Chaat – the popular Indian street food, with its ball-shaped crispy fried batter, vegetables and a variety of spicy sweet and sour sauces – is a savoury dish enjoyed by the masses all over the world.
The full-of-flavour snacks, traditionally sold from carts that line the streets of major cities in India, are said to have originated in Uttar Pradesh. But, the global popularity of the tangy offerings has resulted in many Indian states trying to lay claim to the bite-sized morsels.
They blend a flavour profile so wonderfully greasy and spicy, it brings tears of joy to the eye.
The Netflix series Raja, Rasoi Aur Anya Kahaniyaan recently explored the idea that the royal kitchen of the Mughal Empire was, in fact, responsible for developing a snack that has grown into a global taste sensation.
Culinary historians on the show suggested that when Delhi-based Mughal emperor Shah Jahan built his empire, his physician, who he consulted about everything, told him that if his people started using the water of the Yamuna river to cook they would fall seriously ill, because it was so contaminated. The only way to counter that would be to eat very spicy food cooked in copious amounts of clarified butter. To make such dishes vegetarian, the concept of chaat was created, which added to the mix chillies, sourness and ingredients such as potatoes, sprouted beans, wheat and yoghurt.
Whether this story is true or not, there is a consensus that chaat originated in North India before making its way to other parts of the country, where cooks put their own regional twists on the dish to suit local palates.
When Indians began migrating to the Arabian Gulf in the 1970s, they brought the varieties of the modest street food with them, setting up hole-in-the-wall joints in some of the oldest parts of the UAE.
And while the dish, which costs between Dh6 and Dh10 a serving, has made its way into the international culinary spotlight, with deconstructed versions on the menus of high-end fusion restaurants, the original, downright messy version is still very popular in Old Dubai.
“My father first began selling chaat in 1972,” says Jayesh Joshi, the owner of Rangoli restaurant in Meena Bazaar. “There were very few restaurants selling Indian food back then.”
Now the restaurant has two branches, with a third on the way.
“Chaat is very popular here,” adds Joshi. “We don’t just have people from the subcontinent enjoying chaat, but also Emiratis enjoy it immensely – they prefer dahi puris [stuffed fried dough with yoghurt] and samosas.”
In her upcoming book Street Food: Everything You Need to Know About Open-Air Stands, Carts and Food Trucks Across the Globe, Canadian-American author and Indian-food expert Colleen Sen notes that every city and region in India has special street food. She writes that as people from India, Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh move to other parts of the world, chaat has travelled with them and, as a result, become a universal comfort food.
“Chaat comes from the Hindi word meaning lick,” says Sen, who co-edited her book with food historian and author Bruce Kraig. “It is a generic term for the savoury fried spicy snacks that are archetypal Indian street food, and in recent years have appeared on the menus of many top restaurants.”
Chaat is a mixture of crumbled fried dough, potatoes, sometimes lentils and chickpeas, a spice blend called chaat masala, jaggery, coriander leaves, yoghurt and two or three chutneys.
“One of the most popular chaats is called gol gappa in Delhi, pani puri in Mumbai and phhuchka in Kolkata,” says Sen.
“[In some chaats], yoghurt is added on top to aid digestion. Each serving is made to order, served in a paper cone and eaten on the spot.”
South Asians love to snack, Sen adds. “Indians eat street food at breakfast, lunch and dinner, as an afternoon snack and during festivals,” she says.
Traditionally, vendors set up stalls or shops near offices, schools, railway stations, beaches and crowded markets. They cook the chaat on grills, tawas (flat heavy griddles) or karahis (woks). In the UAE, restaurants have strict hygiene rules to follow, so most opt to serve chaat indoors.
“There are an estimated 300,000 street-food vendors in Delhi and 130,000 vendors in Kolkata alone,” says Sen.
Farida Ahmed is a co-founder of Dubai food-trail company Frying Pan Adventures, which bases one of its tours – Little India on a Plate tour in Bur Dubai – around Indian street food. The tour opens with references to Bollywood films and chaat for non-Indians who sign up.
“Chaat, or street food, is one thing about Indian cuisine that not many people outside of the Indian subcontinent are aware of,” says Ahmed. “So everyone is aware of food trucks in New York or the markets in London, but not many realise that India has a huge street-food culture.”
