I was recently presenting on South Asian food and let it slip that I miss chaat more than my mothers cooking. Now while that might have been a slight exaggeration just hear me out ok? I cook like my mother, so while I miss the comfort of her cooking, the flavours aren’t too far off from mine. Chaat however, especially the Samosa Chaat at Mirchili in Karachi, that is something I was unable to come close to - until now.
A Note on Copycat recipes
I don’t do a lot of ‘copycat’ recipes, notable exceptions being the Pappa Roti buns and the Halal Guys ish Chicken & Rice. My reason for avoiding them are threefold:- 1.) to be able to make that claim I’d either need to have them side by side or roughly a million times (papa roti buns I am looking at you) 2.) Ingredients vary across the globe - it is difficult to replicate a dish in it’s entirety. 3.) Time: I aim to make delicious Pakistani recipes as easy and accessible as possible. Samosas from scratch, cooking chana masala from raw beans - all this flies in the face of that approach, but is what restaurants will naturally do.
Mirchili ki Samosa Chaat
That said this chaat is my attempt at recreating the one at Karachi’s famous chaat restaurant Mirchili. I have always loved that that chaat shies away from a green chutney in favour of a red one and the traditional imli ki chutney. There is something about that combination that makes it just sing. It took some testing and retesting, but I finally have a combination that is
easy to put together well balanced
While I cannot say whether this is a true copycat or not what I can say is this: it’s so freaking good.
Samosa Chaat Ingredients
Like many chaat recipes this Samosa Chaat has several components. 1.) The samosa - I use store-bought here, the large flaky pastry kind 2.) The chickpeas - there are lots of ways of making these, but here I opt for something simple and full flavored 3.) The red chutney - this was the trickiest component, but man do I love the spicy tangy base and how that end ingredient (yes, ketchup!) just completes it! 4.) The tamarind or imli chutney - I use my homemade Imli ki Chutney because I like how it has some seriuous attitude, but you can use whichever one you like. 5.) Sweetened yogurt - this is the perfect counterbalance to the spicy, tangy flavours of the other components 6.) Toppings - Masala papri is my preferred but regular works, cilantro or coriander for freshness, and chaat masala because it rocks.
Assembling Samosa Chaat
Here is a little visual for how to make it
Samosa Chaat Cups
Recently I made this Samosa Chaat in cup form at an iftari. I used cocktail Aloo Samosas and 4 ounce plastic cups. Here is what I learnt
While you can keep the layering order in the main recipe I recommend adding an additional drizzle of both chutneys on the samosas themselves Add the papri right at the end, or serve it on the side for people to add themselves. Since the mini samosas get a little softer because they are layered in advance, a little additional diced onion for crunch is nice For 20 cups you will need 60 cocktail samosas, 1.5 cans of chickpeas and one container of sweetened yoghurt thinned out (you may have some left).
Chaat Lover Recipes
Chaat lover? Me too. Obviously. Here are some more delicious recipes for street food fans.
Mixed Plate Chaat Chana Chaat Chaat Masala Bun Kabab
Made this Samosa Chaat recipe? I’d love to hear what you think! Rate the recipe below by clicking the stars on the recipe card and/or leave a comment below!
