Three Chai-Time Snacks That Aren’t Deep-Fried

Quick answer: What can you eat with chai besides biscuits and fried snacks?

Roasted chana, moong sundal and instant besan dhokla are three Indian snacks that do not need deep frying. They bring pulses into chai time, adding protein and fibre in amounts that depend on the recipe and portion. A serving can help bridge the gap between lunch and dinner; you do not need a snack if you are not hungry.

For the quickest option, toss ready-roasted chana with a little oil and spices, then let it cool completely before storing it in a dry, airtight jar. For sundal, soak whole moong, cook it until fully tender but still holding its shape, and finish with mustard seeds, curry leaves, coconut and lemon. Cooking times vary.

Instant dhokla uses besan, curd and fruit salt for a quick rise. It skips fermenting the batter overnight. Traditionally fermented dhokla is still a fermented food after steaming, but neither version should be assumed to supply live probiotics. Besan remains a useful pulse ingredient without that claim.

Tea can reduce absorption of the non-haem iron in plant foods eaten alongside it. The effect can be meaningful for that meal. Vitamin C helps iron absorption, but a squeeze of lemon does not guarantee that it cancels tea’s effect. If iron is a concern, have tea between meals and follow clinical advice.

Refrigerate cooked snacks promptly. Avoid leaving them out beyond two hours, or one hour above 32°C. Choose thoroughly cooked sprouts for chaat, particularly for people at greater risk of food poisoning. Increase fibre gradually, with adequate fluid.

The overlooked snack between lunch and dinner

Lunch and dinner get thought about. Breakfast gets talked about constantly. The snack that happens somewhere between four and six, with tea, mostly happens by reflex. It is usually whatever is within reach: biscuits, a packet of namkeen, leftover mithai, something fried from the corner shop.

None of that is a moral failing and none of it needs to be given up entirely. But some familiar defaults offer less protein or fibre, or more salt and oil, than you might want from an everyday snack.

There is a practical argument too. A snack with some protein and fibre can help you feel satisfied until dinner, although portions and appetite matter. The three below bring pulses into the picture, with the plant protein and dietary fibre they provide.

For the recipes below, use a 240 ml measuring cup, a 5 ml teaspoon and a 15 ml tablespoon.

1. Chatpata roasted chana

Makes: approximately 2 cups.

Bhuna chana has been an Indian snack for a very long time, sold by weight from sacks and eaten by the handful. It brings protein and fibre together, and takes about ten minutes to turn from plain to moreish.

This recipe starts with ready-roasted chana, not raw dried chickpeas.

You’ll need

• 2 cups plain, ready-roasted chana, preferably skin-on
• 1 tsp oil
• ½ tsp chaat masala
• ¼ tsp red chilli powder, or less to taste
• ¼ tsp amchur
• A pinch of kala namak or salt, only if needed
• Optional: 1 tsp sesame seeds

Method

1. Heat the oil in a kadhai over medium-low heat. If using sesame seeds, add them and stir briefly until lightly toasted.
2. Add the roasted chana and toss for 3–4 minutes, until warmed through and smelling toasty.
3. Switch off and let the pan cool a little before tossing in the powdered spices, which can scorch. Taste before adding salt; chaat masala often already contains it.
4. Spread the chana on a clean, dry plate and cool completely before transferring to a dry, airtight jar. Trapped warmth can create condensation and soften the batch.

For later: keep the jar cool and dry, and use a dry spoon. Make small batches rather than assuming they will keep for weeks. Discard damp, mouldy or off-smelling chana; normal appearance and smell do not guarantee safety.

2. Moong sundal

Makes: approximately 4–6 small snack servings.

Sundal is a South Indian favourite, made as prasad during Navratri but far too useful to keep for festivals. It is essentially a cooked pulse with a tempering: warm, savoury and easy to put together once the moong is ready.

You’ll need

• 1 cup dry whole moong
• Water for soaking and cooking
• 1 tbsp coconut oil or another cooking oil
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 1 tsp urad dal
• A pinch of hing
• 1–2 dried red chillies
• 10 curry leaves, washed and patted dry
• 3 tbsp grated fresh coconut
• Salt to taste
• Lemon juice to finish

Method

1. Rinse the moong and soak in plenty of water for 4–6 hours. In a hot kitchen, soak it in the refrigerator. Drain and rinse.
2. Cover generously with fresh water, add a little salt and bring to a boil. Simmer until fully tender but still holding shape. Start checking after about 20 minutes and cook longer as needed; bean age and soaking time affect timing. Drain well.
3. Heat the oil in a kadhai. Add mustard seeds and let them pop, then add urad dal and stir until golden. Add the hing, dried chillies and curry leaves, taking care as the leaves may splutter.
4. Add the drained moong and toss for 2–3 minutes over medium heat.
5. Switch off, stir in the coconut and a squeeze of lemon, and check the salt. Eat warm.

Check the moong as it cooks: you want tender beans, rather than a mash or a hard centre.

3. Instant besan dhokla, khaman-style

Makes: one 15 cm round tin, approximately 4 snack servings.

Steamed rather than deep-fried, soft, and satisfying with tea. The tempering uses a little oil. It takes more steps than the chana, but gives you a batch to portion out.