Indian food is often associated with butter chicken or dosa (a type of pancake made from a fermented batter of rice and lentils), she says.
“There isn’t a pan-Indian cuisine because food is pretty much dictated by your family and state, so chaat is the one thing that unites us all,” she adds.
Ahmed’s first stop is always the 25-year-old Rangoli restaurant for pani puri, the fried puff-pastry balls stuffed with mashed potatoes or boiled chickpeas and topped with tamarind and mint sauce. Each puri must be popped whole into the mouth.
“Every time I [have] introduced chaat to non-Indians, it has been a hit,” says Ahmed. “The reason I open with chaat is because right from the get-go, I need to destroy this stereotype of Indian food. There is a lot more beyond chicken tikka and butter naan. Right then and there, people’s minds and palates are opened up to a whole new world of desi flavours.”
Dubai-resident Renee Keller recently tried chaat for the first time.
“I opted for the mild pani puri, which is a mix of spices and sweet chutney,” the 52-year-old American says. “It was just the right amount of heat for me to handle. It’s sweet, but then there is a warm aftertaste. I can’t associate what the spices are because these flavours are new to me, but it was really enjoyable.”
Ahmed explains that the flavour profile is called “chatpata”.
“It’s like how the Japanese have umami – the Indian equivalent of that is chatpata,” she says. “It is basically a combination of salty, sweet, sour and spicy. This flavour profile is the mainstay of any kind of chaat that you have.”
Liria Gjidija was introduced to chaat when she moved from New York to the UAE.
“For someone who had a very conservative palate, my first reaction was that this was an explosion of flavours,” says Gjidija, who gets her chaat fix at Indian By Nature on Najda Street in Abu Dhabi. She often orders samosas and papdi chaat.
“Tangy, tender and spicy – the contrasting textures and even temperatures had my taste buds buzzing,” she says. “When I lived in New York, I had only tried different naans or the standard butter chicken dishes, which is more consistent with the north. Since moving to the UAE, I’ve learnt to decipher different regions and enjoy different flavours and cooking methods.”
Emirati comedian Abdullah Al Qassab says he learnt about chaat from Bollywood movies. He and his wife usually have it at Bombay Chowpatty after they watch a Hindi film at the cinema.
"I never knew it was called chaat until we watched Shah Rukh Khan's movie, Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, in which there is this entire scene on chaat," says the Abu Dhabi resident. "All my life, I just called it a crispy stuffed samosa.
“Arabs use a lot of spices, so such Indian food is right up my alley – and it is cheap.”
aahmed@thenational.ae
SPECS
Engine: 4-litre V8 twin-turbo
Power: 630hp
Torque: 850Nm
Transmission: 8-speed Tiptronic automatic
Price: From Dh599,000
On sale: Now
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
Company%20Profile
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Kanguva
Director: Siva
Stars: Suriya, Bobby Deol, Disha Patani, Yogi Babu, Redin Kingsley
RESULTS
Cagliari 5-2 Fiorentina
Udinese 0-0 SPAL
Sampdoria 0-0 Atalanta
Lazio 4-2 Lecce
Parma 2-0 Roma
Juventus 1-0 AC Milan
New schools in Dubai
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
Nayanthara: Beyond The Fairy Tale
Starring: Nayanthara, Vignesh Shivan, Radhika Sarathkumar, Nagarjuna Akkineni
Director: Amith Krishnan
Rating: 3.5/5
Singham Again
Director: Rohit Shetty
Stars: Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ranveer Singh, Akshay Kumar, Tiger Shroff, Deepika Padukone
Rating: 3/5
Electoral College Victory
Trump has so far secured 295 Electoral College votes, according to the Associated Press, exceeding the 270 needed to win. Only Nevada and Arizona remain to be called, and both swing states are leaning Republican. Trump swept all five remaining swing states, North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, sealing his path to victory and giving him a strong mandate.
Popular Vote Tally
The count is ongoing, but Trump currently leads with nearly 51 per cent of the popular vote to Harris’s 47.6 per cent. Trump has over 72.2 million votes, while Harris trails with approximately 67.4 million.
