This Indian Chaat Dip has layers of pureed chole, salsa, tamarind chutney, cilantro chutney and topped with fresh cilantro, pomegranate arils, sev and papdi! Makes a great appetizer to serve at holiday and festive parties. Serve with tortilla chips, bite size naan, pita chips and more!

Appetizers and desserts are my favorite part about any party. I often don’t eat the main course and focus only on the apps. I love creating fun fusion appetizers like the paneer dip with spicy honey (which you guys totally loved by the way) for Diwali and festive parties and so this year, I came up with this Indian Chaat Dip! It’s totally crowd pleasing and one that you will make again and again for your get-togethers because who doesn’t like fun appetizers?

I didn’t know what to call it so I am calling it the Indian Chaat Dip since there’s chole, chutneys, papdi, the name just made sense.

Layered Dip- the Indian way!

There are lots of layered dips which are popular like the 7 layer dip which starts with a layer of refried beans and then has layers of salsa, sour cream, guacamole, cheese and all these toppings. It’s a great crowd-pleasing dip and I always enjoy it at parties.

This dip is inspired from that dip but made in an Indian way. You can serve it in a large bowl like I did or serve it in smaller cups as well.

4 Main Layers In The Dip

There are 4 main layers in this dip (excluding the toppings).

Pureed chole “refried chole”: for this layer, I cooked a batch of my favorite chole, you can use any chole recipe you like and then puree it in a blender. Just don’t add too much water when cooking chole for this dip. I used my recipe for samosa chaat and it worked perfectly here since it doesn’t have much water added.

You can even use store bought packets of your favorite chole and puree them. It makes a nice thick layer for this drip.

Salsa: for the salsa layer you can either use just salsa or add some boiled potatoes to it like I did. You can also choose from mild, medium or hot salsa depending on how much heat you want or prefer in the dip.

Tamarind Chutney: the third layer uses sweet tamarind chutney, which is always a quintessential part of chaat. For this layer, I mixed cream cheese with spices and tamarind chutney. Now, you can either use homemade tamarind chutney or use any store-bought brand that you like.

Cilantro Chutney: and the final layer is of cilantro chutney. I mixed cilantro with sour cream to make it more like a spread. I also added some cashews which thickens out the chutney as it sits. It might look runny when you grind it, but let it sit for sometime and it will thicken up.

Step by Step Instructions

1st layer- Refried Chole

1- Start by making chole using my recipe or any recipe that you love. I followed the recipe for chole from my samosa chaat recipe here.

This chole should not have too much gravy so don’t add too much water while making it, that’s why I feel the samosa chaat recipe is perfect here. But feel free to use any chole recipe you like.

2- Then take 3 cups of the prepared chole and puree in a blender. There you have your refried chole. If you want you can also leave 1 cup as such for texture but I just blended everything. The 1st layer is done.

2nd layer- salsa with potatoes

3- Start by boiling the potatoes first. You need 1 & 1/2 cup boiled and mashed potatoes for this. So boil your potatoes first, then let them cool, peel and roughly mash them. You don’t want very smooth mashed potatoes here.

Now add the boiled potatoes to a bowl along with 16 oz salsa (use any salsa you like, I used Pace medium salsa) along with 1/2 teaspoon cumin powder, 1/2 teaspoon coriander powder, 1/2 teaspoon amchur and 1/4 teaspoon red chili powder (you can add more to taste).

4- Mix until it’s all combined. If you want you can only use salsa in this layer too. Mix the spices with salsa and use it and skip the potatoes. The 2nd layer is done.

3rd layer- Cream cheese & tamarind chutney

5- To the steel bowl of your stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment (or use your hand mixer), add 16 oz cream cheese (2 blocks, at room temperature) along with 1 cup of tamarind chutney, 1/2 teaspoon cumin powder and 1/2 teaspoon kala namak.

6- Beat using the paddle attachment for 2 to 3 minutes at medium speed until everything is well combined. The 3rd layer is done.

4th layer – Sour Cream Cilantro Chutney

7- To make the final layer of sour cream and cilantro chutney. To a blender add 2 cups sour cream, 2 large bunches of cilantro, 1/2 cup mint leaves, 4 garlic cloves, 3 green chilies (or to taste), 10 cashews, 1/2 teaspoon salt and black pepper to taste (around 1/4 teaspoon).

8- Blend until it’s all combined. This chutney will look super thin at this point, let it sit for sometime, it will thicken up as it sits because of the cashews. The 4th layer is done.

And now that all our layers are done, it is time to assemble the dip.

Assembling the Dip

Take a large bowl, I used a big round one which was 9.4 inches in diameter and 4.7 inches in height. It works great for showing layers. You can use any bowl but a transparent one will be better to show off the layers of this chaat dip.

We will arrange the layers in following order starting from the bottom

1. Chole layer
2. Salsa layer
3. Tamarind chutney layer
4. Cilantro chutney layer

Once all our layers are done, then come the toppings:

• cilantro
• pomegranate arils
• papdi & sev (to be added just before serving)

Make sure to not add the sev and papdi beforehand. They will get soggy. Either you can skip them altogether or if you want to add them, add just before serving.

Serving Suggestions

I love serving this dip with bite size naan (stonefire naan dippers that you can find at Costco work perfectly). If you can’t get bite size naan, just cut regular naan into smaller pieces.

You can also serve the chaat dip with pita chips, tortilla chips, toasted baguette.

Making Individual Cups

I served this Indian Chaat Dip in a huge bowl. This will feed a crowd however you can also arrange this dip in individual cups or containers. You will make similar layers and instead of doing all this in a bowl you will do in individual cups. I would recommend using 5 to 6 oz cups.

Cutting the Recipe in Half

This recipe makes a big batch but if you don’t have as many people at your party and you want to cut down the recipe in half, it’s totally possible. No adjustments are needed, you can easily half every single ingredient. Use a smaller bowl to arrange the dip in that case.

Advance Preparation

If you want to prep for this dip in advance, you can easily make components of it a day in advance and keep it refrigerated. The pureed chole might become too thick when refrigerated and in that case, you just heat it with some water on a stove-top until it’s had a nice thick but spreadable consistency again and then use in the recipe.

Add the toppings only before serving. You can even make the entire dip (minus the topping) a night in advance and keep it refrigerated.

Tips & Notes

• Toppings like sev and papdi are to be added just before serving else they will become soggy.
• Use short cuts like using store bought tamarind chutney, store bought salsa and even store bought chana masala/chole if you have no time to cook at home to speed up the process. Festive times get busy and using shortcuts is totally okay.
• You can add a couple of tablespoons of whisked thick yogurt (and then swirl it around using a toothpick) as a topping too but it’s totally optional.
• You may skip the potatoes in the salsa layer and use just salsa.

More Indian Fusion Appetizers

• If you love nachos, then you can’t miss the Indian spin in these Paneer Nachos. They are a total crowd pleaser.
• Spicy honey is awesome and topping it on top of whipped paneer in this Paneer Dip makes it even better. Serve with chips and baguettes.

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