DABELI RECIPE | KACCHI DABELI RECIPE | HOW TO MAKE KACCHI DABELI | DABELI GUJARATI RECIPE
Dabeli recipe is a gujarati snacks recipe which was invented in the Kutch region of Gujarat. So, it is also known as kacchi dabeli or kutchi dabeli. Dabeli is renowned for its unique taste, flavour and texture. It is basically a sweet, tangy and spicy Indian version of mini burger where buttered Indian bun aka pav is filled with delicious potato filling along with drizzle of chutneys and myriad toppings. Dhabeli recipe is one of the most popular Indian street foods which is easily found on the streets of Mumbai, Delhi and other cities of Gujarat and Maharashtra. It is mostly served as evening snacks with tea but can also be consumed as breakfast or lunch.
Dabeli is lip smacking street food of India and it is a Gujarati name which means ‘pressed’. It is an Indian burger or mini slide recipe which is prepared with Indian bun aka ladi pav recipe. In this preparation, the pav is first slit and then the chutneys are slathered into it. Sweet tamarind chutney and red garlic chutney is used for the recipe. Then spicy, sweet, tangy potato filling that is prepared with dabeli masala powder is pressed and filled into the pav with different types of toppings like sev, peanuts, pomegranate seeds, onion, coriander leaves etc. Finally, the pav is fried on tawa with butter and served.
It is satisfying, economical and enough to kill your hunger. In short, kacchi dabeli recipe is a perfect budget friendly street food for students and bachelors. Previously, it was easily available mainly on the streets of Gujarat and Maharashtra. But now it is available in other parts of India because of its huge popularity. Dhabeli recipe is mostly served as snacks but Indian street foods really don’t have any fixed time to devour.
Dabeli recipe was invented in the Kutch aka kachchh region of Gujarat in India. So, it is also named as Kutchi Dabeli or Kacchi Dabeli. It is said that Keshavji Gabha Chudasama, a resident of Mandvi had invented Dabeli back in 1960. It’s a beloved and extremely famous street food in Mandvi, Bhuj, Nakhatrana and few other regions of Gujarat because of its splendid taste.
Indian street food has always been a centre of attraction in Indian cuisine. It known for its amazing flavours, different layers of texture and combinational taste which tickles all the taste buds of our mouth and dominates the senses. All these reasons have been drooling Indian people for street foods since decades.
Honestly, I never heard the name Dabeli until I came to Pune in Maharashtra after marriage. I heard about dabeli recipe from my husband. One day he took me to a street vendor’s cart where he had a large flat tawa in front of him with a large tray of potato filling along with toppings and a stack of ladi pav packets. He prepared the dabeli so fast and served us with some chopped onions and masala peanuts. I just loved it and since kacchi dabeli recipe is one of my favourite street foods.
I used to eat many recipes for chaat and Indian street food from the street venders when I was in India. But after coming to London, I started missing those delight very badly. Though there are many Indian street food stalls in London but every time it is not possible to go that far for the treat. So, I decided to prepare them at home and till now, I have already tried plenty of the chaat recipes at home.
I prepare most of the recipes for Chaat at home very easily. It not only makes the chaat yummier & healthier but also gives me an inner satisfaction. I serve my handmade street food to the elders and kids of my family without a pinch of hesitation. A homemade snack is always an ideal treat for each member of the family.
Many people think that preparing dabeli recipe at home is a bit complex process. I completely disagree with it. Preparing dabeli from scratch is a lengthy process but not complex. If you plan a bit and arrange all the components systematically then it could be a matter of few minutes to prepare and serve kacchi dabeli recipe.
Whenever I plan to prepare dabeli Recipe, first I prepare dabeli masala powder at home. It is one of the most essential components for the recipe. In short, dabeli cannot be prepared without dabeli masala powder. It is used to make the potato filling. Readymade dabeli masala powder is easily available in supermarket and shops, but homemade dabeli masala is completely different from the market bought ones. It is much more aromatic and chatpata in taste. Once you prepare the masala at home, I can bet you will never go back to stores to buy the readymade ones.
Then I prepare two types of chutneys for chaat a day before and refrigerate them. It makes the recipe handy in front of guests. Normally, I prepare Red Chutney and most essentially Sweet Tamarind Chutney for the recipe on the previous day itself. You can refrigerate Red Chutney for 5-7 days and Sweet Tamarind Chutney can be refrigerated for couple of months. You can check my previous post to know more details about these Chutney recipes.
I have even prepared the ladi pav recipe at home for the kutchi dabeli recipe. Though pav is readily available in market and it works great for the recipe but still I always prefer homemade pav over market packaged food. It makes the dabeli taste better and healthier. If you have enough time in hand then you can also prepare pav at home. Check my previous post for further details of ladi pav recipe.
Whenever I plan to prepare dabeli for any small party or get together, I always keep the dabeli prepared except frying it in butter. When guest arrive, I just fry them and serve them with onion salad and masala peanuts.
Dabeli recipe with step by step photos and instructions have been provided in the ‘Instruction’ section of the recipe. If you follow each step of my recipe precisely then you will get the perfectly balanced dhabeli recipe which will taste exactly like the ones prepared by the street vendors. But before directly jumping into the recipe, let me share few interesting things about Chaat recipes and few of its components.
Ladi pav: The outer part of dabeli which provides body to it. I prefer to prepare dabeli with homemade ladi pav because it turns out super soft, fresh and healthy. You can also prepare it with market bought pav. But check the date before buying it.
Dabeli masala powder: One of the primary ingredients for the recipe. It is a spice blend of assemblage of whole spices – cumin seeds, fennel seeds, coriander seeds, sesame seeds, bay leaf, black cardamom, green cardamom, cinnamon stick, cloves, peppercorns, star anise, desiccated coconut, sugar, black salt, amchur powder and Kashmiri red chilli powder. It provides flavour and taste to the potato filling.
