Chana Chaat Recipe

Name: Chana Chaat
Prep time: 8 h 20 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 9 h 5 min
Cuisine: Pakistani
Ingredients: 1½ cups White chickpeas (kabuli chana, dried), dried, or 3 cups tinned and rinsed; ¼ tsp Baking soda (meetha soda); 1 tsp Salt, adjust to taste; 6 cups Water; 2 medium potatoes Potatoes, boiled and cubed; 1 medium onion Onions, finely chopped; 2 medium tomatoes Tomatoes, deseeded and chopped; 3 Green chillies, finely chopped; ½ cup Fresh coriander (hara dhania), chopped; 2 tbsp Fresh mint (podina), chopped; ¼ cup Tamarind (imli), as sweet imli chutney; 2 tbsp Lemon (lemon juice), juice; 2 tsp Chaat masala; 1 tsp Ground cumin, dry-roasted; ½ tsp Red chilli powder; ½ tsp Salt, adjust to taste; ½ cup Yogurt (dahi), whisked with a pinch of sugar; ½ cup Papri or plain crackers, crushed, to top

چنا چاٹ بنانے کا طریقہ

Tangy iftar chana chaat of soft-boiled chickpeas, potato, onion and tomato, dressed with imli chutney, lemon, chaat masala and a little yogurt.

Prep

20 min

Cook

45 min

Marinate / soak

8 hr

Serves

Difficulty

Easy

Spice

Medium hot

Chana chaat is the backbone of the Pakistani iftar spread: boiled white chickpeas tossed with raw onion, tomato, potato and green chilli, then soured with imli and lemon. The chickpeas must be boiled until truly soft but still whole, and the chaat should be mixed just before eating so the onions stay crunchy.

Tips for the best result

The pinch of baking soda softens the chickpeas faster; more than a quarter teaspoon makes them taste soapy.
Soak the chopped onion in cold water for 10 minutes and drain if you find raw onion too sharp.
Crumble a samosa or a few pakoras over the top to turn it into samosa or pakora chaat.

Common mistakes

Undercooked chickpeas. Firm chana stay chalky in the middle and never soak up the dressing.
Mixing everything hours ahead. The tomatoes and onions go watery and the chaat turns limp.

How to serve

Serve at room temperature at iftar with pakoras, samosas and dahi baray.

Storing and reheating

Boiled chickpeas keep 3 days in the fridge or 2 months frozen. Mixed chaat is best eaten the same day.

Nutrition and cost

Worked out from the ingredients, not measured in a lab. Treat both as a rough guide.

Per serving Estimate

Calories: 275kcal
Protein: 12g
Fat: 3g
Carbs: 52g
Fibre: 8.8g
Sodium: 660mg

Estimated from USDA FoodData Central, SR Legacy (April 2018), public domain values for the raw ingredients (100% of the recipe by weight had data). Deep-frying oil is counted at 20%; bones and water lost in cooking are not subtracted, so bone-in and fried dishes can read high. Not medical advice. Method

Cost per servingEstimate

≈ Rs 12

Whole dish ≈ Rs 73 · 63% of ingredients by weight priced

Prices in

From the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics weekly SPI, week ended 29 Oct 2026. Spices, herbs and some vegetables are not in the SPI and are left out unless you add your price, so the real cost is a little higher. How this works

Chana Chaat: questions people ask

How do I boil chana quickly for chaat?

Pressure-cook soaked chickpeas with salt and a pinch of baking soda for about 15 minutes after the first whistle, then let the pressure drop on its own.