A - Z Indian Street Foods ~ N for Nippat Masala / Nippattu Masala Chaat

Today is turn of 'N' in my alphabetical journey of Indian street food and I leaned towards another Bangalore special for it. It is nippat(u) masala and as the name suggests, nippattu is the star of this chaat dish. It is super crunchy, loaded with flavors. Nippattu aka chekkalu aka thattai is a traditional snack from the southern parts of India. It is basically a deep fried, crispy rice flour discs. For this particular  chaat, mini sized nippattu are needed. In case, if using the regular big sized nippattu, break each one into 3 or 4 pieces and proceed the same way. They should at least about flat poori size to hold the toppings. Feel free to use store bought nippattu as it makes the preparation of this chaat quite simple. Thanks to my husband, I always have a few bags of store bought nippattu at home and I used those here.

This recipe is quite flexible. Consider the quantities of ingredients mentioned below as guidelines and they can be increased or decreased to suit you. Let your palate be the right judge. Unlike the golgappa puris / flat pooris, this nippat base doesn't get soggy quickly. (Unless you leave it aside for an hour or so.) However keep the vegetables prepped so that you can assemble just before serving. (And if anyone is wondering why individual pieces of my nippat masala are not showing in pictures is because I had sprinkled toppings finally over the entire plate.)

Ingredients: (Yield 2 generous servings)
16 small or 4 big nippatu / thattai 
About 1/2 cup green chutney
About 1/2 cup sweet tamarind chutney
1 onion, finely minced
1 tomato, finely chopped
1 carrot, peeled & grated
3 tbsp. cilantro, finely chopped
1/4 cup fine sev *
1/2 cup congress kadalekayi **

1 cup puffed rice

Red chili powder to taste

Chaat masala to taste

Salt to taste 

* Sev - Crisply deep fried chickpea flour strands
** Any spicy peanuts can be substituted. I used microwaved spicy peanuts.

Method:

* Combine chopped onions, tomatoes, cilantro and grated carrot in a mixing bowl and keep aside.

* Arrange small nippat equally on two serving plates. (If using the regular big sized nippattu, break each one into 3 or 4 pieces and proceed the same way.)

* Apply a tsp. of green chutney and a tsp. of sweet chutney on each nippat. (Increase or decrease the quantities of chutneys depending upon how much spice level is preferred.)

* Spoon about a tbsp. or more quantity of vegetable mixture over chutney smeared nippat pieces.

* Sprinkle a pinch of salt, red chili powder and chaat masala uniformly over the nippat. 

* Next top it with generous amount of sev and congress kadalekayi. Finally top it with a big handful of puffed rice. 

* Lift each nippat along with all the toppings and pop it into your mouth to savor the flavors.

So far, on this series,
A for Aloo Kabli
B for Bajra Vada
C for Chooda Matar
D for Dahi Batata Puri
E for Elaichi - Kesar Lassi
F for Fulwadi
G for Ghugni Chaat
H for Hare Chane Ki Chaat
I for Indori Garaadu Chaat
J for Jamun Bun
K for Khakra - Chana Bhel 
L for Locho
M for Masala Puri Chaat

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 87

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