Chaat - The Essential South Asian Street Food
Updated: Sep 3, 2023
Chaat… the best South Asian foods that I feel are dramatically underrated outside of South Asia.
When most people walk into a South Asian restaurant they’re thinking about ordering butter chicken or another curry dish. If they decide to get an appetizer, most people will order samosas or maybe pakoras. There’s nothing wrong with this, most people order these dishes because they taste amazing! If this describes you, I have a secret for you though… you are missing out on perhaps my FAVOURITE part of South Asian cuisine, and you may have never even heard about it before if you aren’t South Asian or haven’t frequented South Asian restaurants.
I’m talking about CHAAT and if you don’t know what chaat is, haven’t tried it, or want to learn more about it this is the post for you.
South Asian Street Food
Street food in South Asia is unbelievably diverse and for those not from South Asian (or Asia in general) it’s like something you have never seen before. In the major cities of South Asian countries like Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh you have entire streets lined with street food vendors that offer everything from fresh fruits, meals, snacks, and desserts all at an affordable price. These streets are usually bustling with people in a loud, fast paced, environment.
The street food vendors can be seen making food at unbelievably rapid rates, utilizing techniques like cutting meat with a knife between their feet to speed up the process and mitigate the fatigue of standing up while working. All of this combines for the perfect culture shock for anybody visiting these cities, but perhaps the most shocking part of it all is when you taste the food.
Many street food vendors in South Asia have become famous for their shockingly flavorful food, and in East Asia street food vendors have even been recognized with Michelin stars for their remarkable work. Despite increasing levels of regulation by governments and some individuals having concerns about the health and safety standards of these establishments its no question that street food is an essential part of South Asian culture and is something that I think every person that visits needs to experience.
Now you may be wondering, “I thought this was a post about chaat why am I reading about street food?”, well when we’re talking about chaat we’re talking about what may just be the king of South Asian street food!
WHAT ARE CHAATS?
Chaats are essentially just savoury snacks, generally with a crispy/fried component. This means there are a lot of different types of chaat to try, and although they are different, all of them are unified by the burst of flavours you experience when trying them.
This is what separates chaats as my favourite element of South Asian cuisine. A good chaat will usually have crispy components paired with soft components, sweetness paired with saltiness, and tartness paired with a neutralizer. The way I like to describe eating chaat is that it is like a roller coaster ride. First there is a sudden explosion of sourness and then the saltiness slowly build up until the noticeable sweetness suddenly kicks in as you break through the crispiness and reach the softness in the chaat. This makes for the perfect appetizer at a restaurant or street food snack and has got to be my number one craving for salty foods.
Its not uncommon for establishments offering chaat in South Asian countries to be open very late into the night, so some of my favourite memories of Pakistan are driving to get food in the middle of the night with music blasting in the car. In fact, many people prefer to eat in the evenings especially in the summer to avoid the blistering heat.
Now if this hasn’t convinced you to try chaats let me tell you about some of the different chaats.
THE MOST FAMOUS CHAATS
PANI PURI
Panipuri, also referred to as golgappa is an absolute classic when it comes to chaat.
Panipuri are small balls of hard, hollow fried dough, called puri, that are broken at the top so they can be filled with a flavoured water, tamarind chutney (imli), potatoes, chaat masala, and chickpeas.
Ordering at a restaurant will usually get you about 6-8 panipuris but if you go to South Asia you can find people ordering dozens of these as a fun snack with friends. When you eat these, grab them with your hands and pop the entire panipuri into your mouth, don’t bite it in half or all the liquid on the inside will spill out!
You will instantly feel the sour, sweet, and savouriness of the panipuri the second you bite into it in your mouth and it will leave you craving more!
While panipuri is more popular in Pakistan and India you will find a similar dish called fuchka in Bangladesh which is a little different but the same concept and still absolutely delicious!
PAPRI CHAAT
Papri chaat is probably my personal favourite chaat and “papris” (little crispy fried pieces of dough) is where my nickname paparki comes from!
It contains similar ingredients to panipuri but unlike panipuri, papri chaat typically has a little more substance to it. In papri chaat you will find; chickpeas, potatoes, and papri topped with yogurt, chutneys, and chaat masala. This again makes for every bite having that distinct burst of flavour that characterizes chaat and makes for the perfect appetizer if the restaurant you’re at offers it!
