Monday, February 05, 2007

Chaat-inspired Yogurt Dip


One of my favorite indian dishes is the snack food chaat. I discovered it while traveling in India and constantly eating savory hot mushy dishes (delicious but after a month of it you begin to seek variety). There are all sorts of varieties of chaat, but my favorite is papri chaat, which combines little indian crackers, diced boiled potatoes, diced red onion, chick peas, yogurt, chutneys, and spices. I can get lazy at home (especially with a new baby around the house) and so I wanted to make up a way to get that chaat flavor, without all the prep work. Here's what I came up with:

Chaat-inspired Yogurt Dip

1 small tub of yogurt (five ounces or so)
3 tabelspoons mint chutney
3 tablespoons tamarind chutney
1 teaspoon chaat spice blend (this spice blend is what gives chaat its distinctive flavor - it includes an unusual ingredient called black salt that sort of tastes like sulfur. I wouldn't want to eat it straight, but combined with the other spices it adds a real zing)

Chips for dipping (I use namak para - the indian cumin flavored crackers -- fritos would work well too i think)

Mix all ingredients up sprinkle with chopped parsley or cilantro. Splash a little more of the mint and tamarind chutneys on the plate to fancy it up. Done!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Yum! I am definitely trying this the next time I have guests.