International Tastebuds: Chana Chaat
A fresh serving of pani puri chana chaat in
Pakistan. Photo Credit: Rafia Ali
By RAFIA ALI and MAYTHA CHOWDHURY
Tired of eating the same old bland food? Why not try something new? Chana chaat, a salad from Southeast Asia, will bring about an explosion of flavor to your taste buds. Chana chaat is not only an easy-to-make salad, but a dish that can be eaten with your own personal twist.
Alongside many healthy vegetables and beans such as chickpeas, potatoes, coriander, tomatoes, onions, and chilli, you can add a variety of toppings such as crackers called papri, yogurt, lemon juice, and cilantro. However, the unique part about this salad is the spicy sauces, called chutney, and seasonings, called masala, that you can mix in with everything else.
Isha Arshid ’20 said, “I feel like the most important ingredient in chana chaat is chaat masala. It’s a super spicy powder that gives that extreme flavor to the whole salad, making it very unique compared to ordinary salads.”
Arshid added, “My mom is the chef of the house, and she adds some tajin (a Mexican seasoning) to the chaat in order to make it even spicier.”
Haleema Iqbal ’20 said, “I actually had chana chaat today as a part of my birthday dinner which my sister made for me. It was so delicious and soothed my stomach after a long day at school.”
Sugra Raja ’21 said, “You can basically make chana chaat the way you want it to be made, but I personally like adding macaroni to it so it’ll really fill me up.”
Raja said she would recommend this dish to everyone, including non-desi people, because “it allows you to try a recipe from a different culture which can widen your variety of food selections.”
Diyora Mullaeva ’20 said, “Although I am Uzbek, my Pakistani friends and I have tried this dish multiple times together. Whenever I go to different restaurants, it always has a different touch to it. This is a dish that leaves you feeling satisfied.”
Menahil Shahid ’20 said, “I would definitely recommend this traditional dish to anyone who likes to eat spices or sweets because the combination of flavor makes it very unique compared to other desi dishes, and it is a great tradition of ours, especially when you have guests over or want to try something new with your friends.”
Although chana chaat is a common dish, it is most frequently eaten on holidays such as Eid, where lots of guests come over to visit and party.
Shahid said, “I don’t know if many people know this, but this dish is really significant in desi countries such as Pakistan, Bangladesh, and India, especially during family gatherings and parties. Without chana chat, there’s just no excitement -- that’s how big of a deal this dish is to us.”
Typically, chana chaat is eaten with a popular yogurt drink known as lassi. This drink is a blend of salt or sugar, yogurt, and ice, and is great to drink after the chaat to relieve the spicy feeling from your tongue after eating.
Nisha Manahil ’20 said that she loves the chana chaat with lassi at Jalsa-Grill and Gravy, an Indian restaurant at 964 Coney Island Ave.
“Their food is incredible, and their staff are so welcoming,” she said. “Their sweet and spicy chaats and their lassies are some of their best items. They’re flavor bombs.”
Mullaeva said, “Lassi is a great combination with chana chaat. It adds to the salty flavor and washes down all the dry ingredients from the chaat.”
“My mouth is watering just talking about it,” she said while laughing.
Zahra Mehdi ’20 said, “I ate chana chaat in Pakistan by filling this small circular roll with a spicy liquid, mashed potatoes, onions, and tomatoes. It’s often referred to as ‘pani puri’ chana chaat.”
Mullaeva said, “You know that saying, ‘Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re gonna get’? Now my friends and I always joke about life being like a bowl of chana chaat, because it’s truly a surprise as to what you’ll be putting in next.”