Company%20Profile
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Panipat
Director Ashutosh Gowariker
Produced Ashutosh Gowariker, Rohit Shelatkar, Reliance Entertainment
Cast Arjun Kapoor, Sanjay Dutt, Kriti Sanon, Mohnish Behl, Padmini Kolhapure, Zeenat Aman
Rating 3 /5 stars
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
The specs
Engine: 2-litre or 3-litre 4Motion all-wheel-drive Power: 250Nm (2-litre); 340 (3-litre) Torque: 450Nm Transmission: 8-speed automatic Starting price: From Dh212,000 On sale: Now
APPLE IPAD MINI (A17 PRO)
Display: 21cm Liquid Retina Display, 2266 x 1488, 326ppi, 500 nits
Chip: Apple A17 Pro, 6-core CPU, 5-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine
Storage: 128/256/512GB
Main camera: 12MP wide, f/1.8, digital zoom up to 5x, Smart HDR 4
Front camera: 12MP ultra-wide, f/2.4, Smart HDR 4, full-HD @ 25/30/60fps
Biometrics: Touch ID, Face ID
Colours: Blue, purple, space grey, starlight
In the box: iPad mini, USB-C cable, 20W USB-C power adapter
Price: From Dh2,099
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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DIVINE%20INTERVENTOIN
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Brief scores:
Toss: Nepal, chose to field
UAE 153-6: Shaiman (59), Usman (30); Regmi 2-23
Nepal 132-7: Jora 53 not out; Zahoor 2-17
Result: UAE won by 21 runs
Series: UAE lead 1-0
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Qyubic
Started: October 2023
Founder: Namrata Raina
Based: Dubai
Sector: E-commerce
Current number of staff: 10
Investment stage: Pre-seed
Initial investment: Undisclosed
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The specs
Engine: Direct injection 4-cylinder 1.4-litre
Power: 150hp
Torque: 250Nm
Price: From Dh139,000
On sale: Now
SPECS
Engine: Two-litre four-cylinder turbo
Power: 235hp
Torque: 350Nm
Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
Price: From Dh167,500 ($45,000)
On sale: Now
The specs
Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
Power: 620hp from 5,750-7,500rpm
Torque: 760Nm from 3,000-5,750rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed dual-clutch auto
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh1.05 million ($286,000)
The specs
Engine: 77.4kW all-wheel-drive dual motor
Power: 320bhp
Torque: 605Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh219,000
On sale: Now
What is the FNC?
The Federal National Council is one of five federal authorities established by the UAE constitution. It held its first session on December 2, 1972, a year to the day after Federation.
It has 40 members, eight of whom are women. The members represent the UAE population through each of the emirates. Abu Dhabi and Dubai have eight members each, Sharjah and Ras al Khaimah six, and Ajman, Fujairah and Umm Al Quwain have four.
They bring Emirati issues to the council for debate and put those concerns to ministers summoned for questioning.
The FNC’s main functions include passing, amending or rejecting federal draft laws, discussing international treaties and agreements, and offering recommendations on general subjects raised during sessions.
Federal draft laws must first pass through the FNC for recommendations when members can amend the laws to suit the needs of citizens. The draft laws are then forwarded to the Cabinet for consideration and approval.
Since 2006, half of the members have been elected by UAE citizens to serve four-year terms and the other half are appointed by the Ruler’s Courts of the seven emirates.
In the 2015 elections, 78 of the 252 candidates were women. Women also represented 48 per cent of all voters and 67 per cent of the voters were under the age of 40.
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
Disclaimer
Director: Alfonso Cuaron
Stars: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Kline, Lesley Manville
Rating: 4/5
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The Al Barzakh Festival takes place on Wednesday and Thursday at 7.30pm in the Red Theatre, NYUAD, Saadiyat Island. Tickets cost Dh105 for adults from platinumlist.net
If you go
Where to stay: Courtyard by Marriott Titusville Kennedy Space Centre has unparalleled views of the Indian River. Alligators can be spotted from hotel room balconies, as can several rocket launch sites. The hotel also boasts cool space-themed decor.
When to go: Florida is best experienced during the winter months, from November to May, before the humidity kicks in.
How to get there: Emirates currently flies from Dubai to Orlando five times a week.
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