Chaat Masala

Chaat Masala is the essence of Indian Street Food and bears the trademark sour and tangy taste of the famed 'bhel-puri,' 'golgappa,' aaloo chaat and Dahi puri.. The word 'chaat/chat' means ‘to lick’ and the word ‘masala’ means spice in Hindi. Generally, the word chaat is used for a collection of savoury and highly spicy snacks that make you lick /smack your lips, sort of 'finger licking' good! The spice mix typically consists of amchoor (dried mango powder) which adds tartness, cumin, black salt which give it its characteristic sulfurous aroma, coriander, dried ginger, salt, black pepper, asafoetida and capsicum. The ingredients are combined and served on a small metal plate or a banana leaf, dried and formed into a bowl, at chaat carts (especially in Southern India).

Chaat Masala can be used either before or after cooking or used in place of regular salt. Sprinkle on salads and fried savories. Be it on the cucumber slices on a hot summer day, or on your fruit salad, or over the so popular Tandoori Chicken/Chicken Tikka, your Chaat Masala will add that unbelievable edge to the flavor.

Ready-made chaat masala is now available all around the world in specialty Indian and Asian grocery stores, but you can make your own. For this to be a truly authentic Chaat masala, you really do need to include the amchoor (dried mango powder), asafoetida & black salt, which add a whole different dimension to the mixture. However, they can be an aquired taste (in particular the asafoetida), so use them more sparingly if you're not sure! You can get away without adding the asafoetida, but the amchoor is essential to the whole flavour; and although you can substitute ordinary salt, it isn't quite the same as black salt.

1 tbsp cumin seeds
1 tbsp black peppercorns
5 cloves
1/2 tbsp dried mint leaves
2 1/2 tbsp dried mango powder (amchur)
1/4 tsp asafoetida powder
1 tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp ginger powder
1 tbsp black salt (kala namak - see note below)
2 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp tartaric acid

Lightly roast all the ingredients except the salts in a wide pan over medium heat, stirring constantly to avoid burning. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Add the salts and grind all the spices while they are still a bit warm in a coffee grinder. Store in an airtight container.

Note: Kala Namak, also known as black salt or black Indian salt, is a salty and pungent smelling condiment mined in India. The condiment is a type of volcanic halite, a mineral composed largely of sodium chloride, with several impurities thus lending the salt its colour and smell. The primary impurity, and source of kala namak's odouriforous nature is due to sodium sulfide. Due to mineral impurities in the mineral, it is is brownish pink to black color stone when whole and ground into a powder, it is light purple to pink in color.