Indian Street-Style Air Fryer Baby Potatoes
This post may contain affiliate links. Read our disclosure policy
Air Fryer Aloo Chaat Recipe
Aloo chaat is one of the best snacks ever! My top Desi snacks include aloo samosas, aloo patties, and sabudana aloo tikki! Yes, you can see that the common ingredient here is aloo, which is potatoes! I love potatoes so much, as you can tell from the wide variety of potato recipes on the blog! At this point, I feel I’m releasing a new potato recipe on a weekly basis lately, so be sure to subscribe to my newsletter if you’re always on the lookout for more delicious potato recipes!
Before we get into the recipe, you may be wondering what exactly is chaat? There is no direct translation to English, but the word comes from the words “lick” and “tasty.” Chaat describes a class of Indian street-style savoury and sweet snacks which have the following elements:
a starch base, such as a samosa, bread fritters, or puffed rice (bhel)
a crunchy topping, such as pomegranates, raw onions, tomatoes, or sev or boondi (chickpea-flour-based chips, the former being straight and the latter are little balls)
tangy chaat masala
optionally garnished with yogurt or chutney!
They are typically served as hors d’oeuvres. There are different types of chaat such as fruit chaat, samosa chaat, and papri chaat (papri is like a chip made from wheat dough). Despite not having “chaat” in the name, other snacks that are actually chaats include aloo tikki (potato and onion fried cutlets), bhel puri (puffed rice over fried dough balls called puris) , golgappa or pani puri (fried hollow dough balls with a whole punched in, filled with a tamarind water or cilantro-mint water), and sev puri (similar to pani puri, filled with layers of potatoes and onions and chutneys). As a native, I have to say the best chaat you can find is on the streets of Delhi! Writing this post just brings back so many memories! Want to see more chaat recipes on the blog? Be sure to leave me a comment below and I’d be happy to do more!
Let’s discuss aloo chaat specifically. A traditional aloo chaat is actually very simple. Typically, the potatoes are deep fried, and then tossed in the spices with cilantro-mint chutney and tamarind chutney. We don’t add any crunchiness on top for this chaat.
We’ll make this Delhi-style aloo chaat recipe more accessible by air frying our potatoes instead of deep frying! For this chaat recipe, we’ll also use baby potatoes. Additionally, this recipe will show how to air fry baby potatoes to perfection! Even if you don’t want to make aloo chaat, you can refer to this recipe for the perfect air fryer roasted baby potatoes. I’ll give some variations later on in this post!
I discuss more in my my top 5 kitchen tips guide, Make Cooking Fun!! how going out can inspire you! In this case, it probably isn’t likely that you can step out and get chaat, but you can bring this street classic to your home and enjoy this Delhi street-style favourite! Try it out as part of your Live to Cook one-month challenge, which you’ll also get by signing up for my newsletter! Share your delicious creations by tagging me on Instagram!
Be sure to watch the video at the bottom of this post to get the full picture of how to air fry the baby potatoes and how to make this Delhi-style Aloo Chaat right from your kitchen! If you’re not already, please subscribe to my YouTube channel, and hit the bell button so that you don’t miss when I upload all of my video recipes! I love to share my video recipes along with the written ones so you’ve got all the tools you need for success! Let’s get cooking!
Why Use Baby Potatoes?
Cute: Babies are cute and that’s why small potatoes are called baby potatoes! They’re small and cute making them fun to use when you want to switch things up from regular potatoes!
Quick to cook: Since baby potatoes are obviously smaller, they cook faster!
Versatile: They can be used in lots of ways! Baby potatoes can be served as a side dish or actually enjoyed in gravies! I use baby potatoes for my North Indian Dum Aloo and Ala Kiri Hodi. However, you can basically substitute large potatoes with baby potatoes in most cases! Try adding some baby potatoes in your Rajma Masala or Aloo Beans!
Adored by all: Who doesn’t love potatoes? The bonus of using small potatoes is that they make it easy for little hands and mouths to eat!
What’s an air fryer?
An air fryer is a kitchen appliance that sits on your kitchen counter and cooks food by circulating hot air in a small space, similar to the effects of a convection oven. Because the air is circulating in a confined space, you get a crisp result that’s similar to deep frying. Of course I’ll never say that air frying will actually replicate the taste and texture of deep fried food (anyone who tells you it is the same is lying!), but you’ll achieve much closer results than baking in the oven. The air fryer I use is the Ninja Foodi dual basket 6-in-1 air fryer. It’s great because you can actually air fry two different dishes at the same time, and I love the six different settings on it! The settings include:
Air Fry
Air Broil
Reheat
Dehydrate
Bake
Roast
For a detailed review of my first impressions of it, check out this video.
Is Air Fried Food Healthy?
Yes, it is! I have lots of deep fried recipes on the blog, and as mentioned earlier, typically the potatoes in aloo chaat are deep fried. However, let’s be honest here and call a spade a spade. While deep fried food is delicious, it’s not so good for you! I really enjoy deep frying and it’s tons of fun to do, but I save it for special occasions. The oils used for deep frying are typically full of trans fats that can have adverse effects on your health. Furthermore, it’s just plain tedious to deep fry. You need to ensure you have the correct oil temperature, then carefully fry your food, and then you’re left with a big mess clean up. You have to discard the oil in the garbage or else your sink will clog, and it really leaves lots of residue on your pan. I personally think it’s worth the effort to deep fry because the taste is just amazing, and I’m a fried-food lover! That being said, because it’s a lot of work and not healthy, that’s why as a fried food lover I really appreciate my air fryer. While it won’t give identical results, the results it produces are good enough to satisfy your cravings!
