Celebrate seasonal fruits with a fresh and vibrant Fruit Chaat! This sweet, salty, and tangy Indian Fruit Salad is tossed with chaat masala and a bit of cilantro-mint chutney for a ready in 20-minute snack to share with family and friends during the spring and summertime.
The spring and summer heat in Arizona always called for a big bowl of Fruit Chaat growing up. It was always a welcome afternoon treat my mom would make us with the abundance of fruits. My favorite part is that she adds slightly crispy pan-fried potatoes. I would always sneak a few extra potatoes out of the serving bowl.
Fruit Chaat is considered the Indian version of a fruit salad. It's nice to balance out the typical heavy and fried snacks with something on the healthier side while still enjoying elements of chaat. Not to mention a great way to get kids to enjoy a variety of fruits.
If you have leftover fruits, you might love this chilled Fruit Custard that's a more dessert-like fruit salad.
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Why You'll Love this Recipe
A summertime Fruit Chaat is an absolute joy! Here's why you'll love this snack:
- Fruit Chaat is an easy no-recipe type of recipe. You can use whatever fruits are in season, on sale, or sitting in your kitchen. Use as little or as much of the spices as you want. Keep it simple with salt, pepper, and chaat masala or add all the fixings.
- It's a quick, family-friendly snack that's ready in 20 minutes or less with very little effort.
What is Fruit Chaat?
A popular street food in South Asia, chaat translates to the verb "to lick" and also happens to describe an entire category of finger-lickin' good Indian snacks. It hits every flavor profile and texture that makes it craveable - sweet, spicy, tangy, salty, crunchy.
Chaat is essentially a quick snack you can make at any time with things that are already in your pantry and refrigerator. Fruit Chaat is an Indian-style fruit salad that starts with a variety of fresh seasonal fruits that are tossed with chutney and chatpata spices like chaat masala.
It's especially enjoyed in the summertime when the weather is warmer but it can be enjoyed with seasonal fruits throughout the year. It's also popular in Pakistan during the month of Ramadan for breaking the fast at Iftar.
Ingredients - Notes and Substitutions
- Fruits - Generally, the guideline is to use seedless fruits with less water content, i.e. avoid using melons, guava, and delicate fruits like raspberries and avocados. The most commonly used fruits for Fruit Chaat are apples, pears, bananas, stone fruit like plums and peaches, mangoes, kiwi, grapes, papaya, oranges, strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, pomegranates, etc.
- Potato - Pan-fried potatoes are lightly crispy and soak up a lot of flavor. It's a welcome neutral bite from a lot of sweet and tangy fruit.
- Lemon - A freshly squeezed lemon keeps the fruit from browning and acts as a dressing mixed with the spices. Juice a sweet orange instead of using lemon juice.
- Spices - We're using classic spices in chaat - kala namak (black salt), roasted ground cumin, and chaat masala. You can also add chili powder for a bit of heat.
- The chaat masala you use matters! I love the MDH Chunky Chaat Masala and my mom uses her favorite blend she gets in India.
- Chutney - A few tablespoons of citrusy and herby cilantro-mint chutney is an absolutely delicious addition to this chaat. For something sweet and tangy, use tamarind-date chutney instead.
Mama Abha’s Expert Tip #1
Every family makes Fruit Chaat their own, unique way. Some use as little as salt, pepper, and a chutney and some may make a creamy fruit salad by topping the fruits with a bit of sweetened yogurt. Other variations include boiled chickpeas, fresh mint leaves, or honey to be on the sweeter side.
Our recipe is unique by adding potatoes to make it a little extra filling and cilantro-mint chutney which is always in our fridge.
How to make Fruit Chaat
Step 1 - Peel and dice the potato. Sprinkle the potatoes with salt. Pan fry it in a hot pan with a teaspoon of hot oil. You're looking for a few sides to get crispy and golden brown. Then, take the pan off of heat and cover it with a lid to let the potatoes finish cooking with the residual heat and steam.
Mama Abha’s Expert Tip #2
Pan fry the potatoes first so that they can come to room temperature before adding it to the prepared fruit.
Step 2 - Wash and drain the fruit. Dice the fruit into bite-sized pieces.
Step 3 - Transfer the fruit into a large mixing bowl along with the room temperature pan-fried potatoes.
Step 4 - Add the lemon juice, chaat masala, kala namak, roasted ground cumin, salt, and cilantro chutney into the bowl.
Step 5 - Toss everything together until the fruits are well-coated with the spices and chutney. Give it a taste and adjust with additional spices or chutney.
Mama Abha’s Expert Tip #3
This recipe is a "no-measure" recipe. It's one of those snacks that uses whatever fruit you have in the refrigerator for a quick bite. The size and quality of fruits can vary a lot, so use the measured spices and chutney as a starting point and then keep tasting and adding as much as you need.
Serving Suggestions
Fruit Chaat is typically enjoyed in the late afternoon and early evening as a light snack or appetizer. You can serve it immediately or let it sit for an hour or two to let the juices pool at the bottom, which is absolutely delicious.
Serve about ½ cup to a cup of fruits to each person with spoons or appetizer picks to enjoy. A cup of chai is always welcome during this time.
For a Chaat Night, enjoy it along with other staples like Samosa Chaat, Peanut Chaat, Dahi Vada, and a Cheesy Nachos Chaat.
Make Ahead and Storage Instructions
Make ahead - Prepare the chopped fruit up to two days beforehand. Be sure to spritz it with lemon juice and keep it in an airtight container to keep the fruit from browning. Add pan-fried potatoes, spices, and chutney right before serving.
The Fruit Chaat can also be prepared a few hours beforehand and kept in the refrigerator until you're ready to serve.
Storage - The prepared Fruit Chaat can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a day. After that, some of the fruits will start to break down and release a lot of their water content resulting in a mushy chaat.
More Indian Snacks to try
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Fruit Chaat
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon neutral oil
- 1 russet potato, diced
- 1 mango, diced
- 1 red apple, diced
- 1 pear, diced
- 6 strawberries, diced
- 1-2 bananas, sliced
- ½ cup grapes, halved
- ¼ cup blueberries
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin, roasted
- ¼ teaspoon kala namak, (black salt)
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon chaat masala
- 2 tablespoons cilantro-mint chutney
- 1 lemon, juiced
Instructions
- Peel and dice the potato into bite-sized cubes. Heat one teaspoon of neutral oil in a pan on medium heat. Once hot, add the diced potatoes and sprinkle a small pinch of salt over the potatoes. Pan sear for 5-6 minutes until they're golden brown and crispy on a few sides. Turn the heat off and cover the pan with a lid to let the potato steam and cook through.
- While the potatoes are steaming, wash the red apple, pear, blueberries, grapes, and strawberries in water. Dice the mango, red apple, pear, and strawberries. Slice the banana and cut the grapes in half.
- Transfer all the prepared fruit to a large mixing bowl. Add the cooked potatoes in. Sprinkle the cumin, kala namak, salt and chaat masala. Pour in the chutney. Squeeze the juice of a full lemon. Toss everything together really well.
- Taste and adjust with additional spices or chutney. Serve the chaat at room temperature in little bowls.
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