Flavorful low calorie, non fried Indian snacks that can be served as appetizers, with evening tea, as after school snack, in summer or any time you crave something tasty.
Here are few more Desi Board Ideas – Indian Snack Board and Indian Dessert Board.
When you think of Vegetarian Indian Snack, the dishes which come to our mind are samosa, pakoda, baji, vada, bonda, chakli, kachori, vada pav, pani puri, gobi manchurian and more.
While we do enjoy the above snacks (occasionally), there are many more snacks we enjoyed growing up. Today I am sharing those simple and lite snacks which are so tasty yet underrated.
My Indian Appetizer Board has –
Chirumuri – a spicy puffed rice snack from Karnataka. It is also Borugulu Mixture in Andhra. Growing up we ate this almost every week. Puffed rice is tossed with onion, carrot, coriander leaves, tomato, red chili powder and lemon juice. It is spicy, tangy and crunchy ( with the addition of peanuts).
Sundal – One of the most common evening snacks in South India. Soaked and boiled lentils are tempered with mustard, green chili, curry leaves and coconut. Simple and protein packed snack.
Tomato Slice Chaat – a popular Bangalore Street food, made my topping sliced tomato with onion, carrot, coriander, sweet and date chutney, salt, red chili powder and spicy puri/sev/masala peanuts.
Corn – I remember as a child eating grilled corn from the street vendors. The grilled corn is slathered with butter and sprinkled with salt, red chili powder or a spicy green chutney. Nothing beats this……Yum!
Fruit – Slices of watermelon, pineapple, pomegranate are seasoned with a pinch of salt and red chili powder. So refreshing.
Dhokla – sweet and savory steamed cakes made with gram flour and spices. A very famous Gujarati snack served with green and tamarind-date chutney.
Green Moong Dal Sprouts Chaat – its a healthy take on some of the popular chaats ( samosa chaat, papdi chaat, aloo chaat). The sprouted green moong dal is tossed with fresh onion, tomato, carrot, coriander leaves, red chili powder and sweet and spicy chutneys. They are finally topped with crunchy peanuts. This chaat is quiet filling and keeps you full for long time.
Tips & Notes:
- Make green chutney up to three days in advance. Sweet chutney is easily available in Indian stores.
- Prep the onion, tomato, carrot and coriander in advance and store them in separate containers.
- Store bought instant dhokla mix works great on busy days. i use gits brand from Indian store.
Few more Non Fried Indian Snacks –
Healthy Indian Appetizer Board
Instructions
Grilled Corn
- Grill the corn on a stove top and coat it with butter, and sprinkle some salt, Kashmiri red chili powder and lemon juice.
Tomato Slice Chaat
- Combine finely chopped red onion, grated carrot and chopped corinader leaves. Slice the tomato and sprinkle some salt. Top it with onion mixture, salt, red chili powder, coriander chutney and sweet date chutney. Top it with puri/sev and masala peanuts. Enjoy immediately.
Chirumuri
- In a large bowl add finely chopped onion, grated carrot, chopped tomato, chopped coriander, little oil, salt, red chili powder and lemon juice. Gently mix them. Add puffed rice (make sure they are crispy) and gently toss everything. Taste and adjust the seasoning.
Chickpea Sundal
- Soak chickpeas over night and next day cook them with some salt. Do a tempering with mustard seeds, channa dal and cumin seeds. Add slit green chili, curry leaves and a pinch of asafetida. Add the cooked and strained chick peas, fresh coconut and lemon juice. Mix and enjoy!
Dhokla
- I used Gits Instant Dhokla mix which we get in Indian stores. cooked according to package instructions and finally did a tempering with mustard seeds and cumin seeds. Topped the dhokla with fresh coriander leaves.
Green Moong Dal Sprouts Chaat
- In a large bowl add sprouted green moong dal, chopped red onions, tomato, grated carrot, coriander leaves, salt, red chili powder, green chutney, date chutney and lemon juice. Toss everything and adjust the seasoning. Top the sprouts chaat with masala peanuts.
Notes
- For all the chaat recipes, I like to soak the chopped onion in some lemon juice and water for few minutes. Its takes away the strong pungent flavor from raw onion.
- Make green chutney up to three days in advance. Sweet chutney is easily available in Indian stores.
- Prep the onion, tomato, carrot and coriander in advance and store them in separate containers.
- Store bought instant dhokla mix works great on busy days.
Sujatha. Y v
Very nice