Topic: Chaat Masala

[windybum]

Hi All,

I did a bit of investigation work at my local take away the other night asking questions i have wanted to know for a few years now, anyway one of the dishes they serve has overridding tones of star anise, I pretended it had a small wager on it with my mate and asked what the flavour was hoping to get the recipe.
The waiters looked at eachother and smiled and one went into the kitchen, he came back with a list of the ingredients they were, Chaat Masala, chili powder, fresh coriander, fresh garlic,curry powder, he said the curry powder was not a spice mix.. i asked..i said oh madras curry powder? he said no...normal curry powder..  and he said we use a lot of pataks pastes too..hm mm
As the chaat masala dish is called  laziz zerstick i will hazard a guess it is the laziza chaat masala the chef is using.

I cant wait to experiment with these ingredients

Has anyone used this chaat masala or can anyone recognise the ingredients given as i have not seen this dish anywhere else.. can you help?

Smoke me a kipper ill be back for breakfast!!

keep it curry

windybum

[Curry King]

I did some digging into chaat dishes a while ago as a restaurant near me did a fantastic chicken chaat, http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=54.0

Like a few other dishes khalia etc... it doesn't seem to conform to much and I have since had them elsewhere only to find them completely different.

[Stephen Lindsay]

I have seen chat masala that has mango powder in it

[Paul1980]

I have Laziza chat masala at home and use it quite a bit. I use it alot without it being cooked in salads and also use it with rice.
I will be trying to make a Chicken chat masala soon as I love it. Let me know how you get on with yours so I can give it a go if the result is good.

[chonk]

Here are two of my favourite recipes for the spiceblend Chaat Masala. Both give equally good results. The second one being more mellow. Both recipes won't produce massive amounts, which is a plus for me.

Chaat Number 1 - originally published in "Ginger and Ganesh"

1 tablespoon cumin seeds
1 tablespoon coriander seeds
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
1-2 dried red chilies
1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns
1 tablespoon amchoor
1 tablespoon black salt
1 teaspoon red chili powder
1 pinch hing powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Dry-roast the whole spices in a pan, blend and mix with the powdered spices.

Chaat Number 2 - originally published in "Lord Krishna's Cuisine"

2 tablespoons cumin seeds
1/2 tablespoon fennel seeds
1 tablespoon garam masala (powder)
1 tablespoon amchoor
1 tablespoon black salt
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon hing powder
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

Dry-roast the cumin and fennel feeds, blend and combine with the powdered spices. The recipe mentions that the amount of Hing only applies to the yellow Cobra brand and should be reduced by three fourth for other brands. I can say that Vandevi works fine too.

Hope you enjoy!

[Peripatetic Phil]

Amchoor, kala namak and hing appear to be the three key ingredients that make this "chaat masala" rather than any other masala

[chonk]

Good point, but what exactly makes specifically (small amounts of) raw turmeric problematic?

[Peripatetic Phil]

Good point, but what exactly makes specifically (small amounts of) raw turmeric problematic?

Just the (to my palate) unpleasant earthy taste.  It is rumoured that most commercial powdered hing is 90% turmeric, but as it is possible to buy pure hing resin I prefer to use that, grinding it myself.

** Phil.

[chonk]

I understand. It's true, the Vandevi brand lists riceflour, wheatflour, gum arabicum and turmeric - besides actual hing. I honestly only taste the hing. But I have no doubt that the pure resin is preferable. Where do you order yours from, Phil?

[Peripatetic Phil]

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