Potato filling: It is the sweet, tangy, spicy and flavoured potato mixture which is inserted into the ladi pav. To make this mixture, mashed potato, dabeli masala, sweet tamarind chutney, salt and water is required. Once the filling is prepared, it is spread on a plate or tray and different varieties of toppings are sprinkled over it.
Toppings: It is the most interesting part of the dabeli recipe where people add the toppings of their choice to make the potato filling more delicious and attractive. All these toppings provide different texture, taste and flavour to the dabeli recipe.
Mostly shredded coconut, sev, masala peanuts, chopped coriander seeds, raisins and pomegranate seeds are sprinkled over the potato filling. Many people prefer to add Tutti Frutti as well instead of pomegranate seeds and raisin.
Chutneys: In dabeli recipe, two different types of chutneys are required – red garlic chutney and sweet tamarind chutney. Sweet tamarind chutney is flavoured sweet and tangy in taste and on the other hand red garlic chutney is heaty, pungent and slightly salty in taste. Both the chutneys are slathered to the two inner sides of the pav before adding the potato filling.
Onion mix: It is one more important component which adds taste and flavour to the dabeli. In the onion mix, chopped onions, chopped coriander leaves and chopped green chillies are added and mixed. In this way, the recipe becomes handy and you don’t need to add them separately into the pav.
Masala peanut: Masala peanut is the mixture of roasted peanut, oil and dabeli masala. It has multiple use in dabeli recipe.
- It is added as topping on potato filling
- Into the pav separately with potato filling
- Onion mix for extra byte and flavour
- Served as a side with dabeli.
Butter: Butter is used to fry the dabeli at the end after adding all the fillings into the pav. It provides nice flavour and outer crisp to the pav.
Sev: It is used to seal the filling at the end other than topping which also provides crispiness to the dish.
- Either use homemade pav or fresh and soft readymade pav for the recipe.
- For dabeli, hot red garlic chutney and sweet tamarind chutneys are used. Don’t skip either of them.
- Go for homemade dabeli masala for better taste and flavour of potato filling.
- Don’t forget the topping over the potato filling. It is the most interesting part of the recipe.
- Make onion mixture and masala peanut separately as sides to make the recipe handy.
- Always fry the pav in butter for perfect aroma and taste.
Usually, Indian bun aka ladi pav is used for the recipe. If you don’t find them handy then you can also use dinner rolls or burger buns for the recipe. Select the size of the bun accordingly.
Dabeli masala is the heart of dabeli recipe. Basically, it is a spice blend of assemblage of spices which is used to flavour up the inner potato filling of dabeli.
Yes, of course. Readymade dabeli masala is easily available in Indian grocery stores. But I must say homemade dabeli masala makes way difference in taste and flavour of dabeli.
Now a days, readymade tamarind chutneys are easily available in the market. You can definitely use them.
Normally, shredded coconut, sev, masala peanuts, chopped coriander seeds, raisins and pomegranate seeds are sprinkled over the potato filling. Many people prefer to add Tutti Frutti as well instead of pomegranate seeds and raisin. If you like, you can add some chopped onions as well.
If you skip butter at the last stage of frying the pav and use little bit of oil instead of butter, then this dabeli recipe will be 100% vegan.
I have not used onion during the time of preparing potato filling or as topping. Just omit the red garlic chutney and onion mixture from the recipe to make it a satvik dabeli.
To prepare the dabeli recipe, first prepare the dabeli masala powder. You can keep it in a clean and dry airtight container and store it in refrigerator for up to one month.
Then prepare the sweet tamarind chutney and Red garlic chutney.
Then make the masala peanut by adding some oil and dabeli masala into the roasted peanuts and mix them nicely so that each peanut gets coated with the masala.
Now it’s time to make the potato filling for the dhabeli recipe. First boil the potatoes and peel them. Then mash them with a potato masher till smooth and keep it aside.
Now put a pan on flame and add some oil into it. Once the oil is hot, add dabeli masala into the pan and cook it in low flame for a minute. Then add sweet tamarind chutney into it and mix it well. Cook it in low flame and allow the mixture to become frothy. Then add the mashed potato into the pan and mix it well. Make sure no lumps are there. Add some water and cook it in low flame for 8-10 minutes until it comes out of the sides. Add some salt and mix it well. Switch off the flame and transfer it to a flat plate or tray. Spread it evenly around ½ inch thick.
Now it’s time to add topping over the potato filling. Sprinkle some grated coconut, raisins, nylon sev, masala peanuts, chopped coriander leaves and pomegranate seeds over the top and keep it aside.
Then prepare the onion mixture by taking chopped onions into a bowl. Add chopped coriander leaves, chopped green chillies into the bowl and mix it well.
Take nylon sev on a dry plate and keep it handy.
Now it’s time to assemble all the elements to prepare dabeli.
Take a ladi pav and slit it from two sides and make a pocket. Spread sweet tamarind chutney in one side and red garlic chutney in another side of the pav. Then stuff 1-2 tablespoons potato filling into the pav and press it downwards. Add ½ tablespoon masala peanut and ¾ tablespoon onion mixture into the pav. Then again add 1-2 tablespoons potato filling into the pav.
Now put a pan on flame allow it to become completely dry. Put the flame on medium and add butter into the pan. Once the butter melts, add the stuffed pav into the pan and fry them till golden brown and crispy from each side over medium to medium high flame. It takes around 2 minutes to fry the pav properly from every side.
Now roll the dabeli over the sev and seal the potato stuffing sides. Your dabeli is ready to serve.