Avocado - Desi Ishtyle!

Here's a very desi twist on a very Californian fruit! Spanish origins actually but California prides itself in growing some of the best avocados in the world.

I signed up to cook for Priya Mitharwal's event - Veggie/Fruits A Month event - and the STAR of this month is Avocado. When I accepted her event invite on FB, a friend and a follower of this blog Radha requested that I make something desi with Avocados. Here's her comment - "whoa! love avocados..cant wait to see new receipes..Anu, my request to you...please please.. invent a new receipe thats desi ishtyle.." 

So Radha - I tried to give you just that. Desi Ishtyle Avocado Sev Puri, Avocado Dahi Puri and Avocado Bhel Puri! Hope you like it! But, I restrained myself from adding some sambar or rasam podi to this!

I have to say that this tasted really good - actually I could not tell the difference between our regular chaat and an avocado chaat - tastes identical. So, do try this sometime. I'm sure you'll like it too!

Here are my fresh avocados that I picked up in the morning from my local farmers market - love that place - wish it was a permanent fixture everyday. Its only once a week and I look forward now to going there each week - especially for the strawberries and cherries! And avocados too maybe from now on!

Peel and chop the ripe flesh into small pieces. I chose avocados that are not very soft yet - these were still on the firmer side. Transfer to a mixing bowl. This is 1 chopped avocado.

Now add some finely chopped onions -about 1 medium sized onion would do - make sure the quantity of onions is not more than the avocado - about the same or a little less would be good. You don't want the onions to overpower the subtle flavors of the avocados.

Now, add some finely chopped tomatoes in to the mixing bowl. If you have some cilantro, chop it up finely and add here - I was all out and was cursing myself for forgetting to pick that up from the market!

Let's flavor these little guys - I added some sea salt and red chilli powder. You be creative and add all you want to season this. You could add some chat masala or even garam masala if you'd like it spiced up.

Mix everything well until combined.

And now for the base - I used store bought papdi chips. You could either use the flat papdi chips like this below or you could make or buy the small sev puris or gols - click here for a detailed recipe on how to make the puris.

You will need green mint coriander chutney and sweet tamarind chutney for the chaat. Here's a detailed recipe on Sweet Tamarind Chutney.

For the mint chutney, just grind together 1 bunch of coriander leaves (washed well), 1/2 bunch of mint leaves, a couple of green chillies, salt, chaat masala - once ground to a smooth paste, add 1tsp of lemon juice on top. You're quick chutney is done!

Now comes the fun assembly part. Pick up each chip and scoop in the avocado mix and place flat on the plate. Add a few drops of the green chutney on top of each filled papdi chip.

Now add a couple of drops of the sweet chutney on top of the papdi chips.

Top off with some fine sev. Done! How easy was that?

You probably know by now that I don't stop at one picture!

Sometimes I don't stop at two pictures.

Ok. I'll stop now.

Moving on to Avocado Dahi Sev Papdi Puri - did I miss something in the name there??

Assemble the puris similar to the sev puri above and just add dahi on top. Since dahi can make stuff bland, add another layer of chutneys on top of the dahi too.

Top off again with a little bit of sev and enjoy!

I can meditate on this one :)

Next, let's make it a trio today and make some Avocado bhel puri!

I used a store bought bhel mix. Add the chopped Avocado mix on top.

Add both the mint and the tamarind chutneys to taste.

Mix well. Add some sev on top and you're done again!

How's that little hill for a snack?

Thank you Priya for hosting the event!

Enjoy! Peace Out!