Tempting Chaat – Yummilicious!

Just two days ago, I was talking to a friend and the conversation turned to childhood days. I couldn’t help recollecting memories of when, as an eight year old, sometimes I would be sent to the nearest cross roads and asked to purchase aaloo tikki with chhole for an early evening tea time snack. It was a proud feeling to walk home with the packet which held piping hot aaloo tikkis wrapped up in ‘dhonas’ and the spicy chhole with a sweet tamarind chutney. By the time I returned home, the tea would be ready and all of us would sit down to enjoy the ‘chaat’. Even as I write this, the aroma of those crispy tikkis and delicious chhole makes my mouth water.

Every year for Dusshera, my sister and me, we would accompany our parents to the Railway Maidan. There would be the three giant effigies erected in the centre of the sprawling grounds and huge crowds milling around. We were instructed strictly at home that under no circumstance must we let go of our parent’s hand. As we walked along I would keenly watch the different stalls that lined the road to the venue of the Mela. There were stalls of clothes, glasses, tumblers, wooden spoons, cups, mugs, shoes, spices, raw papads of rice and also pulses; toy kitchen sets, elephants, horses, parrots- all made of clay, colourful balloons bobbing happily, tinkling glass bangles, cosmetics and lots more. Shopkeepers would be calling aloud their wares. People could be seen bargaining mercilessly with them. Such a colourful and noisy affair! And, as we drew nearer to the Maidan there would be the rapidly escalating aroma of different types of chaat. Absolutely divine smells, I must say, that would make one’s stomach rumble and mouth water.

The row of chaat waalas would be doing a roaring trade. There would be stalls of - the sizzling aaloo tikki with chhole, crispy samosas and kachoris with the kadi, pipping hot pakoras with kadi-chutney, the tempting pani puri, yummy dahi bhalla, heavenly bhel puri and dahi papdi! Ohh... what gastronomical delights! Just one look at the spongy bhalla drowning in the curd and tamarind chutney sprinkled with masala was enough to leave you drooling! The pani puri with the aaloo masala... dripping with the tamarind-mint water... just melted in the mouth. The funny part was stuffing the pani puri into our small mouths in those days. The bhel puri would be sweet and spicy with the right amount of crispiness of the papdi. The dahi papdi was just wonderful with all that crunchy papdi liberally spread with mashed potatoes, spices, green chillies, coriander, curd, the yummy tamarind chutney and a dash of spicy mint chutney. I would observe with fascination the quick, non-stop hand movements of the vendors as they dished out plate after plate (eco-friendly ones made of leaves) to a never ending stream of customers.

Further, down the road would be stalls of pink cotton candy, lemon-soda, shikanji (lime juice), and other stuff. On our return journey, daddy would buy us balloons, bangles, the kitchen toy sets made of clay, and a pair of clay parrots or pigeons or elephants. Mummy would purchase a kilo or two of the papads, as they were homemade ones. The stock would last us a few months. Thus, with our tummies full and hands laden with our precious treasures we would walk home in the gathering dusk. As we neared home, we would hear loud shouts and the explosion of fireworks, we realised that the effigies were finally set ablaze. At home, my sister and me, we would rush to our grandmother and show her all that we had bought. At dinner, she would enjoy her share of ‘chaat’ we got for her from the ‘Mela’.

Today, there are no more ‘melas’ nearby, but the ‘chaat’ has definitely graduated to posh shops and malls. There is an addition to the variety we see here, such as - bedmi puri, ragda patties, vada pav, besan cheela, dabeli, raj kachori, basket chat, etc.

By the way, those who haven’t tasted chaat and have no idea what it is, let me tell you a little something about it. Chaat is a savoury snack that has its origin in India. It is typically served as an hors d'oeuvre on roadside stalls or food carts across South Asia in India, Pakistan, Nepal, and Bangladesh. To be exact, the roots of ‘chaat’ can be traced to Uttar Pradesh in India, from where it has spread far and wide, all over the globe. The variants of chaat are all based on fried dough, with an exciting combination of a variety of ingredients such as - potato, gram or chickpeas and tangy-salty spices, and saunth (dried ginger and tamarind chutney), chopped onions, green chillies and coriander leaves, dried mango powder, roasted cumin seeds, Himalayan rock salt, and yogurt. The ingredients are combined and served on a small metal plate or in a bowl shaped from dried leaves.

After all this talk about chaat, I don’t know about you but I’m feeling terribly hungry. I’m off to my kitchen to see if I can put something together! Won’t you like to have some?

Image Courtesy: Pinterest