You must make room for 'fruit chaat' in your savory snack life
Inspired by needing to eat lots of fruit fast before they go bad
In my ever so optimistic zone at the farmer’s market or the produce section of a grocery store, I tend to overbuy fruits and vegetables. In that moment I imagine eating 3-5 servings of fruit daily, serve it as dessert after lunch and dinner (instead of pastries or cakes), and generally imagine myself in an always healthy food journey. Of course, the reality is that the fruit sits on the counter or the fridge and there isn’t enough time to finish all of them before they go bad. Each day the fruits stare at me, daring me to let them go bad and live with the guilt. Sometimes I shut my eyes and lean for that sugary treat as I avert my eyes away from the fruit with a tinge of guilt. However, this week, in an effort to consume lots of fruits at the last minute, like I sometimes do with vegetables, a childhood memory came to my rescue. A childhood ritual apt for Father’s day.
I remember my dad used to coax me and my brother in many ways to eat fruit daily. Sometimes he would leave melons cut up into slices on the kitchen counter so my brother and I could grab them as we played. Other times he would make a game out of who could pick the ripest guava from the tree in our front yard and finish it first. Sometimes his love came in the form of a threat (eat this or no play time) or a bribe (finish your fruit and we can get ice cream this weekend).
The most special times for me were when he would make his fruit chaat, a mixed fruit salad layered with various fruits with different textures and sprinkled with a mildly spicy & tangy spice concoction that elevated the fruits to a new dimension. It was most special not only because it was delicious but also because of the time I spent with my dad. He let me pick the fruit I wanted to include and avoid the ones I didn’t (hated papaya as as a kid, love it now) and the side conversations we would have about school, friends, and where to go for summer vacation. He would cut up the fruits and let me mix them. He would give me a taste and take suggestions for how to adjust the flavor. We would put it into four bowls and surprise my brother and mom proudly with our fresh fruit chaat. I remember lots of smiles, laughter, and smacking lips as we all snacked away on lazy afternoons.
This weekend on Father’s day, as I was passing by the kitchen and confronted with lots of ripening fruit on the counter, this childhood memory came flooding into my mind and eyes. I knew I wanted to make fruit chaat right away.
What is chaat? Chaat translated in Hindi means ‘to lick’ and in my world it means something that dances on your tastebuds. Chaat is also known as the traditional savory snacks sold by street vendors in India and Indian food restaurants in other countries. People, myself included, flock to these dishes for the ultimate savory sweet tangy satisfaction of the taste buds. I recently got my street vendor fix eating gol gappe at a street cart in Southall, London.
For my fruit chaat, I chopped the apple, pear, Mexican guavas, and banana into small pieces and splashed a little lemon juice over them. The beauty of this dish is that you can add any fruit. If I had them in the house I would have liked to add fruits like mango, papaya, strawberry, peach, melon, kiwi, grape, etc.. and some mint leaves for the herbaceous undertone.
What elevates this from regular mixed fruits snack into a fruit chaat? That would be the magic ingredient known as Chaat Masala. This spice mix is a combination of salty, spicy, and tangy powders like mango, cumin, coriander, pepper, ginger, chili, etc.. It can be purchased in Indian or international grocery stores worldwide, however, in case you cannot find it, you can easily make a mix yourself (if you can source the spice powders). At minimum, it would need coriander, red chili, and black pepper powders to get the salty and spicy aspects. For the tangy flavors, if you cannot find mango powder, adding more lemon juice will work. I started with sprinkling ~ 1/2 tbsp of chaat masala to my cut up fruits and mixing thoroughly. After a taste test, I added 1 tsp salt and 1 tsp more of the chaat masala, adjusting it to my taste. I gave it a final mix and the taste test pronounced this ready to devour immediately.
I dished it up in a small bowl for myself as an afternoon snack and served it as a side for my aunt’s late lunch. As I was anticipating, each bite was soul satisfying. The texture of the fruit was soft (banana, pear) and crunchy (gauva, apple). The infusion of salty spicy tangy flavors exploded on my tongue. With each bite I not only savored this lovely snack but also that long ago vivid childhood memory.
I suppose this fruit chaat was my small way of remembering my father on Father’s day this year, thinking about him and his love, and missing him.
Dish Debrief:
Is this my winner or disaster? absolute winner
How would I rate this dish out of 10? 10 out of 10 (for nostalgia alone)
What would I change next time? add different kinds of fruit and mint leaves
Would I make this again? on yes