This lovely street food Kutchi Dabeli or Kachhi Dabeli has a crunch, and color, a burst of taste with spicy, sweet, sour, tangy and all the flavors in the universe!
Dabeli is one of the most loved snack/chaat items in India, and my personal favorite as well, has it’s origins in Kutch, Gujarat. It is a burst of flavors, textures, taste hidden in a humble Pav or bread bun. Once you try it, you cannot stop at eating just one!! It is an easy recipe with a lot of components or elements, which can be prepared ahead of time. A party pleaser, hit with the crowd and tastebuds – add this one to your next party and it is sure to be a winner. It can also be called Indian Burger as the concept is quite similar of stuffing the bread bun with patties, veggies, and condiments.
I made and photographed this Kutchi Dabeli recipe back in 2015, and it just saw the light of the day on the blog as just got around writing the recipe and sharing it here. As you can see it’s quite a lengthy recipe (though not complicated) and so that explains the laziness in putting this recipe together. Let me just say it took me more time to write this recipe then to make Dabeli itslef. It took a bit over 3 ½ years, but I did it for you – it is totally worth it – try it out and let me know how you like it. 🙂 I have given recipes for all components in this post.
This is a vegetarian recipe, and can easily be made vegan by skipping the slight butter used in toasting the bread, and using a vegan bread. It can be made gluten-free by using a gluten-free bread. The recipe can be made into a Jain recipe by skipping the onions as well as garlic chutney.
As I mentioned, Dabeli has many components, but if planned well, this can be a quick to put together snack. The chutneys can be pre-made and refrigerated, the masala peanuts can be pre-made as well. The bread buns can either be made at home or purchased from a store. If making at home, the dough etc. can be done in advance. Though typically eaten with Pav / bread bun, the bread can be replaced with the simple slices of bread if need be you don’t have pav/bread buns handy.
https://eatmoreart.org/ladi-pav-soft-eggless-dinner-rolls/The main components are: Pav, Dabeli mixture, 3 Chutneys, Masala Peanuts, and Garnishes. I have given the recipe of Dabeli below, along with all the chutneys and masala peanuts. I also have the recipe for Pav here on my blog, in case you decide to make homemade ones.
Kutchi Dabeli
Ingredients
Dabeli Potato Mixture
- 4 Potatoes – boiled, peeled, and mashed
- 1 Onion, finely chopped
- Chaat masala
- Salt – to taste
- a pinch Black salt
- 2-3 teaspoons Oil
- 1 ½ teaspoon Dabeli masala (or to taste)
- 4 tablespoons Date-tamarind chutney (recipe given below)
- a pinch Asafetida
Condiments & Garnishes & Pav
- ½ cup Tamarind chutney
- ¼ cup Coriander mint chutney
- ¼ cup Garlic chutney
- ½ cup Masala peanuts
- ½ cup thin Sev (thin noodles made out of gram flour)
- ¼ cup Pomegranate seeds (optional)
- a handful Coriander leaves, finely chopped
- 6 Pav / Bread buns
- 1 tablespoon Butter
- 2 tablespoons Onion, finely chopped (for garnishing)
Instructions
Preparing the Dabeli Potato Mixture:
- Boil potatoes, peel, mash it.
- Heat oil, add a pinch of asafetida, when it sizzles, add onion and saute on medium heat, until translucent.
- Sprinkle the regular salt, black salt, chaat masala, dabeli masala. Please note: each of these elements have some salt in it, so be mindful of how much regular and black salt you add. More can always be added later after tasting, if need be. Mix well.
- Add the mashed potatoes, tamarind chutney, mix really well. Adding the date-tamarind chutney to the potato mixture is a secret to making yummy potato masala for dabeli. Turn off the heat and let it cool.
Assembling the Dabeli:
- Spread the dabeli potato mixture on a plate. Garnish it with pomegranate seeds, some masala peanuts, and coriander leaves.
Take some sev on a plate, and some date-tamarind chutney in a bowl. - Cut the pav horizontally from the middle, without completely cutting through the end. This helps unfold the Pav, keeping the hinge intact.
- Heat griddle, add some butter to it. Lightly roast the pav on both the sides, remove from hit.
- Smear the insides of the pav with all Date-tamarind, coriander-mint, and garlic chutneys per taste. Add a good amount of dabeli potato mixture. Sprinkle with the masala peanuts, and drizzle some more chutneys per taste.
- Close the pav, Dip the 3 sides of the pav in date-tamarind chutney bowl, then dip it in the Sev plate, such that the Sev will stick to the sides of the Pav.
