Chaat facts for kids
Potatoes's Chaat
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| Type | Snack |
|---|---|
| Place of origin | India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal |
| Region or state | South Asia |
Chaat (pronounced "chaat") is a super tasty type of snack food. It's very popular in India, Pakistan, Nepal, and Bangladesh. You'll often find chaat sold from small food carts or stalls on the streets.
Chaat is usually made with fried dough. This dough can be filled with different ingredients. Common ingredients include pieces of potato, chickpeas, and a mix of yummy spices.
What is Chaat?
Chaat snacks are all based on some kind of fried dough. They come with many different toppings and sauces. The original chaat was a mix of potato pieces, crispy fried bread, dahi vada (lentil fritters soaked in yogurt), chickpeas, and tangy spices.
It's often topped with homemade Indian chili sauce, saunth (a sweet and sour sauce made from dried ginger and tamarind), fresh green coriander leaves, and yogurt. Other popular types of chaat include aloo tikki (potato patties) or samosa (fried pastries). These are often served with onion, coriander, hot spices, and a bit of yogurt.
Some common things you'll find in many chaat dishes are yogurt, chopped onions, and coriander. You might also see sev, which are thin, crispy, yellow noodles. A special spice mix called chaat masala is also very important. It usually has amchoor (dried mango powder), cumin, Kala Namak (black rock salt), coriander, dried ginger, salt, black pepper, and red pepper.
Chaat ingredients are mixed together and served on a small metal plate or a banana leaf shaped like a bowl.
Popular Types of Chaat
There are many exciting kinds of chaat to try! Here are a few popular ones:
- Aloo chaat: This is made with small pieces of potato (aloo means potato in Hindi). The potatoes are fried until they are crispy and then served with different chutneys (sauces).
- Aloo tikki: These are crispy potato patties.
- Bhelpuri: A crunchy snack made with puffed rice, vegetables, and a tangy tamarind sauce.
- Dahi puri: Small, crispy hollow balls filled with potatoes, chickpeas, and yogurt.
- Dahi vada: Soft lentil fritters soaked in creamy yogurt.
- Panipuri / gol gappa: These are small, round, hollow fried crisps. You fill them with spiced water, potatoes, and chickpeas, then eat them in one bite!
- Papri chaat: This dish includes crispy fried flat crackers called papri as a main ingredient.
- Samosa chaat: A samosa (a fried pastry with a savory filling) is broken into pieces. Then, green and sweet chutneys are added to it.
- Sevpuri: Flat, crispy puris topped with potatoes, onions, chutneys, and a lot of sev.
- Pav bhaji: A mix of mashed vegetables cooked with spices, served with soft bread rolls (pav).
Images for kids
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Alu tikki served with hari (mint and cilantro) chutneys.
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Alu chaat
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Basket Chaat
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Katori Chaat
See also
In Spanish: Chaat para niños
