
We discussed, finalized the recipe and were super excited to try it out ASAP. And what next? The super successful trials are the reason this recipe is here for you all!
Doesn’t the picture above make you want to grab a bite right now?
Trust me, I am not exaggerating or patting my own back, but this sure is an amazing puff pastry appetizer for your parties.
Chaat is an all-time Indian (non-Indian too maybe), crowd pleaser and one of our favorite dishes.
And if there are some twist and fusion that is perfectly palatable, why wouldn’t anybody love it?
If you want to try something different from your usual papdi chaat, sev puri, tikki puri etc., and do not want to use your puff pastry sheet just to make puffs, you should definitely try this.
The whole concept is the same as a papdi chaat or sev puri, but the base used is a baked crispy, flaky puff pastry sheet instead of your papdi or puri.
All you need is a puff pastry sheet, chopped or boiled veggies, mint coriander chutney (click for the recipe), sev and some basic spices. Simply top the baked puff pastry sheet with the prepared veggies and spices and voila, your lip-smacking Indianised puff pastry appetizer is ready.
DIY Indian puff pastry appetizer (chaat) for parties
Do you know what I like the most about this recipe? It can be turned into a DIY (Do It Yourself) party appetizer, that your guests will totally love!
Thaw and bake the puff pastry in advance (instructions in the recipe below), offer a widespread of toppings, and you are set with the most interesting appetizer for your party.
The options for toppings are endless. I have used these toppings in this recipe- mint coriander chutney (click for recipe), boiled potato, boiled chickpeas, onion, carrot, and tomato, sev. But you could also use the following:
- peas (soaked and cooked dry peas preferably)
- cucumber
- raw mango or ripened mango (if available)
- boiled sweet corn
- raw green gram (plain soaked or sprouted)
- pomegranate
- raw grated beetroot
- chopped pineapple
- roasted peanuts
- raisins
- tomato
- mixture, boondi, aloo bujia
As this is basically a chaat, I wouldn’t recommend spreads like tomato ketchup, mayonnaise, sriracha etc. Please do stick on to mint coriander chutney and sweet chutney (I am using a quick-fix for this, refer below).
I can’t wait to throw a party just for this, haha! 😉
So, let us now move on to the recipe, what say??
I hope you give this recipe a try and enjoy it as much as I enjoyed preparing it and writing it down for you all. I would love to hear your feedback on this. When you try it, kindly post your valuable comments below or share it with me personally on Instagram / Facebook, or post it by tagging me. You may also pin this on Pinterest.
Method to make Puff Pastry Chaat Bites with Step-by-Step Pictures:
1. Thaw and gently roll your puff pastry sheet. Cut this into rectangles or squares of equal sizes (you can make 18 pieces with a 9×9 sheet). Using a fork, prick each piece well multiple times, so as to avoid it from getting puffed up. We want it to be almost flat.
2. Pre-heat the oven at 180 degree Celsius. Place the cut puff pastry pieces on a baking sheet and bake them for 30-35 minutes or until they turn golden brown in color. You will notice this along the edges especially. It is okay to bake them for a little longer as we want them to be crispy.
3. Take a small gooseberry sized tamarind and soak it in warm water along with jaggery powder. Squeeze out the tamarind pulp as much as you can, and make sure the jaggery is melted. Strain it and set aside. (apologies for missing out to take pictures here)
4. In a mixing bowl, add in boiled potatoes, black chickpeas, salt, red chilly powder, cumin powder, garam masala, prepared tamarind-jaggery pulp. Mix everything well, check for salt and spices and add more if required. Set this aside. Also keep grate carrot, chop onion, tomato and coriander leaves. Set aside.
5. To arrange the puff pastry chaat:
First, spread the mint-coriander chutney on all of the baked mini-puff pastries.
Top this with potato-chickpeas mixture, then the grated carrot, finely chopped onion, finely chopped tomato. Sprinkle some salt-red chilly powder-chaat masala on them. Top with some sev, chopped coriander leaves and lemon juice. Add in some extra mint-coriander chutney on top for extra spice.
Ready to serve!
Recipes that might interest you:
Masala Puri Chaat (Mysore-Bangalore style)
Puff Pastry Chaat Bites | Indian Puff Pastry Appetizer
Ingredients
- 1 no. puff pastry sheet (9x9) - , thawed and rolled
- mint coriander chutney (recipe link above) - , as required
- 2 medium onions - , chopped fine
- 1 medium carrot - , grated
- 2 medium tomatoes - , chopped fine
- 4-5 sprigs fresh coriander leaves - , chopped fine
- sev (mixture) - , as required
- juice of 1 lemon
To make the potato-chickpeas mixture
- 2 medium potatoes - , chopped to small cubes
- 3-4 tbsp black chickpeas - , (refer notes)
- salt - to taste
- 1 tsp red chilly powder
- 1 tsp chaat masala
- 1/4 tsp garam masala
- 1/2 tsp cumin powder
- 1 small gooseberry sized tamarind
- 1 tsp jaggery powder
Extra spices to sprinkle on the toppings (optional)
- salt - to taste
- 1 tsp red chilly powder
- 1 tsp chaat masala
Instructions
Baking the puff pastry
- Thaw and gently roll your puff pastry sheet. Cut this into rectangles or squares of equal sizes (you can make 18 pieces with a 9x9 sheet). Using a fork, prick each piece well multiple times, so as to avoid it from getting puffed up. We want it to be almost flat.
- Pre-heat the oven at 180 degree celsius. Place the cut puff pastry pieces on a baking sheet and bake them for 30-35 minutes or until they turn golden brown in colour. You will notice this along the edges especially. It is okay to bake them for a little longer as we want them to be crispy.
- Remove them from the oven and let them cool completely before you start topping them.
To make the potato-chickpeas mixture
- If you are using dry black chickpeas, soak them in hot water for about 4-5 hours. Pressure cook them until soft. Instead, you could use canned black chickpeas or skip chickpeas completely.
- Peel and chop the potatoes to small cubes and boil them in water. Do not overcook, they should be just perfectly cooked and softened.
- Take a small gooseberry sized tamarind and soak it in warm water along with jaggery powder. Squeeze out the tamarind pulp as much as you can, and make sure the jaggery is melted. Strain it and set aside.
- In a mixing bowl, add in boiled potatoes, black chickpeas, salt, red chilly powder, cumin powder, garam masala, prepared tamarind-jaggery pulp. Mix everything well, check for salt and spices and add more if required. Set this aside.
Arranging the puff pastry chaat
- First, spread the mint-coriander chutney on all of the baked mini-puff pastries. Top this with potato-chickpeas mixture, then the grated carrot, finely chopped onion, finely chopped tomato. Sprinkle some salt-red chilly powder-chaat masala on them. Top with some sev, chopped coriander leaves and lemon juice. Add in some extra mint-coriander chutney on top for extra spice.Ready to serve!
Notes
- The preparation time mentioned as 5 hours is only if you are using dry chickpeas. If using canned chickpeas or skipping them, the preparation time would be about 30 minutes to keep all the toppings ready and 20-30 minutes to thaw the puff pastry sheet.
- Alter the toppings as required based on the above list of toppings. But remember to always mix in the spices only for potato-chickpeas or potato-peas mixture. Top all the other veggies or fruits as is without mixing them with potato as they will turn soggy.
- Adjust the level of spices as required.