- Garnish the Dabeli with some extra masala peanuts, coriander leaves, chopped onion and pomegranate seeds. Enjoy!!
Notes
♥ Did you like or try this recipe? If so, I would love to hear from you. Please rate the recipe and leave a comment below. You can also follow me on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook for more delicious posts and recipes. ♥
Here is an awesome soft & fluffy Ladi Pav recipe that you can try out!
Ingredients
- 2 cups Water
- ½ cup Dates (seeds removed)
- 2 tablespoons Tamarind paste or ¼ cup tamarind (de-seeded)
- 1 tablespoon Jaggery or sugar
- Salt – to taste
- ½ teaspoon Cumin-coriander powder (dhaniya-jeera powder)
- ¼ – ½ teaspoon Red chili powder
Instructions
- Mix water, dates, tamarind paste/de-seeded tamarind, jaggery, salt. Bring it to a boil. Once it comes to a boil, lower the heat to simmer and let it simmer for about 20 minutes.
- Once the mixture cools down a bit, transfer it into a blender/food-processor, add the red chili powder, cumin-coriander powder and make a smooth paste. If need be, strain the mixture. Add more water if/when needed. The date-tamarind chutney is ready.
Notes
- This tamarind chutney can be stored in an airtight container and kept in a refrigerator for a few weeks.
- Feel free to make double or triple batch of this chutney as it goes really well with all chaat and Indian street food items. It is a very handy condiment and is a staple in our refrigerator.
Ingredients
- ½ cup Mint leaves
- 1 cup Coriander leaves
- ½ inch Ginger root
- 1-2 Green chilies
- Salt – to taste
- 1 tablespoon Lemon juice
Instructions
- Clean, chop, and grind all of the above in a smooth chutney. Add water if needed, while grinding. Chutney is ready.
Ingredients
- ½ cup Garlic pods, peeled
- ¼ cup Peanuts
- 2-3 teaspoons Red chili powder
- Salt – to taste
- 1 teaspoon Cumin-coriander powder
- 2-3 tablespoons Water
- 1 teaspoon Oil (optional)
- 2 teaspoons Lemon juice (optional)
Instructions
- Grind all of the above in a smooth chutney. Garlic chutney is ready.
Notes
- The garlic chutney can be stored in the refrigerator for over a week.
- If planning to store for a longer time, make the chutney without using water or with very less water, more like in a concentrate form. Then add water as and when you use the chutney.
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups Peanuts (skinless peanuts preferred)
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- ¼ teaspoon Black salt
- 1 teaspoon Oil
- ¼ teaspoon Chaat masala
- ¼ – ½ teaspoon Turmeric powder
- Water
Instructions
- If you have skinless peanuts, skip this step.
Prefer skinless peanuts as it saves a lot of time. But if these are skinned, then put them on a plate, heat it in a microwave for 4 minutes – 1 minute at a time. So you put for 1 minute, take it out, reshuffle it, repeat 3 more times. Let it cool, then rub the peanuts between the palm of your hands, the crisp skins will come off easily. If not, you may have to repeat heating in microwave for some more time. Separate the peanuts and the skin. - I am giving the recipe here using microwave oven. But the same can be done on a stove top as well.
Line a wide bottomed, microwave safe plate with a parchment paper. The parchment paper is not necessary but it will save you the plate cleaning time later. You are welcome 🙂 Put the skinless peanuts in the lined plate, making sure all the peanuts are in single layer. - Take 1 to 2 tablespoon of water, add ½ teaspoon of salt, mix it such that the salt is completely dissolved in water. Drizzle it the water on the peanuts, mix, spread the peanuts in a single layer on the lined plate. Microwave for about 8-10 minutes, at intervals of 1 minute each. Meaning, microwave it for a minute, then mix well, microwave again, repeat. After about 4 minutes, sprinkle the black salt, chaat masala, turmeric powder and mix the peanuts, continue the microwaving process. Make sure the peanuts don’t get burned. It only takes a split second for this to happen. If need be after a few minutes, you can microwave it for 30 second at a time instead of a minute, just to be extra sure.
- After about 7-8 minutes, keep the plate on the side. Once it cools down, the peanuts would turn crunchy. If not, it might require 1-2 minutes more microwaving in 30 seconds at a time. The masala peanuts are ready.
♥ Did you like or try this recipe? If so, I would love to hear from you. Please rate the recipe and leave a comment below. You can also follow me on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook for more delicious posts and recipes. ♥
Gourmet Kitchen
Amazingly detailed recipe of not just Dabeli but also of all the condiments etc. that go with it. Thank you for putting together such a beautiful post. Loved the recipe!