Chaat, according to author and food writer Priya Krishna, is less a family of savoury Indian snacks and more “a way of life … a category of food that hits practically every element that makes something craveable – sweet, sour, tangy, spicy, and crunchy”. The name, Nashville chef Maneet Chauhan told the New York Times, comes from the verb chaatna, meaning “to lick”, because good chaat, which can be eaten at any time of day, should be, well, finger-licking good. Chef and author Roopa Gulati explains in India, her contribution to Bloomsbury’s World Vegetarian series: “There’s no single word in the English language that describes the spectrum of flavours delivered by chaat. However, in India, it’s the emotive-sounding chatpata that evokes myriad explosive tastes and textures. If you fee like eating something chatpata, the assumption is that it’s chaat, or at least a spicy, crunchy snack.”
A chaat, whether enjoyed at a street stall, in a restaurant or with a pot of tea at home, is usually based around a starchy main ingredient – chopped samosas, for example, or fried potatoes – topped with a colourful canopy of fruity chutneys, cool dairy, crunchy snacks and a hot and tangy blend of spices. It’s a combination that’s precision-engineered to keep you coming back for another spoonful, so if you’re looking to eat more pulses, this chickpea version is guaranteed to help.
The chickpeas
As ever, you could use dried pulses here. I give them a go for the recipe in Madhur Jaffrey’s Indian Cookery (first published in 1982, the book has to explain to readers what chickpeas are), but I find they’re not strictly necessary. Indeed, if anything, the creamy texture of tinned beans is, in my opinion, slightly preferable.
The Times of India asks its readers: “Who says you cannot have chaat while on a diet?” apropos its recipe using kala chana, or black chickpeas, which it says contain more fibre and protein than the white variety. Unfortunately, my testers and I find that they taste like diet food, too. Nice as kala chana are in a well-flavoured sauce, in a chaat their tough skins and slightly earthy flavour make them a clear second choice among my testers.
Sumayya Usmani, the author of two books on Pakistani cuisine, suggests using soaked chana dal, or split chickpeas, instead, in her recipe on the BBC Good Food website. Ignoring the warning on the packet that cautions against eating them raw, I discover that I’m not particularly keen on their flavour and slightly chalky texture, but then I dislike all such sprouty pulses. If you’re a fan, by all means give the idea a go; I, however, am going to stick to the cooked variety.
Should you want to bulk out the dish further, Gulati’s boiled potatoes add another buttery, starchy element that soaks up flavour like a champ, and are therefore highly recommended.
The vegetables
The recipes are also split between those, such as Jaffrey and Chetna Makan, who cook the tomato and onion base, and those, including the Times of India and Gulati, who simply chop it and add it raw (Usmani’s chaat, meanwhile, doesn’t contain either).
I’m keen to include several fresh elements in the dish to add crunch – Usmani and the Times of India’s cucumber, and Gulati and Usmani’s pomegranate seeds. But it’s difficult not to fall for the kind of richly savoury marriage of flavours that comes only from cooking in oil.
You can, of course, leave the dish to cool before eating it, if you prefer – and, like Jaffrey, keep a little raw onion, soaked in lemon juice to tame its bite, to stir in at the end for the best of both worlds. Though most recipes are unspecific on the point, sweeter red onions (though not the large sort generally found here) are much more common in India than the brown variety – Gulati suggests using an ordinary red onion, but shallots are my preference, not least because they tend to be slightly less sweet.
Everyone uses green chillies, and Jaffrey and the Times of India add root ginger, too, which adds a zestier warmth that I very much enjoy with the tomatoes, in particular.
The spices
Ground ginger is also popular in the chaat masala, the spice mix that’s generally used to season chaat. It’s easy to find ready-made in large supermarkets and south Asian grocers, but, of course, will taste better made fresh. Gulati describes it as a “cornucopia of spices crammed with big flavours … the sulphurous aromas of quarried black salt and asafoetida contrast with the sour fruitiness of mango powder and the lingering warmth of black peppers, chillies and cumin. Carom seeds bring pungency and boast a flavour that straddles lovage and thyme.” She also adds mint leaves, which have their own slightly sweet, peppery perfume.
Makan’s ingredients list is shorter, and includes fennel seeds instead of mint, as well as the sulphurous (would that there were a more appealing descriptor), sour and hot elements above. I suspect there are as many ways to mix a chaat masala as there are cooks, so I’ve gone for a pared-back example – feel free to experiment, bearing in mind that it should be both tangy and funky, as the New York Times delicately puts it.
Gulati also adds extra cumin seeds to her dish, while Jaffrey, in the absence of chaat masala (perhaps such things were impossible to obtain in 1982), uses cumin, coriander, turmeric, cayenne and garam masala, so bear those in mind if you live somewhere where spices are hard to come by, though I would at least try to get hold of some amchoor, or mango powder, if you can. Its sourness is hard to replicate even with lemon juice. Extra chilli powder can be added to taste.
