Savour These Spicy Street Style Chaats For Dinner
Image Credit: Lip smacking chaat/ pinterest.com

Chaat is a savoury snack that originated in India and is often offered as a hors d'oeuvre or at roadside tracks from booths or food carts throughout South Asia, including India, Pakistan, Nepal, and Bangladesh. Chaat originated in Uttar Pradesh, India, and has since grown in popularity throughout South Asia and the Caribbean. The word derives from the Hindi word Chaatna means to lick. All of the chaat varieties are made with fried dough and a variety of different ingredients. The original chaat is a combination of potato pieces, crisp fried bread dahi vada or dahi bhalla. It also includes gram or chickpeas, and tangy-salty spices, garnished with sour Indian chilli and saunth (dried ginger and tamarind sauce), fresh green coriander leaves, and yoghurt. but other popular variants include alu tikkis or samosa (garnished with onion, potatoes, and coriander). Chaats like Dahi Vada (Dahi Bare) have ancient origins, according to certain experts. Manasollasa, a 12th-century Sanskrit encyclopaedia written by Someshvara III, who governed present-day Karnataka, includes a recipe for dahi wada (as kshiravata).  According to food historian K.T Achaya, dahi vada is mentioned in literature dating back to 500 B.C. According to culinary anthropologist Kurush Dalal, the Chaat first originated in northern India during the reign of Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan in the late 17th century. As a countermeasure to the alkaline water of the city's Yamuna river, the royal doctors advised the residents of Mughal capital Delhi to consume spicy and fried appetisers as well as dahi, according to him.

Here are some street style chaat dishes you can have for dinner-

Aloo Chaat

A simple street food in Delhi and almost all of northern India, aloo chaat was once a favourite side dish of northwestern frontier cuisine. It's made up of fried parboiled potato pieces mixed with chana and chopped onions, and it's topped with spices and chutney. Crispy fried potato chunks mixed with spicy tangy chutney and coated in hot spices. Squeeze in some lemon juice and enjoy the spicy aloo chaat in the comfort of your home. 

Delightful aloo chaat/ pinterest.com

 

Dahi Vada

Dahi vada is a type of chaat (snack) that originated in Karnataka, India and is now famous throughout South Asia. It's made by soaking vadas in yoghurt and then topping them with chutneys and chatpata masala.

Tangy combination of samosa and chana/ pinterest.com