You’ll need

For the batter

• 1 cup besan
• ½ cup plain curd
• Up to ½ cup water, added gradually
• 1 tsp ginger-green chilli paste
• A small pinch of haldi
• Salt to taste
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp plain fruit salt, such as original Eno
• A little oil for greasing

For the tempering

• 1 tbsp oil
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 8 curry leaves, washed and patted dry
• 2 slit green chillies, or fewer to taste
• 1 tsp sugar
• 3 tbsp water

Method

1. Whisk the besan, curd, ginger-chilli paste, haldi, salt and sugar with ¼ cup water. Add more water gradually, up to ½ cup in total, for a smooth, thick but pourable batter that falls from the spoon in a ribbon. Rest for 20 minutes.
2. Grease a round tin about 15 cm across and at least 5 cm deep. Bring the steamer to a boil, with the tin above the water. Have everything ready before adding fruit salt.
3. Loosen the rested batter with a little water if needed. Fold in the fruit salt briefly and gently, then pour into the tin, leaving room to rise. Steam immediately: fruit salt releases gas when wet. Do not substitute baking soda spoon-for-spoon.
4. Cover and steam for about 15–20 minutes, until a skewer comes out without wet batter. Cook longer if needed; depth and equipment affect timing. Let it settle for about 10 minutes before cutting.
5. Heat the tempering oil and pop the mustard seeds. Add curry leaves and chillies, then take off the heat. Carefully add water and sugar, standing back from splashes. Return to the heat, bring briefly to a boil and spoon over the dhokla.

Is dhokla fermented or probiotic?

Some traditional dhoklas use a fermented rice-and-pulse batter. The instant besan version above uses fruit salt for its rise and does not ferment the batter overnight. A short rest is not the same process.

Fermentation changes flavour, texture and food components, so the versions are not necessarily nutritionally identical. But fermentation or curd alone does not make dhokla probiotic. After steaming, you cannot assume it supplies live cultures in beneficial amounts.

Traditionally fermented dhokla still counts as fermented after cooking. “Fermented” describes how it was made; “probiotic” requires live microorganisms with demonstrated benefits. The ISAPP consensus makes that distinction. Besan brings protein and fibre without needing a probiotic claim attached.

A few more, for when you want variety

Three recipes are a starting point rather than the whole repertoire:

• Plain curd with mixed seeds, if dairy suits you.
• Steamed corn with lemon and a little chaat masala.
• Masala murmura with roasted chana or peanuts mixed in. Puffed rice alone is relatively light on fibre; what you add matters.
• Cooked sprouted-moong chaat with washed, chopped onion, tomato, lemon and chaat masala. Cook the sprouts thoroughly before adding the other ingredients.
• Roasted makhana with a little ghee, salt and pepper. It offers variety, though it is not nutritionally equivalent to a pulse snack.

Raw or lightly cooked sprouts can carry harmful bacteria. Thorough cooking is safer, and people who are pregnant, young children, older adults and people with weakened immunity should avoid raw or undercooked sprouts. Health Canada’s sprout guidance explains the risk. Rinsing alone does not make raw sprouts reliably safe.

One thing worth knowing about the chai itself

Tea contains polyphenols, including tannins, that can reduce absorption of non-haem iron from food eaten alongside it. Non-haem iron is the form found in plant foods, including pulses.

That can meaningfully affect the iron absorbed from your chana or sundal. The effect on iron levels over months is a different question: your overall diet, iron stores and tea habits also matter.

You do not necessarily need to give up chai. Having it between meals is a practical adjustment, especially if you have low iron or are at risk of deficiency. A small controlled trial found less inhibition with tea an hour after a test meal than alongside it. That supports a gap, rather than a guaranteed timing rule.

Vitamin C improves non-haem iron absorption, so lemon with sundal is a useful pairing. A squeeze does not guarantee that tea’s effect is cancelled. For diagnosed iron deficiency or iron supplements, follow your clinician’s advice on treatment and timing.

Making this a habit rather than a project

Keep something in the house. A lot of unplanned snacking is a supply problem rather than a willpower problem, and a jar of spiced chana makes the 4 pm decision easier.

Sundal works on days when you have thought about soaking ahead. Make it for that day, or refrigerate it promptly for the next. Dhokla can be portioned and refrigerated, with only what you want to eat taken out at a time.

For cooked sundal and dhokla: cool in shallow containers and refrigerate within two hours of cooking, or one hour above 32°C. Do not wait for a batch to become completely cold on the counter. Keep the fridge at 4°C or below, cover once chilled, and eat within 2–3 days. If reheating, heat to 74°C at the centre, checked with a food thermometer. These precautions follow leftover-handling guidance and the FDA’s hot-weather advice.

Take out only the portion you will serve, keep total time out within those limits and discard cooked food left out too long. Reheating does not rescue it.

And the samosa can still have its place. The argument here is only for having more than one automatic option when chai time comes around.

Sources

• FAO: International Year of Pulses—nutrition and food-security background.
• NIH Office of Dietary Supplements: Iron—Health Professional Fact Sheet.
• NIDDK: Fibre, fluids and constipation.
• Ahmad Fuzi and colleagues, 2017: Tea timing and non-haem iron absorption, controlled trial.
• ISAPP consensus statement on fermented foods, 2021.
• Health Canada: Food safety tips for sprouts.
• Health Canada: Food safety tips for leftovers.
• FDA: Cooking and safe food temperatures.
• Sanjeev Kapoor: Green Gram Sundal.
• Raks Kitchen: Khaman Dhokla.
• Ranveer Brar: Khatta Dhokla.

Disclaimer

This article provides general food and nutrition information, not individual medical advice or treatment for iron deficiency or digestive conditions. Increase fibre gradually and have adequate fluid. Follow any clinician-advised fibre or fluid restriction. Check ingredients for allergies and individual tolerance, and follow the food-safety guidance above. Seek medical advice for digestive symptoms that persist, are severe or keep returning. People with diagnosed iron deficiency, and those who are pregnant or have specific medical needs, should follow their healthcare professional’s advice.