Fruit Chaat: Learn how to make the delicious fruity dessert

Let’s talk fruit chaat.

Fruit chaat is a traditional spiced fruit salad made using seasonal fruits. Typically you cut up the fruits into any small shape you like and sprinkle with a mixture of spices. Which spices you use depends upon the region of Pakistan you are in.

To quote Nazneen Hamilton from thekitchn.com. “You could argue that there really is no recipe for chaat and if there was, the variations would number in the hundreds if not thousands, as it changes with the seasons and according to each family’s taste.”

Nazneen Hamilton

Some people even add dairy products such as yogurt or cream, however, my family uses a simpler and more refreshing recipe. There really are no set rules as to how you should make fruit chaat, but, these simple guidelines will steer you away from disaster and towards a light and refreshing fruity dessert.

Firstly, I will write the recipe I used for the fruit chaat I made in the picture above.

Then I will list the fruits I recommend you put in fruit chat, a list of suggested spice blends, optional ingredients, a list of easy substitutions, and a list of fruits that you must not add to fruit chaat under any circumstances.

Recipe: Basic fruit chaat

Ingredients

• 2 Medium Apples (around 200 gms)
• 6-8 bananas (around 500 gms)
• 1 large (or 2 small) pomegranates (around 200 gms)
• 4 large guavas (around 200 gms)
• Juice of 4 small lemons (50ml)
• ½ tsp. salt
• ¼ tsp. red chili powder
• A pinch of black pepper
• Optional: 1 tbsp. sugar
• Variation: if you are sensitive to spice decrease the red chilli pepper powder to 1 pinch.

Method

1. Dice all fruits into small cubes.
2. Then toss them together in a big bowl with the lemon juice, salt and spices, until they are well coated.
3. Place the bowl in the refrigerator and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
4. Serve in small bowls as a dessert.

List of recommended fruits:

I will list fruits and place a qualifier nest to them explaining their importance.

• Apple (a must in every fruit chaat recipe)
• Bananas (a must in every fruit chaat recipe)
• Guava (a base fruit)
• Oranges (a base fruit)
• Grapes (not essential but a nice addition)
• Pomegranate (not essential but a nice addition)
• Berries – strawberry, raspberry, cherry, blueberry etc. (not essential but a nice addition)
• Peach (not essential but a nice addition)
• Apricot (not essential but a nice addition)
• Plum (meh)
• Pear (not essential but a nice addition)
• Pinapple (meh)
• Loquat (meh)
• Mango (maybe/sometimes?)
• Kiwi (not recommended)

List of fruit to never put into fruit chaat:

• Persimmons
• Papaya
• Melons of any kind especially watermelon (will release a ton of water and you will end up with watermelon soup)
• Passion fruit
• Dragon fruit
• Grapefuit

Suggested spice blends for chaat:

1. Chaat masala (amchoor, black salt, gram masala etc)
2. Simple blend of red chili powder, salt and pepper.

Substitutions for ingredients:

• For lemons
  • Use orange or lime juice.
  • Use tamarind paste:
    • Soak 100 gms of tamarind in 1 cup of hot water for 1 hour,
    • Separate out the seeds using your hands
    • Then blend the resta in food processor or blender until smooth
    • Use 50 gms in the chaat.
• For red chili powder
  • Cayenne pepper

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