SAMOSA CHAAT
Samosa chaat is an awesome twist on an absolute classic. For those who don’t know, samosas are traditionally triangular shaped fried dough stuffed with a seasoned mix of potatoes and peas that is absolutely delicious.
Now imagine taking this classic appetizer / street food, chopping it up, and drowning it in delicious chutneys. That is pretty much what you’re getting in samosa chaat along with some of the other common ingredients I have mentioned.
ALOO TIKKI CHAAT
Aloo tikki chaat isn’t as common at restaurants in Canada but is still possible to find if you take the time to look, and oh so worth looking for.
Aloo, literally meaning potato in Urdu/Hindi, is the main ingredient of this dish and is mixed with peas and spices. This sounds similar to the filling of samosas, and it sort of is but instead of filling a fried dough containment this potato mixture is shaped into patties and then fried.
This is then served with chutneys and yogurts to produce perhaps the most delicious fried potato dish you’ll ever have. This dish also always makes me think of how vegetarians should look more towards Indian food for inspiration because the aloo tikki is also sometimes shaped into the size of a burger patty and then served as an aloo tikki burger, creating an entire meal out of this amazing vegetarian dish!
DAHI BHALLA
Dahi bhalla, also referred to by other names such as dahi vada, is another hugely popular chaat. The base of this chaat is the “bhalla” which is a fried lentil fritter that is then drenched in the “dahi” which means yogurt.
This mixture is then topped with any number of topping including chaat masala or other spices, coriander, chutneys, etc. You will find that lots of chaats include yogurt which is a nice way to mellow out the intense flavours and yogurt based foods/beverages are also very popular in South Asia as a way to cool off a bit from the intense heat.
CHOTPOTI
Chotpoti is a chaat that is a little more specific to Bangladesh so it is not something that I am personally as familiar with but being one of the most popular chaats amongst Bengali people I thought it was definitely worth mentioning here!
This dish consists of a base of potatoes, chickpeas, and onions but is a bit lighter than some of the other chaats, sometimes including some other vegetables and having little bits of puri as the fried component. This is a must try if you are at a Bengali restaurant and is light enough as an appetizer that it will definitely still leave you waiting in anticipation for the main dish!
BHEL PURI
Back to a chaat that is more like those that I first mentioned, bhelpuri is another crispy chaat with all the usual ingredients but the base is puffed rice.
It is also worth mentioning an important ingredient here that I haven’t mentioned thus far that you may encounter in a variety of chaats you order, sev. Sev are fried chickpea flour crisps that are found on bhelpuri as well as other chaats, and there are also other crispy snacks that you can find on your chaats.
This enhanced crispiness perfectly counteracts the softening effect of the chutneys and yogurts as well as the soft potatoes and chickpeas.
FRUIT CHAAT
The last chaat that I will mention may surprise some people, its called “fruit chaat”. Based off what I have described so far some of you may be confused how fruit fits into the concept of chaat but trust me its so tasty.
Fruit chaat, unlike the other chaats, isn’t exactly structured the same way so it is not what you imagine when you think of chaat but instead is actually much simpler. Pretty much it is just a mix of fruits, like a fruit salad, along with chaat masala and fruit juice. This may sound a bit strange, putting these spices on fruit, but trust me it pairs perfectly and makes for a fresh snack in the hot summer heat.
Fruit chaat is best when the fruits used are in season, and if you plan on making it at home find a good chaat masala or make your own with spices you buy from a South Asian grocery store. This chaat also has sentimental value to me because growing up we would have fruit chaat when we broke fast during Ramadan, which is very popular in Pakistan.
Chaats may not be nearly as popular some other South Asian foods but are an absolute necessity if you truly want to experience South Asian culture through food. They are an explosion of flavour in your mouth which may surprise you when you first try it but becomes increasingly addictive with every bite. Be warned, if you aren’t careful, you may end up like me and start craving chaat when you wake up at 4am… ;).
I hope you guys enjoyed this long post, let me know by sending me a message on social media or email. Make sure to checkout my other posts to learn more about food!
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