WE NEED TO CHAAT

Chaat is Indian streetside snack food that’s everything, everywhere, all at once.

Imagine this: crisp pappadums layered with spiced tomatoey chickpeas, a gorgeous green coriander relish, tangy date chutney and cumin-spiced yoghurt. Spice, tang, squish, crunch.

You can see why chaat is often referred to in a dumbed-down way as ‘Indian nachos’, which, while helping with expectations, makes me hope that in another part of the world, nachos are referred to as ‘Mexican chaat’.

You build it all up on a plate, layering sauces, pappadums and chickpeas, so that when you pull out a pappadum to eat, it’s covered in everything, everywhere, all at once.

This is a pretty simple version. Mini pappadums are the cutest, or just fry or microwave the larger ones and break them into shards. Chickpeas in a spiced tomato sauce give you some ballast, chutney adds a fruity sweetness, a quick-whiz coriander relish adds greenery and yoghurt adds cool.

But wait, there’s more. There’s always more with chaat.

Doing a fine chop of red onion and tomato ready to spoon on at the end adds a whack of freshness. Any left-over boiled spuds in the fridge? Dice and scatter throughout.

If you can get your hands on spicy, crunchy sev or Bombay mix from your nearest Indian or Asian food store (and every now and then, Coles), then you’ll have crunch on crunch and cream on cream and colour on colour.  Yep, it’s a wow dish.

The best thing, however, is the attitude. This is such a great way to assemble assorted flavours, that we should train ourselves to apply chaat principles and techniques to other meals. Why not, say, chaat up your favourite lamb or vegetable curry, layering it with the crisp poppadums, chutneys and yoghurt? Or stripe the coriander relish and yoghurt over a fruity, nutty, biriyani rice?

So here's how to chaat. I’ve given the main recipe first, then short recipes for the chickpeas, chutney and relish. That sounds like a lot to do, but it’s not really, because you can make it all ahead of time – in fact, you have to – and then assemble when everyone is ready to dig in.

Plus, you end up with a few good things for the next night or the office lunch.

PAPAD CHAAT

Shortcut: look for Patak’s fried mini pappadums in supermarket, otherwise quickly fry larger pappadums in oil, and break into shards.

• 50 g fried mini pappadums

• 400 g spiced tomato chickpeas, lightly warmed (recipe below)

• 200 ml tamarind and date chutney (recipe below) or chutney of choice

• 200 ml plain yoghurt

• 2 tsp ground cumin

• 1 tsp salt

• 200 ml coriander relish (recipe below)

• Half cup coriander leaves, picked

• Half cup sev or Bombay mix savoury snacks

Scatter some pappadum on the serving plate. Your job is to build and layer, build and layer.

Add spoonfuls of spiced tomato chickpeas at random, then some more pappadums’

Add smaller spoonfuls of date chutney, then more chickpeas, and more date chutney, etc; you get the drift.

Mix the yoghurt, cumin and salt together.

Use a tablespoon or squeezy bottle to ‘stripe’ the spiced yoghurt and the coriander relish over the top.

Scatter with fresh coriander and sev or Bombay mix and serve immediately before the pappadums soften.

Also consider:  lime pickles, fresh coconut, candied fennel seeds, red and green chillies. Avocado? (Bit weird? Could work, though). Also, if you have any Himalayan black salt lying around (kala namak), it adds a great finishing touch.

Tip: Instead of using your stale old ground cumin (sorry, but it probably is, like mine), then consider toasting cumin seeds in a dry pan. Cool and grind into a powder, for richer, toastier flavour.

FOR THE SPICED TOMATO CHICKPEAS

• 400 g canned chopped tomatoes

• 400 g canned chickpeas, drained and rinsed

• 1 garlic clove, grated

• 1 knob ginger, grated

• 3 curry leaves or bay leaves

• 2 tbsp olive oil

• 1 tbsp tomato paste

• 1 tbsp garam masala

• 1 tbsp tamarind puree or lemon juice

• 1 tsp ground fenugreek

• 1 tsp paprika

• 1 tsp turmeric

• 1 tsp salt

• 1 tsp sugar

Combine all ingredients in a pan.

Add 250 ml water and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes until thickened.

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FOR THE TAMARIND AND DATE CHUTNEY

• 12 medjool dates, stoned

• 200 ml water

• half tsp dried chilli flakes

• 1 tsp salt

• 1 tsp sugar

• 1 tbsp tamarind puree

Chop the dates, discarding any stones.

Combine in a small saucepan with the water, chilli, salt, sugar and tamarind puree.

Heat gently, stirring, for 5 minutes or until thickened.

Cool and store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to one week. Makes 1 cup.

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FOR THE CORIANDER RELISH

• 1 cup coriander leaves and stems

• 1 cup mint leaves

• 3 spring onions, greens and stems, chopped

• 1 tsp freshly grated ginger

• 1 freshly grated garlic clove

• 2 tsp ground cumin

• 1 tsp ground coriander

• 2 tbsp cashew nuts

• 1 tsp caster sugar

• 200 ml natural yoghurt

Whiz all ingredients in a food processor or blender for 30 seconds.

Scrape down, add a dash of water if thick, and whiz for a further 60 seconds or until smooth.

Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to three days.

Thanks for dropping by! And special thanks to my right-hand man, Terry Durack, for bringing home the bacon pappadums, above. Although I still love doing my own from scratch and watching them whoosh up and expand in one second flat. It’s cooking as free entertainment.

I would also like to acknowledge the traditional owners of the lands and waters upon which I work, live, cook and play; the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. I fully support the Uluru Statement from the Heart, and for an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voice to be enshrined in Australia’s Constitution. It’s about time, folks.