In India, particularly in the Northern region of the
sub-continent, long queues are often seen at street vendors, waiting to be
served their orders for chaat or Indian street food.
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| Facade of The Spice Kitchen in Taman Bukit Indah |
It’s a refreshing but filling snack that locals choose
to eat while on-the-go and it’s really no surprise as I’m about to discover
because The Spice Kitchen has set up a live-cooking station dedicated to serving
chaat.
I’m familiar with The Spice Kitchen renowned for their
menu of Indian, Indian-Chinese and Thai cuisine and they take pride in being
the first restaurant in Johor Baru to serve chaat.
Their freshly made chaat is as authentic as it comes
because their chaat cook, who is from India, is here to share with us the real
taste of chaat.
When we are handed the Chaat Menu, my friends and I smile
with relieve as it is designed with photographs labeled with the name of the
chaat item for us to have an idea of what we are ordering.
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| A live-cooking station dedicated to chaat |
Sumit Kumar, our friendly waiter who is Punjabi from
India, is the right person to give some chaat recommendations.
We quiz him about the chaat and he replies to the best
of his ability to help us appreciate what Indian street food is all about.
Then Sumit (pronounced: Soomeet) takes us to the live-cooking station where
the chaat is being prepared and points to the bubbling pan of gravy made with
chickpeas and masala or blend of spices, that would be added as a
topping for each chaat serving.
He explains that chaat is a pure vegetarian dish which
is free from coconut milk.
Just as they do in India, diners here can pick their
choice of a base item like samosa, papdi (round biscuits) or aloo
(potato) tiki, for the vendor/cook to prepare into the chaat serving.
Sumit speaks to the chaat cook in a stream of Hindi
and in response to this request, we watch as the cook assembles a chaat dish
for us.
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| A serving of Aloo (potato) Tiki Chaat |
Using a base item like papdi, round biscuits
made from flour, the cook cracks a few biscuits into a deep plate and tops it
with the gravy that was bubbling on the stove.
He turns to the other counter where nine other
ingredients are hygienically stored in separate dispensers.
Moving with dexterity, he systematically tops the
plate with each item, working with the familiarity of an experienced chaat
street vendor!
I don’t know about the others, but my eyes and my mind
cannot follow what Sumit is saying about the toppings and I’m in a bit of a blur
as the cook swiftly completes this serving of Bombay Papdi Chaat.
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| A serving of Dahi Papdi (round biscuit) Chaat |
Unafraid to appear slow and dim, I ask Sumit if he
could please tell me again about the multiple toppings that go into making a
serving of chaat.
Speaking in Hindi, the longsuffering and smiley Sumit
instructs (I guess!) the cook to prepare another chaat item and this time, I’m
watching closely again as the cook responds with absolute alacrity.
The next serving is Aloo Tiki Chaat, made with the
base ingredient of boiled mashed potato mixed with masala and topped with gravy
and those nine other toppings.
This time, I made sure that Sumit slows down enough
for me to understand that these toppings include raw chopped onions, chopped
tomatoes, sliced green chilli, green chilli sauce, sweet curd (yogurt), sweet
chutney sauce, bits of coriander leaves and pomegranate pips to garnish.
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| A serving of Sev Puri Chaat |
The final topping to add to the chaat is bhujia sev,
tiny crisps made from bean and gram flour, to give a bit of texture and crunch
to the dish.
Satisfied with this repeat demo exercise, I return to
our table, eager to have a taste of the chaat dishes.
Silence prevails as our mouths are filled with the first
taste of chaat.
A while later, the silence is broken by murmurs of
surprise and delight as everyone finds that the taste of chaat is rather
agreeable.
Most of us are familiar with samosa so the next
serving of Samosa Chaat goes down well with us.
When the Sev Puri Chaat is served, we are
pleasantly surprised because it is a serving of six tiny deep-fried puri
stuffed with ingredients.
Sumit tells us that the way to eat the sev puri
is to pop the entire puri in the mouth to experience an exciting explosion of
flavours!
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| Yes! Pop this entire Sev Puri into your mouth in one go! |
We are familiar with the Japanese way of eating sushi
– by putting the entire sushi in the mouth – so we are game for eating the
whole puri at one go.
Well, at least some of us managed do it quite well but
some failed to eat the puri with any degree of grace…
Another version of chaat that uses mini puri is Pani
Puri, which is served in a set of six puri with a side of sauce.
The dark sauce has a distinct tangy taste from
tamarind and is highly palatable especially when it is spooned into the opening
of the tiny puri and then the whole puri should be popped into the mouth.
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| A serving of Pani Puri with a side of sauce |
Once again, it is a feat to accomplish but I assure you
that it promises very tasty results.
In India, chaat is usually a snack to savour whenever one
feels hungry in between meals.
Here however, there are no particular rules about
eating chaat so diners may enjoy chaat for brunch, lunch or afternoon tea and
even as an appetizer before dinner.
Sumit tells us that some diners like to order the SK
Chaat Platter which comprises four base items so they can savour a range of different
items in one serving.
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| Spoon the sauce into the puri before putting the whole puri into your mouth in one go! |
From my facial expression, he probably saw the wheels
turning in my head, planning to come again for chaat so he gently reminds us
that the chaat cook has his rest day on Monday.
We are certainly welcome to dine at The Spice Kitchen
anytime but he’s reminding us so that we will not to be disappointed when chaat
is not available on Monday!
The Spice Kitchen [Halal] is located at No. S3-0120, on the
ground level of Wisma S P Setia, Jalan Indah 13, Taman Bukit Indah, 81200 Johor
Baru, Johor.
Open daily from 11.30am to 10.00pm.
While the restaurant is open daily, the Chaat
live-cooking station is closed on Monday.
