If you've ever seen a menu section labelled "chaat" and wondered what it meant, this guide is for you. Chaat is the collective name for a large family of savoury street snacks from North and West India, sold from carts and stalls in every city from Delhi to Mumbai. In North America, it has moved indoors into dedicated chaat houses, and it's one of the best (and cheapest) ways to eat South Asian food.
What makes it chaat
The word comes from the Hindi chaatna, "to lick", as in licking your fingers. Almost every chaat is built from the same set of contrasting elements:
- Something crunchy: fried puris, papdi (crisp wafers), sev (thin fried chickpea noodles) or puffed rice.
- Something soft: boiled potato, chickpeas, sprouted moong or a soft lentil dumpling.
- Something cool: whisked yoghurt.
- Something sweet and sour: tamarind and date chutney.
- Something hot: green chutney made from coriander, mint and green chilli.
- A final sprinkle: chaat masala, a spice mix with a tangy, sulphurous kick from black salt and dried mango powder.
The point is getting all of these in one bite: hot, cold, sweet, sour, soft and crunchy together. It sounds chaotic, and it is, but it works.
The main dishes
Pani puri (golgappa, puchka)
The most famous chaat, and it has a different name in almost every region: pani puri in Mumbai, golgappa in Delhi and Punjab, puchka in Kolkata. Small, hollow, crisp puris are cracked open, filled with potato or chickpeas, then dipped in or filled with spiced, tangy water (the pani), flavoured with mint, tamarind and cumin. You eat each one in a single bite, straight away, before it goes soggy. Many restaurants give you the water on the side so you can fill them yourself.
Bhel puri
A Mumbai beach snack: puffed rice tossed with sev, chopped onion, tomato, boiled potato, coriander, and tamarind and green chutneys. It's light and crunchy, and it has to be eaten quickly.
Sev puri
Flat, crisp puris topped with potato, onion, the chutneys and a thick layer of sev. Think of it as a small open-faced bite.
Dahi puri
Like pani puri, but the puris are filled with potato and chutneys and topped with sweet yoghurt and sev instead of the spiced water. It's creamy, cooling and a good choice if you don't like much heat.
Papdi chaat
Flat, crisp papdi wafers layered with potato, chickpeas, yoghurt and both chutneys, finished with sev and pomegranate seeds. It's one of the most popular chaats in North America.
Samosa chaat
A broken-up samosa topped with chickpea curry (chole), yoghurt, chutneys, onion and sev. It's a meal rather than a snack.
Aloo tikki chaat
Crisp, pan-fried potato patties served with chole, yoghurt and chutneys. It's a Delhi and Punjab favourite.
Dahi bhalla (dahi vada)
Soft lentil dumplings soaked in water, then covered in cool, whisked yoghurt with sweet and green chutneys and a dusting of cumin and chilli. It's cool and soft, not crunchy.
Ragda pattice
A Mumbai dish of potato patties topped with ragda, a curry of white peas, plus chutneys, onion and sev.
Pav bhaji
Strictly a street food rather than a chaat, but it's always on the same menu. Bhaji is a buttery, spiced mash of mixed vegetables, cooked on a flat griddle and served with soft bread rolls (pav) toasted in more butter. It's a Mumbai institution and very filling.
Vada pav
Mumbai's street-food "burger": a spiced potato fritter in a soft bun with garlic and green chutneys and a fried green chilli on the side.
How to eat chaat
- Eat it immediately. Chaat is assembled at the last moment for a reason. Five minutes on the table and the crunch is gone.
- Order several and share. Chaat portions are small. A table of four can easily work through six or seven plates.
- Ask about the heat. The green chutney is where the chilli is. Ask for less if you're sensitive, or more if you're not.
- Most chaat is vegetarian, and many chaat houses are fully vegetarian. Some can make dishes without onion and garlic for Jain diners.
Where to find chaat
Chaat houses are one of the fastest-growing kinds of South Asian restaurant in North America. Look for them in our city listings:
- Fremont, CA has around nine chaat and street-food specialists
- Dublin, CA is home to Star Chaat Cuisine and Chaat Bhavan
- Brampton, ON has chaat houses in downtown Brampton on Main Street
- Toronto, ON has Delhi-style street food on Queen Street East and around Gerrard India Bazaar
- Edison, NJ has chaat counters up and down Oak Tree Road