Potato-Pomogranate Dabelis

I have good affinity towards street side food seductions and love chaat. Rain or shine, summer or winter, chaat is on my weekly menu.

Growing up in Bangalore in my late teens, vada pav and pav bhaji started gaining popularity and we associated these foods with Mumbai/ Maharashtra. But dabelis didn't exist in Bangalore. Infact I have never tasted one in India or at any local Indian restaurants here.

Ramnath, my hubby frequented Mumbai on business every couple of months.  He ate Dabeli there and started raving about it so much that I had to look up the net to educate myself about it. On his next trip, his sister sent some Dabeli powder and I loved it. Its our favorite appetizer and our quick bento now.

I love it since it can be prepared without onions and garlic. However, I did research the ingredients in dabeli and pav bhaji powders since they are both tangy. Both use spices like fennel, cumin, cardamom and red chillies. But mace and anise are key spices used in dabeli powder whereas raw mango is key to pav bhaji.

This recipe will make about 12 dabelis.

To make dabelis, you will need:

3 medium sized potatoes peeled 

2 tablespoon dabeli powder

1 teaspoon chopped and crushed ginger

1 jalapeno finely chopped

1 tbsp cashew or almonds coarsely chopped

Mini burger buns

Sweet chutney

Mint chutney

Cilantro

Onions 

Sprouted moong (optional for garnish)

Method:

Boil the potatoes and mash them.

In a kadai, heat one tbsp oil and roast the jalapenos, ginger and nuts.

Add the dabeli powder and immediately add the potatoes.

Mix the potatoes with the spices and salt.

Heat for about 3-4 minutes.

Keep mixing while heating the potatoes.

Turn off the heat and add a fistful of pomogranate and mix well.

To serve

Grill the burger buns.

Apply mint chutney on one inner side and sweet chutney on the other.

Place 1.5 tbsp potato mixture on the lower bun and garnish with cilantro and sev.

You could add chopped onions/ half boiled moong sprouts if needed as garnish.

I used apple butter- tamarind chutney instead of date chutney. (With 3 tbsp apple butter, mix 1 tsp tamarind paste. Add brown sugar if apple butter is not sweet and heat it in microwave or on stove top till it boils 2-3 mins.)

You could substitute dried cranberries for pomegranates.

Enjoy your Potato-Pomogranate Dabelis!