Throw a potluck: Decide the menu but assign your guests different items to bring to keep the price down. Make more items from scratch instead of buying from the store: Instead of buying store-bought chutneys or other items you can opt to make them at home. Don’t worry, I have recipes for all of them down below! Reduce the number of guests: Reducing the number of guests at your party will also decrease the cost of your party. Don’t sweat it on decor: Decor is the finishing touch but the food is the main attraction. Try to keep the decor budget minimal to keep the overall budget low. Down below you’ll find decor ideas that vary in price depending on your budget.
Buy components from the grocery store: You don’t need to make all the papdi, puris, and cilantro-mint and tamarind chutneys from scratch if you don’t want to. I’ve linked the brands I recommend buying so you can have a semi-homemade chaat party that still tastes so delicious! But hey, if you do want to make everything from scratch, I’ve got you covered as well with all the recipes down below. Chaat-cuterie Board: Don’t spend your time during the party assembling and making each chaat for your guest. Instead set out all the components in a chaat-cuterie board fashion where things are DIY.
~2.5 drinks/person If you are making 1 chaat for the party, make sure to make enough servings for each guest to go for seconds. Ex: if the recipe says it serves 4 and there are 4 guests at the party, make sure to make twice the recipe for 8 servings. If you have multiple chaats, make enough so that everyone can have at least 1 serving or taste of each dish.
Potatoes and Chickpeas - You’ll notice lots of the chaats (pani puri, dahi puri, papdi chaat) have a potato and chickpea mixture. You’ll find the recipe for the potatoes and chickpea mixture in one of the recipes which you can make in bulk to share across the three! Three essential chaat sauces - tamarind date chutney, cilantro mint chutney, dahi for chaat - are in all chaats in some combination. Even my pani puri recipe uses them but then adds water to dilute them into a pani or spiced water! I recommend making the cilantro-mint chutney and dahi for chaat at home because you can make a large quantity pretty easily and at a way higher quality than store bought. Don’t worry, I’ll link all the sauce recommendations down below if you don’t want to make them. Tomato and Red Onion - Most chaats have a fresh component which are the chopped veggies. The two classic veggies are red onion and tomatoes which are in almost every chaat! You can of course go off script and add cucumbers, bell peppers, and even corn. Chaat Masala - Chaat is nothing without the iconic spice blend that is chaat masala. You can also read more about this spice blend in this blog post. Kala Namak (Black Salt) - This ingredient is used in the nimbu pani drink and pani puri. It has a pungent smell but has a lip-smacking combo of sourness and savoriness to it that makes it essential.
Use squeeze bottles
Use squeeze bottles, one with the sweet pani and one with the spicy pani, so that your guests can pour it into their puris.
Use shot glasses
Display the puri on top of glass or plastic shot glasses filled with pani on the inside.
Buy pani puri fountain
This pani puri fountain serves as a centerpiece show stopper at any party. Guests can simply bring their puris to the fountain to fill up with pani. Please leave a comment and star rating below letting me know what you thought of this article and if it was helpful to you! I always love hearing your questions and your comments 🙂
