Street food across India relies on a small set of chutneys, spice blends and crunchy toppings. Keep these on hand and you can assemble bhel, chaat, rolls and sandwiches in minutes.
Green coriander chutney
Bright, herby and spicy. Used in chaat, sandwiches, rolls and vada pav.
- 2 packed cups fresh coriander (leaves and tender stems)
- ½ cup mint leaves
- 2–3 green chillies
- 1 cm ginger
- 2 tbsp roasted peanuts or 1 tbsp roasted chana dal (helps it stay green and thick)
- Juice of 1 lemon, ½ tsp cumin, salt to taste, and 2–4 tbsp ice-cold water
Blend everything until smooth, adding water a little at a time. Ice-cold water and lemon help keep the colour vivid. Keeps 3–4 days in a sealed jar in the fridge, or freeze in ice-cube trays for up to 2 months.
Sweet tamarind-date chutney
The sticky, sweet-sour glaze that balances spicy chaat.
- ½ cup seedless tamarind
- 1 cup pitted dates
- ½ cup jaggery or brown sugar
- 2½ cups water
- 1 tsp roasted cumin powder, ½ tsp ginger powder, ½ tsp chilli powder, ½ tsp kala namak, salt to taste
Simmer the tamarind, dates and jaggery in the water for 15 minutes until very soft. Blend, strain through a sieve, then return to the pan with the spices and simmer for 5 minutes until it coats a spoon. It thickens as it cools. Keeps 2 weeks refrigerated.
Dry garlic chutney (for vada pav)
Dry-roast ½ cup desiccated coconut until golden, then 2 tbsp sesame seeds and 2 tbsp roasted peanuts. Fry 12 garlic cloves in 1 tsp oil until golden. Grind everything coarsely with 1–2 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder and salt. Keeps 2 weeks in an airtight jar in the fridge.
Spice & topping glossary
Chaat masala
A tangy, salty blend of dried mango powder, black salt, cumin, coriander, black pepper and ginger. Sprinkled on almost every chaat, fruit and corn cup.
Kala namak (black salt)
A pinkish-grey rock salt with a distinctive sulphurous aroma. It gives chaat its characteristic savoury, eggy note. Use sparingly.
Amchur (dried mango powder)
Made from dried unripe mango. Adds sourness without liquid, which keeps fried snacks crisp.
Pav bhaji masala
A warm, earthy blend including coriander, cumin, fennel, dried mango, black cardamom and chilli. Shop-bought is the norm, even for street vendors.
Roasted cumin powder
Cumin seeds dry-roasted until fragrant, then ground. Deeper and nuttier than raw ground cumin — make a small jar and keep it airtight.
Kashmiri chilli powder
A mild chilli powder that gives dishes a bright red colour without much heat. Useful when cooking for mixed spice tolerances.
Sev
Fine, crunchy noodles made from gram flour dough. Adds texture to bhel and chaat. Usually contains gluten-free gram flour, but check for added wheat.
Papdi
Small, crisp fried wafers of flour dough, used as the base of papdi chaat and crushed into bhel.
Make your own chaat masala
Dry-roast 2 tbsp cumin seeds and 1 tbsp coriander seeds until fragrant. Cool, then grind with 2 tbsp amchur, 1 tbsp kala namak, 1 tsp black pepper, ½ tsp ginger powder, ½ tsp chilli powder, ¼ tsp asafoetida and 1 tsp salt. Store in an airtight jar away from light for up to 3 months.
Put your chutneys to work: try bhel puri, aloo tikki chaat or vada pav.