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Street Food

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Chaat (Indian street food) is a snack that combines the different flavors of Indian cuisine – Khatta (sour), Meetha (sweet), Teekha (spicy) and Chatpata (tangy) – all on one plate.

Embedded in Indian culture, Chaat is a street food that is eaten at any time of day. Almost every street corner has food carts, tea stalls, and mobile snack stands. The snack is freshly and individually prepared by the Chaatwala (snack vendor). With Dahi Papdi Chaat (crispy, paper-thin crackers served with yogurt), for example, chilies can provide the necessary spiciness, or you can drizzle some tamarind chutney over it for extra tanginess. If you add some yogurt, you get a cooling effect. If you sprinkle more chaat masala on top, you intensify the flavor even more. As mentioned, everything is tailored to your own individual preferences.

According to popular belief, the word Chaat comes from its literal meaning in Hindi, namely "to lick." The dish was so delicious that people would lick their fingers and the Dona (bowl made of leaves in which Chaat is often served) clean. Others, however, believe that it was derived from the term chatpati (spicy). However, no one really knows the true origin.

A story my mother Flory told me goes like this: During the reign of Emperor Shah Jahan in the 16th century, cholera broke out in India. Desperate attempts were made by doctors and hakims to control the disease. One suggested remedy was to prepare food with lots of spices so that the bacteria in the water would be killed. This is how sweet and spicy Chaat was born, which is believed to have been consumed by the entire population of Delhi.

My father Stanley had a completely different opinion: Chaat should be attributed to an imperial court physician named Hakim Ali, who realized that the polluted water in a disused local canal could lead to serious communicable diseases. He thought the only way to prevent this was to add a generous dose of spices to the food, such as tamarind, red chilies, coriander, mint, etc. The food was therefore referred to as Chatpati (spicy).

Chaats are absolute experiences for the taste buds. The Chaat varieties are mostly based on fried dough, with various other ingredients. The original Chaat is a mixture of potato pieces, crispy fried dough made from lentil or chickpea flour, whole chickpeas, spicy-salty spices like hot Indian chili and Saunth (dried ginger), tamarind sauce, fresh green coriander leaves and yogurt for garnish. 

Other popular varieties are Pyaz Bhajia (onion fritters), Alu Tikkis (stuffed potato cakes) or Samosa (fried pastry pockets filled with spicy potatoes), Bhel Puri (puffed rice with vegetables), Dahi Puri (small fried flatbreads with yogurt), Panipuri (literally "water in fried bread"), Papdi Chaat (crispy, wafer-thin crackers) and Dahi Vada (fried lentil balls). 

All these variants have common elements, including Dahi (yogurt), chopped onions and coriander, Sev (thin dried yellow salty noodles) and Chaat Masala, which typically consists of Amchoor (dried mango powder), cumin, Kala Namak (black rock salt from the Himalayas), coriander, dried ginger, salt, black pepper and chili powder. The ingredients are combined and served on a small metal plate or a Dona.

The selection is huge, and now you just have to decide what you want to eat first.

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