Fruit Chaat

You ever get cravings? Food cravings. You know, when you just have to have Chinese or a salad or you won’t survive? Ok, you’ll survive but you don’t feel like you will. Well, every so often I just have to have Indian food. It doesn’t matter if it’s Samosas, Naan or Chicken Tikka Masala. If I don’t get something with cumin, coriander or paprika I just about have a fit.

Well, Melissa’s Produce must have known about my obsession with Indian food because a couple weeks ago they invited several food bloggers to meet Chef Farhana. She brought her cookbook, Flavorful Shortcuts to Indian Cooking, several of her favorite dishes and taught us how to make some delicious Indian food. I was in heaven!

Of course there were samosas, kabobs and curry, but there were also chaats, lassis and kulfi. While I’ve had plenty of curry and samosas in the past, I’d never had lassi or chaat. Oh my God, I had no idea Indian food could be so sweet. When it came to Indian recipes all I’d ever experienced were savory flavors. But the sweet chaat and lassi were amazing and made me love Indian cooking even more than I already did.  What’s more, all the recipes, but especially these two, were so easy to make thanks to Chef Farhana, you could easily have Indian food any night of the week if you wanted.

Both the Chaat and the Lassi are made with fresh tropical fruit like mangos, guava and papaya, making them the ideal choice for your next spring or summer party. But what sets them apart from other fruit salads and smoothies are the spices. Usually when I make a fruit salad, I just chop up the fruit, toss it in a bowl and add a splash or two of juice or amaretto. But the chaat calls for a spice mixture that gives the salad a nice kick to really wake up the senses. It’s not overpowering, though. It simply raises the fruit salad to a whole other awesome level.

While I used mangoes, papayas and apples, there’s no reason you can’t substitute pineapple, peaches and apricots depending on what fruit is in season. As I said, the key to the fruit chaat is the dressing and the spices.  Those spices are what make this fruit salad truly special.

Fruit Chaat

Ingredients:

• 2 mangoes, peeled and diced
• 1 apple, diced, soaked in a lemon bath, then drained
• 2 bananas, sliced, soaked in a lemon bath, then drained
• 2 cups grapes
• 1 cup strawberries, sliced
• 2 cups papaya, diced
• 1 orange cut into thick chunks
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• juice of 1 lemon
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 6 tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon chaat massala (available at Indian spice stores)

Directions:

1. To make a lemon bath, squeeze the juice of 1 lemon into a bowl. Add a cup of cold water and stir to combine.
2. Place the bananas and apples in the lemon bath for a minute or two. Remove the fruit with a slotted spoon and place into a large serving bowl.
3. Add the rest of the chopped fruit and set aside.
4. In a medium bowl whisk together the orange and lemon juices, cumin seeds, salt, cayenne, sugar and chaat massala. Pour the dressing over the chopped fruit and toss to coat. Serve immediately.