Tikki Chole (Potato Patties with Chickpea Curry)

Tikki chole – crispy potato patties with tangy chickpea curry – a popular Indian snack, has an absolutely amazing flavor! I add quinoa to make these hearty potato quinoa cutlets. Serve with tamarind or cilantro chutney for even more deliciousness. This post was originally published on July 25, 2013

Tikki Chole were a favorite Friday or Sunday evening event while growing up. The crispy potato patties are delicious on their own, I mean crispy potatoes! Pair that with the amazingly delicious and easy North Indian style chickpea curry, assemble with chopped onion, lime juice, cilantro, chutneys such as tamarind chutney or cilantro mint chutney! It’s a burst of flavors and textures. My dad loves my mom’s tikki chole, so I haven’t deviated from the recipe much. I did add some cooked quinoa to the potato patties, for extra crunch and protein. This Indian street food recipe is soy-free, and nut-free and easily gluten-free.

The chickpea curry uses a few whole spices and chole masala spice blend. If you don’t have chole masala spice blend, you can use garam masala instead, but chole masala does have a really unique flavor. It’s a Punjabi spice blend with cumin, coriander, black peppercorns, cloves, red chilis, cardamom, cinnamon, and dried mango powder.

Tikki chole is delicious on its own, or you can serve it garnished with chopped onion tomato, chutneys and non dairy yogurt, for the full chole tikki chaat street style experience! Try with my spicy mango chutney, tamarind chutney, mint chutney, tomato chutney, or spicy cranberry chutney.

You can serve these crispy potato quinoa cutlets without the chickpea curry as well, serve with chutneys or dips of choice. Or serve with Chana masala or a different chickpea or bean curry. 

Why You’ll Love Tikki Chole

• crisp potato quinoa patties
• tangy, rich chickpea curry
• easy to customize with toppings and chutneys of choice
• naturally soy-free and nut-free with easy gluten-free option

Ingredients and Substitutions

• potatoes and quinoa – This is the base for the crispy patties.
• aromatics and fresh herbs – The patties get tons of flavor from onion, green chili, cilantro, and ginger. The curry gets flavor from onion, ginger garlic paste, and fresh ginger.
• whole spices – For the patties, you will need carom seeds or cumin seeds. For the chickpeas, we are using cumin seeds, cardamom, bay leaves, and cloves.
• ground spices – The tikkis use red chili powder, coriander, kala namak, and salt. For the chole, use Kashmiri chili powder, coriander, chole masala or garam masala, fenugreek, and kala namak or dried mango powder.
• bread – Helps the patties stay together. You can use coarsely ground oats for gluten-free.
• non-dairy yogurt – Adds creaminess to the chickpeas.
• chickpeas – For the chole.
• toppings – Top the chole with cilantro, lemon juice, and pepper flakes. Top the tikki chole with chopped onion, tomato, and cucumber along with lemon juice, salt, and pepper. You can also serve with chutney of choice on the side.

How to Make Tikki Chole

Add the potatoes and quinoa to a pan of water. Bring to a boil then cover and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, until the potatoes are tender. Drain and transfer to a bowl.

In a large bowl, mash the potatoes well. Add the rest of the ingredients, mix well.

Shape into patties and pan fry or bake them. See baking instructions in notes below. Heat 2 teaspoons oil in a skillet over medium heat. When hot, add the potato patties. Cook for 3 minutes or longer until golden then flip and cook the other side as well until golden and crisp.. Make these potato patties after you’ve made the chickpea curry as they the best texture when freshly pan fried or baked.

Make the chickpea curry: Heat a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the oil, and once the oil is hot, add the cumin seeds and cook them until they’re very fragrant and change color significantly, about 1/2 to 1 minute. Then, add in the black cardamom, bay leaves, and cloves.

Mix in for 15 to 20 seconds, then stir in the onion and 1/4 teaspoon of the salt. Continue to cook until the onion is golden, adding splashes of water in between to help the onions cook evenly, 6 to 8 minutes.

Then, stir in all of the ground spices and two tablespoons of water, and then add the ginger garlic paste. Mix in and cook this for about a minute, so that the spices and the ginger garlic paste can cook down a little bit and get nicely roasted.

Add in the non-dairy yogurt, minced ginger, remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1 cup of water, and chickpeas and bring to a boil. Cover with the lid, reduce the heat to medium, and continue to simmer this for about 10 minutes.

Open the lid and adjust the consistency by adding more water, if needed. Taste it and adjust the salt and flavor, adding more salt, heat, or tang, if needed. Mash some of the chickpeas, and switch off the heat.

To serve the tikki chole, add a good helping of the chickpea curry and top it with the potato patties. Top the whole mixture with some chopped onion, tomato, cucumber, a squeeze of lemon juice, salt, and pepper and serve. You can also drizzle some chutneys, like tamarind chutney or mango chutney and some non-dairy yogurt, for an authentic Indian street food experience.

What to Serve with Tikki Chole

This is a great snack on its own, or make it a meal by serving with a rice dish, like Lucknowi biryani. You can also serve with other Indian street food, like bhel.