The sauces
Usmani mixes tamarind chutney into her salad, while Gulati is the only person to suggest dressing the chaat in its full regalia, with a sweet-and-sour homemade date and tamarind sauce and a cool mint and yoghurt raita. Though the chickpeas can stand alone, chaat’s vibe seems to me to be all about gilding the lily, so I’m going to suggest adding both. Note: date and tamarind sauce is easy to buy if making it from scratch feels a step too far (it’s surprisingly versatile, too: I find it works well on a bacon sandwich or with hard cheese).
Dressing and garnish
Tangy as the chaat masala and tamarind sauce are, a spritz of lemon or, my preference, lime juice brings the dish alive, especially with a generous scattering of fresh herbs. Coriander is the most popular choice, and my favourite, but Makan and Usmani use a little dill, too, and Usmani mint, a flavour that’s covered by my raita.
The Times of India, mindful, perhaps, that even dieters need a little joy in their lives, suggests dusting the finished chaat with sev, which are deep-fried noodles made from chickpea flour. These prove to be the final piece of the puzzle – anything crunchy is inevitably extremely moreish. If you can’t get hold of that, you may feel inspired by the information that Chauhan has substituted cornflakes and tortilla chips, so as long as it’s crisp and savoury, it seems anything goes. After all, chaat is a vibe, not a prescription.
Perfect chana chaat
Prep 25 min
Cook 35 min
Serves 4
2 medium long shallots
1-2 green finger chillies (or other medium-hot pepper), finely chopped
1 tbsp finely grated root ginger
Juice of 1 lime, or lemon
2 tbsp neutral oil
2 medium tomatoes, deseeded and diced
800g (2 x 400g tins) chickpeas, drained
Chilli powder, to taste
1 small bunch fresh coriander, chopped
½ cucumber, deseeded and diced
1 handful pomegranate seeds
1 handful sev, or other crunchy snack, to finish (optional)
For the chaat masala (or use 2 tsp of ready-made stuff)
1½ tbsp cumin seeds
½ tbsp black peppercorns
½ tbsp dried mint
2 tsp kala namak (AKA Himalayan black salt – NB it’s not black)
1½ tbsp amchoor (mango powder)
¼ tsp ground ginger
¼ tsp chilli powder
For the date and tamarind sauce: (or use a ready-made version)
50g deseeded tamarind (from a larger block), “wet” tamarind for preference
75g pitted dates, roughly chopped
80g jaggery, or soft brown sugar
½ tsp ground ginger
¼ tsp garam masala
Salt
For the yoghurt sauce
¼ tsp cumin seeds
1 small bunch fresh mint, leaves picked
100g whole yoghurt
A pinch of salt
¼ tsp caster sugar
1 small garlic clove, peeled and crushed
If you are making the date and tamarind sauce, prepare the tamarind according to the packet instructions, then remove all the seeds to make up 50g pulp.
Put this in a small pan with the dates and sugar, add water just to cover, then bring to a simmer and leave to bubble away until the dates are soft and pulpy.
Meanwhile, toast the cumin seeds and black peppercorns for the masala, if making (you may as well toast the cumin seeds for the yoghurt sauce at the same time, too), in a hot dry pan.
Once fragrant, set aside the cumin for the yoghurt, add the dried mint to the rest and use a pestle and mortar or spice grinder to reduce the mix to a fine powder. Stir in the remaining spices and set aside.
Once the dates are soft, stir in the ginger, garam masala and a good pinch of salt, then push the mix through a sieve.
If need be, whisk in just enough water to bring it to a pouring consistency; conversely, if it’s too thin, put it back in the pan and reduce further.
For the yoghurt sauce, grind the remaining toasted cumin seeds to a powder and finely chop the mint.
Put these in a bowl with all the other sauce ingredients, then whisk to combine.
Finely chop a tablespoon of the shallot, and finely slice the rest. Put the chopped shallot in a small bowl with the green chilli, ginger, lime juice and a good pinch of salt, and set aside.
Put the oil in a wide pan on a medium heat, then fry the sliced shallot until softened and beginning to colour.
Stir in the tomato, fry for a minute or so, then add the chickpeas, chaat masala and a pinch each of salt and chilli powder to taste.
Stir to coat (and to warm through), then tip into a serving dish and scatter over the remaining shallot and lime mixture. Check the seasoning and adjust as necessary.
Just before serving, stir in the chopped herbs, cucumber and pomegranate seeds, then top with the sauces and a handful of sev, if using.
What’s the essence of chaat as far as you’re concerned, and what are your favourites? Can you make it with almost anything, or are there limits? And how, specifically, do you prefer your own chana chaat?
