Hungry for flavour-filled Indian snacks? Chef Vivek Singh is your man...
With five London restaurants and countless awards to his name, it’s safe to say that Cinnamon Bazaar’s Vivek Singh knows a thing or two about delicious Indian food. Having recently brought his unique style of Indian street food to Richmond, his famous chaat trolley is the talk of the town. Here, he tells about this tasty traditional snack and reveals his top tips for creating it at home.
What is chaat?
Usually vegetarian, chaat are small plates of Indian street food. It’s a bit like a Bollywood movie as it has all these different components – sweet, savoury, salty, tangy, sharp, texture, colour, temperature. It’s a collision of extremes to create an explosion of flavours. Chaat means ‘lick’ in Hindi, meaning mouthwatering delicacies that make you want to lick every last bit off the plate!
What are its origins?
There are many theories, one is that it that originated in the 17th century when the Mughal Emperor Shahjahan decided to build and name a city after himself. Its river didn’t have the best quality water to drink, so the residents suffered from digestion issues. The Emperor and his team came up with a dish that was spicy, sweet, tangy, textured and sharp, which would help their symptoms, and so chaat was born. Vendors popped up in corners of town squares, in traditional bazaars – they all created their own speciality of chaat to differentiate themselves from the next vendor.
Do you have a favourite?
I love all chaats. We have eight or so on the menu and I enjoy combining the influence of traditional, classic chaat and adding a twist to it. Banarasi tomato cashew chaat is a speciality and a favourite of mine – we serve it either hot or cold with a sorbet which pushes the flavours into a different dimension.
Another favourite is the dahi bhalla papdi chaat – white lentil dumplings soaked in yoghurt.
Tell us about your famous chaat trolley
80-90% of chaats sold in India come from a cart or trolley because the vendors pop up on the streets after sundown and set up their stalls, so I thought, why not bring this to London? Chaat is the cheapest and most accessible street food, and everyone has their own idea of how they like to enjoy this dish; some like it spicier, and some like it a little sweeter. The trolley has all the components and gives the ultimate customisation to diners.
Is it possible to create chaat at home?
It’s really simple once you have all the components prepared. Making them all is a bit of a pain, but in terms of relative enjoyment and cost, it’s so worth it.
Vivek’s tips for creating chaat at home:
- Chaat usually consists of something seasonal like spinach leaves, tamarind, sweet tomato, or sharp green coriander chilli. It’s served with cooling yoghurt and pastry, either a samosa or crisp wheat disks, which are assembled with toppings. It can also be a potato cake, which can be plain and crispy on the outside with a soft and squishy middle or filled with spiced peas, potatoes, or raisins.
- Prepare, organise and set up all the separate components before starting to assemble any chaat.
- Make sure the crisp elements are crisp, the hot elements are the hottest they can be, and the cold elements are chilled right down. The temperature differences are very important to create the ultimate chaat, so this really needs to be right.
- Crisp chaats like bhel puri or pani puri need to be eaten immediately otherwise they go soggy.
- Chaats are so easy to customise; just offer some chopped hot green chillies, dried chilli flakes or chaat masala (a spice salt), and guests can make their own adjustments depending on how they like their chaat.
Cinnamon Bazaar Richmond is open now at 31 Kew Rd, TW9 2NQ; cinnamon-bazaar.com/richmond.