In conclusion, yes, air frying your food is much healthier than deep frying! We’ll only use a touch of olive oil here, which provides an excellent source of mono-unsaturated fats that are great for your heart health and to lower bad LDL cholesterol, while raising the good HDL cholesterol. Having some fat in your meal helps create a balanced, satisfying meal, and olive oil in these potatoes will do just that!
Why Air Fry Your Baby Potatoes
You’ll love to air fry your baby potatoes for the following reasons!
Air frying is easy!
Faster than roasting in the oven!
Quick and simple clean-up
Frees up your oven if you need it
Super crispy and tasty!
What to Serve Roasted Air Firied Baby Potatoes with
While this Aloo Chaat recipe is Indian, you can serve these Roasted Air Fried Baby Potatoes with a variety of dishes! Here are some options:
To make it authentic, however, enjoy as a snack with some Cucumber Raita for dipping! You may want to have a cool Mango Lassi or some warm Masala Chai to sip on with your aloo chaat!
Questions you may have!
Do you need to soak the baby potatoes before air frying?
No, I did not soak the baby potatoes beforehand because we will be boiling them first.
Do you need to boil the baby potatoes before air frying?
Yes, we’ll be boiling our baby potatoes before we air fry. To achieve the best crispy potatoes, you need to cook them in 2 stages, 1st stage you cook the potato, and the second stage, you make them crispy. Boiling them will give you a smooth, creamy interior and cooking them on high heat coated with oil or even deep frying will give them a perfect crisp exterior.
Do You Cut the baby potatoes in half?
Yes, I cut the potatoes in half to make bite sized pieces which are enjoyable to eat.
Do You need to peel the baby potatoes?
Yes I peeled the potatoes for this Aloo Chaat recipe, but you don’t need to. Do it the way you prefer and make this recipe your own.
How do I know if the potatoes are done?
The potatoes should be fork tender and should be soft all the way through and crispy golden brown all around the outside.
Do I need olive oil?
While technically you don’t “need” oil to make the potatoes crispy in the air fryer, it definitely helps give the potatoes a more flavourful and even golden brown colour all around and the crispiness is better.
Can this work with other types of potatoes?
For any yellow or white potato, this recipe would work well! If are looking to make air fryer crispy sweet or purple potatoes, you will need a different combination of spices but the main method should remain quite similar.
Ingredients for air fryer Aloo Chaat
Let’s go over the ingredients needed to make our Indian Air Fryer Aloo Chaat! The full instructions and ingredient quantities can be found at the bottom of this post in the FULL PRINTABLE recipe card! You can also press the“Jump to Recipe” button to go to the recipe card and save the recipe for later. The recipe card will also allow you to scale all ingredient quantities based on how many potatoes you have and how much you want to make - all the spice quantities will automatically adjust!
Baby potatoes: These are Yukon gold baby potatoes.
Olive oil: We’ll cover our baby potatoes with olive oil before air frying to help them get crispy.
Seasonings: After the baby potatoes have finished air frying, we’ll season our Delhi-Style Aloo Chaat with amchur powder, chaat masala, ground cumin, ground pepper, Kashmiri red chili powder and salt.
Chutneys: We’ll mix in Cilantro-Mint Chutney and Tamarind Chutney with the seasonings.
Lime juice: Added with the seasonings and chutneys.
Cilantro: Freshly chopped, for garnish.
How to Air Fry Baby Potatoes
Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil. Add the baby potatoes to the pot and cook until the potatoes are fork tender and cook about 85-95% of the way.
Drain the potatoes and let them cool down completely. Peel the potatoes and cut any large ones in half at a diagonal.
In the meanwhile preheat the air fryer at 390 F for 5 minutes.
Add the potatoes to the air fryer basket and add olive oil over the potatoes. Toss to coat and set the temperature to 390 F on Air Fry mode. Cook for 20-25 minutes, making sure to toss the potatoes every 5 or so minutes. You can add more oil if needed.
When the potatoes are golden brown and crispy all around, transfer the potatoes to a large bowl and add salt, toss well and then add the remaining dried spices, cilantro-mint chutney, tamarind chutney and lime juice. Mix well to combine.
Serve garnished with chopped cilantro, enjoy!
Tips for the best crispy air fryer roasted baby potatoes
Make sure you don’t over cook the potatoes while boiling them. They should be mostly cooked, should be fork-tender.
Use a trivet, this will allow any excess oil to drip into the basket, resulting in potatoes that are crispy but not oily.
Tossing and shaking the potatoes as they cook every 5 or so minutes will help with even browning and crispiness.
Having all remaining ingredients besides the potato ready before the potatoes are done will be best to enjoy the chaat fresh and crispy as intended.
Roasted potato topping ideas
These Air Fryer Roasted Potatoes were made Indian-style in the form of aloo chaat! However, you can follow the main steps to get the potatoes crispy and then pick your favourites from these tasty toppings:
Toppings
Butter
Sour cream
Crispy bacon bits
Chives
Green onions
Cheeses, such as mozzarella, cheddar, feta or Monterey Jack
Spices
How to Store & Reheat Roasted Baby Potatoes
I recommend you enjoy your Air Fried Aloo Chaat fresh, as they’ll be the crispiest and tastiest! However, if you want to make them ahead of time for whatever reason, that’s okay! Store any leftovers in an airtight container. Your potatoes will stay fresh in the fridge for 4 days.
You can easily reheat your potatoes in the air fryer. Set it to 350 F and add the potatoes in the basket. It’ll take about 5-10 minutes to reheat your potatoes.
More Potato Recipes
More Air Fryer Recipes!
Watch How to Make INdian Street-Style Air Fryer Baby Potatoes Here:
Let me know what you think of this recipe in the comments! If you’ve tried this recipe, be sure to post it on social media and tag it with #cookingwithanadi and mention me @cookingwithanadi. Thank you!