Serves 6 to 8 as an hors d’oeuvre or snack.
• 18 small Puris
• ⅓ cup slivered onions
• 2 cups cubed, cooked white-skinned potatoes (waxy)
• 1½ cups cooked garbanzo beans
• 1 Tbs. minced hot green chilis
• 3 Tbs. coarsely chopped fresh cilantro (coriander leaves)
• 2 Tbs. lemon juice
• ½ tsp. salt
• ½ cup Raisin and Tamarind Chutney
• ½ cup mango chutney
• 1 cup crisp saveth noodles*
1. Punch in the tops of the little puris so that they have the shape of rough-edged little bowls.
2. Combine the slivered onions, cubed potatoes, garbanzo beans, minced chilis, chopped cilantro, lemon juice, and salt, tossing everything together until it is thoroughly combined. The ingredients should be at room temperature.
3. Thin the Raisin and Tamarind Chutney with a little water, using just enough to give it a “pourable” consistency. Purée any sweet mango chutney and thin it likewise.
4. Fill the puris with the potato–garbanzo bean mixture, mounding a couple of heaping tablespoons in each puri. Pour a teaspoonful or so of each of the thinned chutneys over the vegetable mixture in each puri. Sprinkle the filled puris with the crisp saveth noodles and serve.
5. Saveth noodles, also called sev noodles, are tiny, thin, crisp noodles made from chick-pea flour and are available in specialty stores which stock Indian foods. They are similar in texture to the dry chow mein noodles that can be purchased in cans, and the chow mein noodles could be substituted if absolutely necessary.