Thursday, October 06, 2011

VeganMoFo 6: Chaat Masala = Wild Fruit Salad Experience

Today's Spice (mix) is Chaat Masala

When I was in India the grocery stores we went to always had at least 4 or 5 different brands of Chaat Masala spice mixes... that stuff was everywhere! And, when I was flipping through my Indian cookbooks looking for special spices to bring home, Chaat Masala was listed all over the place. In the end, I brought home two different boxes. (I used the one in front this time).

Whoa Dudes. This one tripped me OUT!

So, I got out a few different cookbooks, and also looked at the recipe on the spice box itself... and sorta combined them all. Basically, this is a fruit salad with banana, mango, apple, pear, potato (!), and cucumber... then it has lemon juice and tamarind, fresh mint, and some chaat masala powder.

Here's my word for it: interesting. Yes, that most damning word of all. Just to give you an idea, the ingredients in my box of chaat masala include: black salt, amchoor, cumin, chilli powder, coriander, and much more.

So, you'll see what I mean. Mr. Vegan Eats & Treats took one or two bites and rejected the whole situation. He is going to have to pull up his adventure pants though, because I'm making some very unfamiliar food this month! I started off enjoying mine enough... but as I got to the bottom and there were more juices and more of the seasoning, it got to be a bit (dare I say it!?) unappetizing. If fruit weren't already so delicious on its own, I might try this again, but I'm pretty darn sure I'd rather just eat plain ol' fruit salad. Mostly, all I could taste was the black salt, which as you may know is quite sulphurous and pretty heavy duty.

So, now, the question remains, what to do with two entire boxes of chaat masala spice mix?? I welcome your suggestions!

14 comments:

  1. It's weird but delicious stuff, huh?

    I like it on mango and papaya. But I mean, not often. I really need to be in the mood for a crazy taste sensation.

    I suppose since it has the sulfer-y egg smell thing going on you could use it on a tofu omelet with a Indian-inspired filling?

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  2. Masala fruit salad! You just blew my mind!

    I have trouble combining most spices with most fruits... even mango, which I know lots of people like with chili powder or red pepper flakes. Black salt on fruit sounds like something I would struggle with!

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  3. That definitely does sound interesting!

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  4. Anonymous11:02 AM

    Are Mr. Vegan Eats and Treats' adventure pants as cute as your Vegan MoFo pants? I hope so!

    I agree that I'd probably enjoy a fruit salad more than adding sulfurous spices to the bunch. When fruit is so good on its own, it's hard to add something that competes with it in a less than satisfactory way. I agree with Vijlta that it might be good on an Indian inspired scramble. Maybe an Indian breakfast burrito with a mango chutney?

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  5. That does sound...interesting. I'm not familiar with chaat masala, but it sounds like it might be better in a savory application? Maybe like an indian-flavored scramble or frittata, or in a soup?

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  6. Perhaps you could try using them in chaat and other savory recipes - India's much loved street food. Check out these 289 recipes that use chaat masala. http://tarladalal.com/recipes-using-chaat-masala-300

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  7. Anonymous12:47 PM

    It's the best on fried things like pakoras or especially Cauliflower 65.

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  8. oh, poor musty! and dude, were the potatoes raw or what????

    i am not a fan of black salt, no how. my old roommie jitendra used to sprinkle it on his watermelon.

    noOOOOooO!
    xo
    kittee

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  9. What a strange sounding recipe! I would try it but I have a feeling I'd be on Mr. VE&T's side - there's something about sulphury salty fruit that just doesn't sound appealing.

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  10. Hmm, I'm not sure what I think about fruit salad with that mixture of spices/seasonings! Good for you for being so adventurous though!

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  11. Well it's good to acknowledge the outright failures, to balance out the vast majority of your outrageous successes. As a friend in the local tech private sector says, "Fail fast and move on."

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  12. I think I'd stick with plain fruit salad too, I can't get my head around adding this spice mix! And I hope you figure out some meals to use it in, I'm sure some other VeganMoFoer will know what to do!

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  13. Added your blog to my RSS reader due to this post - weird food and bravery!

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  14. I just made my own chaat masala and made malai kofta. They were great! You might like it, too! I am going to try a chickpea chaat salad with pomegranate next - I'll let you know how it turns out. :)

    These are the malai kofta: http://tastespace.wordpress.com/2012/04/23/malai-koftas-with-chaat-masala/

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