Chaat Masala

Just like garam masala, chaat masala is just a simple blend of spices ("masala" = spice blend, but "chaat" masala is intended specifically for use in "chaat" dishes). These snack bowls are sold at roadside stalls in India, and usually consist of deep-fried bread, dried yellow salty noodle-like things, tangy yogurt, sour/sweet tamarind chutney and coriander chutney - all much more delicious than it sounds. Sometimes there's potato involved, or chickpeas, but there's always chaat masala. Again, like garam masala, there are a few ingredients that always appear, like mango powder(!), but the recipe varies from person to person in amount and other ingredients. So if you don't have one of the ingredients (as long as it's not the mango powder, cumin or salt) you can probably leave it out. Also, like the garam masala, if you don't have a whole version of a spice, use the ground version, but don't roast it in the frying pan or it'll burn. Only whole spices go in the frying pan.

The version I made:
Whole Spices
3 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp black peppercorns
1 tsp coriander seed
1/2 tsp whole fennel seed
a little, little bit of asafetida, grated (this you can still roast even though it's grated. Bigger grater pieces are optimal)
Ground Spices
4 tsp amchoor powder (dried mango powder. I'm thinking about adding it to my mango sorbet next time, to make it a little more intense...
1 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 tbsp salt (the originally recipe called for black salt, which is apparently actually pink. I use Himalayan Crystal salt, which is also pink, but who knows if it's the same thing. Use whatever kind of salt you wish - black, pink, purple - the recipe is nondiscriminatory)
1/4 tsp ground dried mint
1/4 tsp cayenne
1/4 tsp paprika

Same directions as the garam masala: put all the whole spices (plus the grated asafetida) in a small frying pan over medium heat (no oil) and stir them from time to time until they brown and give off an aroma. The original recipe says until they give off a "delicious aroma", but that's awfully subjective. Then grind using your method of choice. Store in an airtight container...

...and dream of chaat.

So Many Spices...

I wanted to use my pomegranate seeds. I've had an air-tight box of pomegranate seeds sitting in my cupboard for a few months now, waiting to be made into a delicious Indian meal, along with my mango powder. Unfortunately, Madhur Jaffrey doesn't have a single recipe in her "Indian Cooking" using pomegranate. Maybe one with mango (amchoor powder). Maybe.

So I googled, and then I went and bought green chilies and tomatoes. That and eggplant were all I needed to make chaat masala for masala puri, garam masala (because I used the last of my first garam masala to make the chaat masala) for baigan bhartha (my favourite eggplant dish ever, that kind of came out as a delicious mix between the best tomato sauce ever, bruschetta, and Indian ratatouille), mint chutney (because I had mint and what DOESN'T mint chutney go with? What it does go with is my first Sancerre bottle of white wine that I finally opened), and calamari curry (because it's the only affordable fish at that God-forsaken Poissonerie Atwater. I got the same woman again, the one I fought with about bellyfish, and she started off calling me "ma belle" again, and then remembered me. It went downhill from there...but she DID give me just the 1 1/2 lbs of squid I asked for. No tricks to get me to buy 2 lbs. Apparently even mean people can learn their lessons.

I would have bought these things at the Verdun Fermer's Market that I biked to today, but it wasn't open yet. Poor reporting in the Montreal Mirror, it seems. No, not really. They said it would be open in "June" so I can't really blame them. The article was really lovely.

Anyway, needless to say, I'm exhausted, and importing photos is time-consuming. So until then, use your imagination. Layers of chickpeas with home-made bread, tomatoes, cumin, nutmeg, turmeric, coriander, cloves, cinnamon, mango, pomegranate, asafoetida, fennel, star anise, ginger, garlic, chili powder, cayenne, salt, paprika, sugar, black pepper, and "curry" (oh, internet...curry is a spice blend, not a spice...though I suppose it could have meant curry leaves which are a real, single thing). This is the list of spices. Ridiculous, I know, and I didn't have to buy a single one of them. I left out lovage because it was optional, and used regular cumin when it called for black cumin seed once. All in all, a very efficient use of my spice cupboard, and oh, the flavour...pomegranate and mango are wonderful. My tongue is still spinning from the overload. The heat of the chilies! Mmm...just enough for me. 5 in total. A little bit of mango sorbet when I got over-heated from the hot liquid of the squid. Absolutely divine. 5 hours of cooking distraction from life. Can someone please pay me to do this?

"Will adjust chili heat for money"...or under duress.