Aloo Chaana Chaat
In the words of one of my biggest inspiration Asma Khan ‘ I knew from a very young age that people selling the food on the street need to sell everything, otherwise their family doesn’t eat…and people buying the street food in India are people who are mainly very poor, this may be their only meal of the day. They want bank for their bucks. So real proper street food is unbelievable, it is layered, it is textured, plus there is a lot of customisation….he (the street food vendor) wants to engage you, so that you will not go to his competitor. That level customisation, let me tell you, a Michelin star chef would hang their head in shame!’
Such is the skills of the street food vendors and their artistry all over Asia and Central and South America. Often looked at as a snack or not as good as the main event, the vendor often specialising in one or two dishes has had years (or even generations) to hone in the dish to perfection.
Just like Asma, my personal love affair with the stuff started in Pakistan at the tender age of 8 as an after school snack stop that I took extremely seriously. I was only there for two year but in those two years the city’s street food map was memorised in the neural pathways of my brain and the regular vendors being on first name basis. Being driven or motorcycled to the carts to sample the different plates on offer.
My favourite was and remains Gol Guppa, a puffy crispy bite size bread basket filled with spicy potatoes, chickpeas, chopped onion and tomatoes, topped with a tangy tamarind and yogurt liquid mix (are you salivating? Because I am!) or its closely related cousin the pani puri which is more common at the eateries in the West. Saying that I’m impartial to other snacks on the streets of my hometown of Multan. There is kazi daal samosa vendor in Multan Cannt, who is the only one selling crispy wafer thin pastry stuffed with spiced urid daal, eaten dipped in a chilli sauce or the samosa chaat in Gul Ghashut, that is a warm layered plat of a large potato samosa, topped with the creamiest, fluffiest curried chickpeas and both tomatoes and mint sauces, its like a hug from an old friend. Bun Kebab from one of the many karts along Nau Number Chunghi. These are essentially a type of bean burgers but with an onion, yogurt sauce and spicy ketchup like sauce. The bun is like a buttery brioche and the patty is made from channa lentil and some beef ground with herbs and spices. Then there is seasonal offerings like Shakarkandi, pit roasted sweet potato with seasoning and some orange juice; Sita, roasted corn on the cob with salt or spices and lime juice; Buna channa, toasted black chickpeas wrapped in newspaper cones; Jumah pulao aur channa, a meaty stewed rice dish sold after Jumah prayer in the city center, Churmur, seasoned crisps made from cassava flour which is likely to be the ancestor of the poppadum found in the Indian take aways all over the UK. This isn’t an exhaustive list.
I have connections with my favourite vendors and seek them out like old friends whenever I visit. The kulfi wala, selling the creamiest, nuttiest pistachio and almond adorned with a hint of salt is probably an old friend, although I have not had the stuff in over a decade as he has now become seasonal to Spring/Early Autumn as the climate shifts and Summers become unbearable and winters cover the city with a freezing smog. This is a theme, that the vendors from my childhood are disappearing and taking their place as Western style fast food eateries. As Pakistan moves into the 21st Century, forever trying to fill the disparity gap created by its colonial past, these vendors often sub come to chronic health issues from years of living in poverty and educating their younger generations in an effort to break the chain. It is both heartbreaking and admirable.
Forever living in the feelings of longing for parts of my upbringing, I reconciled to the fact that these flavours and their feelings were best kept to the streets of Pakistan and instead tried to re create versions of them in the home kitchen or embraced the ones in the countries in my travels from Tacos in Mexico to Nasi Goreng in Indonesia.
There was a night in the first year of university, the Saturday before daylights saving Sunday in March 2007, when I with a group of my friends spent the evening (and part of the night) making some street food favourites for the first time, from printed recipes and from the advice from our mothers and grandmothers over Skype in far away lands. It was an activity, which bonded us together, and probably it was a great way to de stress or basking in the nostalgia of tastes from home. It took hours and the place started to feel like a street food market with all the aromas of spices and frying. Exhausted from the activity and the intoxication from the smells after eating our creations, we went for a walk along the town, ending up at the local club in our sweats, dancing the night away till 7am. Coming home to the prefect after party of street foods we devoured and the glorious sleep like a baby’s that followed. Whenever, I make Chaat or eat homemade samosas, I think of that night, the women I experienced it with and the wonky over or under spiced food we created together. It is the purest form of love to cook with someone or share a meal with them. That night brought me closer to many of those women.
Of the Pakistani street foods, Aloo Chaat is the easiest to recreate. It’s a layer of textures which tantalise the taste buds with an amalgamation of spicy, sweet, tangy savoury flavours. The recipe here also features one of my favourite spices, amchur. Amchur is dried mango powder and it has a tangy umami flavour that is added at the end of curries or to season chaat, fruits and other dishes in Pakistan. The namak paray and tamarind sauce are easily sourced at any asian grocery stores. technically there is no rules to chaat and it is best assembled by each individual to customise their own ratios and served fresh ( like it is done on the street karts) as the ingredients can go soggy if left to sit for too long but there is very little risk of that happening as it is addictive stuff that disappears fast!
THE RECIPE
Aloo Chaana Chaat
- Cook time: 15 minutes
- Serves 4
INGREDIENTS
Aloo Chana Chaat
Ingredients
- 3 large potatoes par boiled and chopped
- 400 grams of cooked chickpeas
- 2 red onions finely chopped
- 4 Tbs of coriander leaves and stalks finely chopped
- Handful of fresh green chillis finely chopped
- Handful of Namak Paray/ Papri crushed coarse
- ¼ cup of Strained or Greek yogurt
- ¼ cup of tamarind sauce
- 3 Tbs of olive oil
- 1 tbs chilli powder
- 1 Tbs of chaat masala + extra for topping (optional)
- ½ Tbs of amchur
- Salt to taste
method
- Pre heat oven at 180 degrees Celsius.
- Soak the chopped onion in cold salty water to get rid of its bitterness.
- Season the par boiled potatoes with chilli powder, chaat masala, amchur and salt (to taste). Drizzle with olive oil. Roast in oven for 25 minutes.
- Transfer the chickpeas to the potato roasting tray and mix to coat with the seasoning. Roast for another 15 minutes till both the potato and chickpeas are crispy.
- In a dish spoon a layer of yogurt and spread evenly with the back of a spoon.
- On to the yogurt add the potatoes and chickpeas, then a layer of the (drained) red onions, and crushed namak paray.
- Drizzle the tamarind sauce evenly over the mixture and garnish with the chopped coriander and green chili.
- Alternatively, lie out all the ingredients in bowls and assemble according to taste. Taco style (highly recommended!)