Mexican Papdi Chaat!!!

I’ve been wanting to make an Indian Fusion appetizer for the holidays and have always had this one in the back of my mind – so I finally brought it to life!

I tried to keep this simple -but chaat is ALL about the chutneys so it might seem like a lot of prep work but make it with love yall!! 🙂 Theres no cooking on the stove involved so this makes this SUPER easy to serve for a party- especially because you can make it ahead of time and its quite filling.

If you have other appetizers this will easily serve about 8-10 people and if you don’t- then this will be good for about 6-8 people (small appetizer size servings).

The chutneys can be made two days ahead and so can the bean mixture (but add the cheese and the onions when you serve).

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Mexican Papdi Chaat

Prep

Cook

Total

Yield 6-8 Servings

Ingredients

For the Bean Mixture:

Combine the following ingredients in a large bowl:

  • 15 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
  • 15 oz can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1 red bell pepper, finely diced
  • 1 green bell pepper, finely diced
  • 2 jalapenos, finely diced ( Use serrano if you want it spicier)
  • 1 tsp taco seasoning
  • 1/3 cup onions, finely diced (1/2 small onion)
  • 1 cup frozen corn, rinsed and patted dry
  • 1/2 cup scallions, sliced thin
  • 1/2 tsp cumin powder
  • 1/2 tsp chili powder
  • 2 Cups Taco Sauce ( I used 1 16 oz. bottle of Ortega Taco Sauce)
  • 1/2 cup salsa ( I use Pace Picante Medium Salsa)
  • 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
  • 1-2 cups shredded Mexican blend cheeses (Cheddar/Monterey)

Tomato Garlic Chutney:

*This chutney should be used like a "hot sauce" and added sparingly to the dish *

Blend the following:

  • 12 dried kashmiri chilis ( soaked over night in hot water or at least 30 minutes in hot water ) Remove the chilis from the water but reserve the soaking water as needed to make the chutney smooth.
  • 6 cloves garlic, peeled
  • 2 small tomatoes, roughly chopped
  • salt
  • 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
  • 3 tbsp reserved soaking water

Cilantro Jalapeno Chutney:

Blend the following until smooth :

  • 2 bunches cilantro, chopped roughly (bottom 2-3 inches of stems removed)
  • 6 cloves garlic, peeled
  • 3 jalapenos, roughly chopped
  • 1 tsp cumin powder
  • 1/2 of a lime, squeezed
  • 3 tbsp peanuts,plain unsalted & skins removed
  • 1/4 tsp salt *or to taste*

**add small spoonfuls of water as needed to keep things moving in the blender. A nutribullet or small blender will work best.Adjust salt as you add more water**

Yogurt & Sour Cream Sauce:

*You can skip this and use plain sour cream as well*

Combine the following in a bowl and mix well:

  • 1 cup yogurt
  • 1 cup sour cream
  • 1/2 tsp cumin powder
  • 1/2 tsp chili powder
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/2 lime squeezed

Additional Ingredients needed:

8-10 Flour Tortillas

Oil For Frying

Instructions

  1. Assemble the bean mixture as instructed above and set aside. Ideally this should be served room temperature. You can also heat this entire mixture up and serve it warm- I preferred it slightly warm!
  2. Make all of the chutneys and place in individual containers.
  3. Use a pizza cutter or knife to cut the flour tortillas into diamond or square shapes about 1/2 inch wide to use as the "papdi". 
  4. Heat a vessel (frying pan or pot) with enough oil for frying (should be about 1/2 inch deep) on medium high heat. Drop in the tortillas and quickly fry them until golden. Remove with a slotted spoon onto a paper towel lined dish. Sprinkle immediately with sea salt and chili powder (optional). ** You can also bake these or use an air fryer**
  5. Serve the chaat so individuals can assemble their own and take as much of the chutneys as they like or mix everything together in one bowl (chutneys should be added to your preference). The garlic chutney is spicy and VERY garlicky so use sparingly like you would hot sauce.

The bean mixture can be made two days ahead (just don't add the cheese or onions until ready to serve).

The chutneys can all be made two days ahead as well and kept refrigerated until ready.

The fried tortillas can be prepared two days ahead and kept in an air tight container lined with paper towel.