Homemade chaat masala | How to make Chaat Masala | chat masala recipe with step wise pictorial and video method.

WHAT IS CHAAT MASALA?

Chaat and Masala, both are hindi words. Chaat means “to lick” and Masala means “mix of powdered spices”.

So Chaat Masala is a dry spice blend, made of hot and tangy spices. It is salty, tangy, sour, pungent, tart and bit of spicy mix having a tongue tingling sensational taste.

USES OF CHAAT MASALA

As the name suggests, chat masala is primarily used in chaat dishes, the famous Indian street foods of India like golgappe/panipuri, Masala sweet corn chaat papdi, sav puri, aloo chaat, fruit chaat, bhel and many more.

A sprinkle of chaat masala on paneer tikka masala, panchratan namkeen, fruit juices, salads and certain drinks make them more delectable.

You may add chaat masala while preparing the stuffing for your favourite paratha like muli paratha, aloo paratha, Gobi paratha, matar paratha or any one you love, to give them a zisty lift.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CHAAT MASALA AND GARAM MASALA

Garam masala is the most common and highly used spice blend in Indian cooking.

Though some of the ingredients of both the masalas are common, yet there’s a huge difference between the two.

Garam masala doesn’t have any tangy or savoury ingredient, hence is almost neutral in taste with a strong fragrance.

In Indian cuisine, garam masala is added in curries (both veg, non-veg) and other Vegetable cooking and works as an add-on spice.

On the other hand, chaat masala has salt and dry mango powder in addition to other spices, which create a huge difference in taste between the two masala recipes.

It is mainly used as a condiment and usually sprinkled on top of recipes asking for this instead of cooking.

CHAAT MASALA SUBSTITUTES

Chaat masala has its own typical taste which is hard to replicate with anything else.

But yes, in case of exigency, it can be substituted with dry mango powder (amchur) and black salt with a hint of lemon juice.

HOW TO STORE CHAAT MASALA?

Chaat masala must be stored in air tight glass container in a dark, dry place away from direct sunlight.

Properly stored Chaat Masala stays good for almost an year.

ALSO SEE

• homemade garam masala
• Chai ka Masala
• pudina masala powder

STEP WISE PICTORIAL RECIPE OF HOMEMADE CHAAT MASALA

1. Take a non stick pan and put on low heat. Remember, all the process needs to be done on low heat only.
2. Add cumin and coriander seeds. Dry roast till they slightly change their colour
3. Take them out in a bowl.
4. Now put cloves, nutmeg, black pepper, red chillies and dry ginger in the pan. Dry roast till nice aroma comes out of them and they get roasted good.
5. Take them too out in the same bowl.
6. Now roast mint leaves till they slightly turn brown. Transfer them to the bowl.
7. Roast carom seeds for couple of seconds only because it gets burn immediately. This too needs to be transferred to the same bowl carrying all the ingredients.
8. Once all the roasted spices turn completely cool, transfer them to a grinder jar.
9. Add dry mango powder, salt, black salt, asafoetida and citic acid.
10. Grind them to a very fine powder.

Chaat masala is ready.

NOTES

Instead of dry mint leaves, you can use fresh one also. Roast them till the point they turn dry and crisp.

HOMEMADE CHAAT MASALA – RECIPE CARD