Oats Bhel No Oil Oats Chaat Indian Style Oats Salad

I love chaat recipes, the famous Indian street food snacks, and I am sure we all do. I love it so much that I took chaat recipes for one of the mega marathons(Sep’16) as my theme and did 26 chaat recipes. :-) While there are some deep-fried chaat recipes, there are some simple ones like bhelpuri, sukha bhel, fruit chaat, and kala chana chaat that you can munch without any guilt. And this oats bhel is one among them. Ok, let me be clear here. I am not against deep-fried food, and I believe in balanced and mindful eating with proper exercise, and that’s what matters. I have recently received many recipe requests for easy and healthy snack recipes that are bachelors friendly. Guess what, this oats bhel ticks all the boxes.

This oats bhel is,

✔ Easy to make and healthy ✔ Oil-free, nut-free and vegan ✔ Can be prepared in less than 20 minutes

Rolled oats and no instant oats, please-

I know I am not a nutritionist but folks, if you want to reap the benefits of oats, then opt for either steel-cut oats or old-fashioned rolled oats. For this oats bhel, I used old-fashioned rolled oats. Instant or quick-cooking one works, but it’s the most processed one among the three varieties, and I highly recommend rolled oats for this recipe.

Oats bhel or oats salad-

Please don’t take me wrong here. I am not trying to westernize this dish but think about it – this oats bhel is more like a salad. All we need is some toasted oats, veggies, and cooked beans. And for dressing, we are using the sweet chutney and green chutney. That’s it. Why not we call this is as Indian-style oats salad? I used my homemade raisin and tamarind chutney and store-bought mint chutney for this bhel. PS – while you can make these chutneys easily at home, there are readily available on Indian grocery stores. Find my green chutney recipe here.

Other variations for this oats chaat-

This version of mine is very basic. It’s a mix of kala chana chaat and bhel puri but without any puri. And the ingredients that I have used here are readily available in all our pantries. Now you can customize this bhel as per your preference. Here are some of the variations- Add more toppings – You can add boiled potatoes, any beans of your choice, pomegranate arils, etc. I also want to keep it oil-free, so I did not add any sev/chickpea flour vermicelli or any deep-fried puris. You can very well add them. Oats bhel with dahi – Dahi means yogurt, and like dahi puri, you can add yogurt and chutneys along with chaat masala, amchur powder, etc. Dry chutney – You can prepare the dry green chutney like we do for sukha bhel and make the oats sukha bhel as well. I can keep talking about the customizations, which are recipes on their own. So let me stop here, and let’s get straight into the recipe.

How to make oats bhel-

Heat a pan and when it is hot, add the oats and toast them until they are crisp or for about 3 to 5 minutes.

Toss the oats in between for even toasting. You can let them turn light golden brown but don’t let the oats turn brown, though.

Transfer the toasted oats to the bowl and let it cool. Meanwhile, chop all the veggies.Now add the chopped onion, carrot, cucumber, tomato, black chickpeas. Add the chutneys and chaat masala. Mix well.

Garnish with cilantro and drizzle the lemon juice and serve right away.

Recipe Notes-

Adjust the amount of the chutneys, chaat masala, and lemon juice as per your preference.As my mint chutney was spicy, I did not add any green chilies. But for a spicy version, you can add deseeded and finely chopped green chilies.I highly recommend rolled oats for this recipe. And while toasting the oats, toss them often for even toasting and don’t let the oats brown.For variations, check the post.

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