What is Fruit Chaat

Fruits are supposed to be ripe and sweet. But just like salads in the west can have fruits in a savory complement, similar thing is also quite popular in india. A fruit vendor typically has access to lot of fruits of the season and here you are able to easily order what is called a fruit chaat. This has the seasonal fruits cut up on a plate and sprinkled with chaat masala for the savory element. The chaat masala is a spice mix which has elements of acidity and some heat and pungency. These come typically from amchur or anardana powder, black pepper and black salt. This blend cuts the sweetness of the fruit in some bites adding a sparkle to the dish.

Our Fruit Chaat

We love eating our apples, pineapples and oranges with chaat masala. However the same acidic flavors don’t go great with say bananas, ripe mangoes or melons. We decided to make our fruit chaat by individually seasoning the fruits as well bringing some other acids into play like orange juice and lime juice. Taking some inspiration from Alain Passards recipes we also made a bright flavored dressing with honey, orange juice and lime juice which brings everything together. We used a high quality honey and it makes a difference and brings a sweetness of different complexity. We seasoned the pineapple chunks with chaat masala. Oranges love the fresh ground black pepper. The melon goes well with our dressing, and also a thinly cut sliver of heat in the green chili. We finish with apple as our fourth fruit with thin cored slices. Since cheese goes great with fruit, we introduce some dairy in form of sliced paneer but honestly any young cheese slivers will work. We finish with mint leaves for some brightness and some coarse ground salt. We did not do it here but some toasted pinenuts or roasted chopped walnuts that are slightly salted can also work in this.