“You’ll know which jar is the garam masala and which is the chaat masala because the chaat is the one that smells funky,” I explained to my mom, who was worried by having to distinguish between two unmarked jars in her cupboard. To me, the different was as clear as night and day. Why would I bother labeling them? “The chaat smells a bit like onions and garlic and stinky feet,” I explained – a real selling point, I know, “and it’s so, so good.”
See, the reason it mattered was because there was salt in the chaat masala spice blend and no salt in the gram masala, so while I could use the spices interchangeably on meat or fish, theoretically, I’d need to add salt to the gram masala, which is a richer, rounder blend of cinnamon, cloves, cumin, and black cardamom, et al.
My mom opened the jars. “I think it’s this one,” she said, holding out the shorter jar. I took a whiff. “Yup, that’s it!” My nose wrinkled at the funkiness, but the tiniest grating of asafoetida in the mix (a traditional onion and garlic replacement that’s actually a tree gum, I believe) is the perfect addition to savoury dishes. I even like it on popcorn, though that’s maybe an acquired (though a quickly acquired) taste.
So when did I make this funky chaat masala? A few weeks ago, when I finally had time to think about being creative in the kitchen again. For the past four months or so, dinner had been nothing but the question: “What can I get into my body quickly that’s healthy?” This was generally followed up with: “What’s in the freezer?” (I’m a huge fan of freezing single portions of things, so I’m not talking high-sodium commercial dinners) and “Am I finally going to order takeout or delivery?”
The result was usually nuking a bunch of frozen beans, chickpeas, chicken or fish and making a pot of rice or potatoes, plus whatever other vegetables I had in the fridge that I could steam/boil/pressure cook. I could generally eat faster, cheaper, and more satisfyingly this way than by ordering something, as much as I love restaurants (I still love actually going to restaurants, though that’s on the back burner at the moment thanks to government regulations and all).
Sad? Not really. I still always ate well. The trick was just to find a good sauce, whether it was leftover juices from roast chicken, or a miso-soy-tahini-lemon combination, or just some of my latest favourite hot sauce. And occasionally I would buy some fresh chicken, turkey or fish and sear, grill, barbecue or broil it.
But once I had time again, I got out my cookbooks, I bought a whole a chicken, I invited friends for dinner, I toasted and ground heaps of spices for garam masala and chaat masala from Hari Nayak’s My Indian Kitchen cookbook, and we had a grand time eating potato masala dosa, rasam and chicken madras.
A few days later when I had two giant chicken wings leftover that were no good for a curry (I’m not a fan of gelatinous skin), plus the remained of a jar of freshly ground chaat masala, I sprinkled some on those chicken wings and grilled them to crispy perfection. Then I chucked some tomato paste, oregano, parsley, cumin, and salt into my standard rice, boiled it, and grilled some cherry bomb peppers in the chicken drippings. I can’t give the exact chaat masala recipe (copyright!), but you should get Nayak’s book. Just don’t go overboard on the asafoetida, because a little goes a long way.
Chaat Masala Spiced Grilled Chicken Wings
2 or more chicken wings
1 or more tbsp chaat masala (freshly ground, preferably)
Some cherry pomp or other small sweet or hot peppers (padron, shishito)
Oil, schmaltz, or other fat
Heat a grill over medium to medium-high heat. Rub or sprinkle the chicken wings with the chaat masala.
Grill the wings 5 minutes on each side (if large), or less if smaller, until cooked through and crispy on the outside. Fortunately, wings are harder to overcook than chicken breasts because of the higher fat content (which is why I go with a longer cooking time here and a lower heat – to render the fat a bit). Coat the peppers in the melted fat that drips from the wings, then add the peppers to the grill too. Grill them until they’re lightly blackened all over, just a couple minutes on each side.
Serve the wings and peppers with extra chaat masala or salt if desired.
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