Kala Chana Chaat | Black Chickpea Salad | Vegan & Gluten-Free

Looking for healthy chaat option? Then this one is for you all. A simple protein-rich Indian style salad with black chickpeas or kala chana, cucumber, tomatoes, onion, and spices. This vegan and gluten-free, oil-free salad is a guilt-free and satisfying one making it perfect for those hunger-pangs.

Protein-Rich Black Chickpeas:

Being a vegetarian, I rely on beans and legumes for protein. As per the healthy eating website, a cup of boiled kala chana contains 269 calories and provides 45 grams of carbohydrates. But at the same time, it provides 15 grams of protein and 13 grams of dietary fiber. Also, it has a good source of minerals like potassium and calcium.

These black chickpeas are quite popular and we use in South Indian Sambar dishes like pitlai and during Navratri, we make simple stir-fry or sundal with this. You can find the black chickpeas easily on Indian groceries and of course on Amazon online. 

Cooking Kala Chana or black chickpeas:

Like any other beans, you would soak black chickpeas also. Soak sufficient measure of black chickpeas overnight or 6 to 8 hours. I usually soak 1 cup of kala chana overnight. Then drain the water and pressure cook it for 3 to 4 whistles by adding 3 cups of water. For this salad, I used only 2 cups of cooked chana. You can use the remaining for pitlai, vathal kuzhambu, Sundal, and also for pani puri. 

If you are using Instant Pot, you can pressure cook the soaked black chickpeas for 12 to 15 minutes and release the pressure naturally. The cooking time varies depending upon the soak time, quality of the beans and your texture preference. I like my beans soft and aldente so this timing works for me. 

Kala ChanaChaat  | Black Chickpea Salad:

You can call this as sundal chaat or chaat salad and guess what, you can make this kala chana chaat quite easily. Just cook the black chickpeas well ahead of time either in the stove-top pressure or in Instant Pot. Then when required you can add in your favorite vegetables and spices. And that’s it. The chaat is ready. 

This kala chana chaat is my absolute favorite and I prepare this quite often. I usually pack this for work and relish it as a mid-morning snack or evening snack.  The crunchy nature of this salad (thanks to the raw vegetables and black chickpea) makes you chew for a long time which in turn makes you feel full. This is a zero oil, vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free recipe.

Instead of kala chana, you can use garbanzo beans, black-eyed peas, white peas or other legumes of your choice also.

What spices and vegetables to use?

I usually add whatever the veggies I have in hand. For this recipe, I included carrots, tomatoes, cucumbers, raw green mango and of course cilantro and onion. What I love about these chaat recipes is, there is no set proportion or set measurement for the ingredients.

The same goes for spices also. You can add chaat masala or just roasted cumin seed powder or even both. That’s what I did. It adds that tangy and refreshing flavor and that zing. As usual, I included my all-time favorite Jal Jeera Masala. :-)  I skipped salt for this recipe and included black salt instead. Also, I did not add dry mango powder or the amchur powder but you can include that as well. 

I know I am saying a lot of spices here. Don’t worry if you don’t have all those in hand. Just add salt, cumin powder and some lemon/lime juice. Trust me, you will love those simple flavors too. 

I used some sev to garnish and you can completely skip them. The moment you can sev, it is not oil-free. :-)

Now without any further ado, let me share how I made this kala chana chaat or the Indian style black chickpeas salad.

Ingredients:

• Boiled Kala Chana – 2 cups
• Grated carrot – ¼ cup
• Tomato – 1
• Cucumber, chopped – ¼ cup (I used 1 cocktail cucumber from my home garden)
• Raw Mango, chopped  – 2 tbsps
• Cilantro, chopped – 2 tbsps
• Onion, chopped – 3 tbsps
• Red Chili Powder – ¼ tsp
• Jal Jeera Masala – ¼ tsp
• Black Salt – ½ tsp
• Chaat Masala – ¼ tsp
• Cumin Powder – ⅛ tsp
• Lemon Juice – 1 tbsp

Prep – Work:

• Grate the carrots, chop the cucumber, onions, raw mango and cilantro.
• I usually deseed the tomatoes and remove the pulp inside them for this chaat.
• Cook the kala chana in your preferred way and set 2 cups of Kala chana aside. 

Steps:

• Add all the ingredients and toss them nicely.

• Just before serving, add the lemon juice and drizzle some sev for additional crunchiness.

Notes:

• Instead of kala chana, any other legumes of your choice can be used. I have tried a similar one with peanuts (Peanut sundal) and also with green moong beans.
• Adjust the salt and spices as per your preference.
• You can adjust the chaat spices and vegetables according to your preference.
• If you making it during Navratri, skip the onions.

If you like this chaat, then check out my other legume salads below.

• White Peas Carrot Salad
• Peanut Salad
• Black Beans Taco Salad

📖 Recipe

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Kala Chana Chaat | Black Chickpea Salad | Vegan & Gluten-Free

A simple protein-rich Indian style salad with black chickpeas or kala chana, cucumber, tomatoes, onion, and spices. A vegan, gluten-free & a oil-free salad.

Prep Time8 hours hrs

Cook Time15 minutes mins

Total Time8 hours hrs 15 minutes mins

Course: Snack

Cuisine: Indian

Servings: 4

Calories: 336kcal

Author: Srividhya G

Ingredients

• ▢ 2 cups Black Chickpeas cooked
• ▢ ¼ cup Carrot grated
• ▢ 1 Tomato chopped
• ▢ ¼ cup Cucumber chopped. I used 1 cocktail cucumber from my home garden
• ▢ 2 tbsp Green Mango chopped
• ▢ 2 tbsp Cilantro chopped
• ▢ 3 tbsp Onion chopped
• ▢ ¼ tsp Red Chili Powder
• ▢ ¼ tsp Jal Jeera Masala
• ▢ ½ tsp Black Salt
• ▢ ¼ tsp Chaat Masala
• ▢ ⅛ tsp Cumin Powder
• ▢ 1 tbsp Lemon Juice

Instructions

Prep - Work

• Grate the carrots, chop the cucumber, onions, raw mango and cilantro.
• Cook the kala chana in your preferred way and set 2 cups of Kala chana aside. 
  
  
• I usually deseed the tomatoes and remove the pulp inside them for this chaat.

Steps

• Add all the ingredients and toss them nicely.
• Just before serving, add the lemon juice and drizzle some sev for additional crunchiness.

Notes

• Instead of kala chana, any other legumes of your choice can be used. I have tried a similar one with peanuts (Peanut sundal) and also with green moong beans.
• Adjust the salt and spices as per your preference.
• You can adjust the chaat spices and vegetables according to your preference.
• If you making it during Navratri, skip the onions.

Nutrition

Calories: 336kcal | Carbohydrates: 58g | Protein: 16g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 334mg | Potassium: 844mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 2013IU | Vitamin C: 12mg | Calcium: 183mg | Iron: 4mg

I am not a nutritionist. The nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. It varies depending upon the product types or brands.

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