Chaat masala is a masala

Masala

Masala or massala is a term used in South Asian cuisines to mostly describe a mixture of spices. A masala can either be a combination of dried spices, or a paste made from a mixture of spices and other ingredients—often garlic, ginger, onions and chilli paste...

, or spice

Spice

A spice is a dried seed, fruit, root, bark, or vegetative substance used in nutritionally insignificant quantities as a food additive for flavor, color, or as a preservative that kills harmful bacteria or prevents their growth. It may be used to flavour a dish or to hide other flavours...

 mix, used in Indian

Indian cuisine

Indian cuisine consists of thousands of regional cuisines which date back thousands of years. The dishes of India are characterised by the extensive use of various Indian spices, herbs, vegetables and fruit. Indian cuisine is also known for the widespread practice of vegetarianism in Indian society...

 and Pakistani Cuisine. It typically consists of amchoor (dried mango

Mango

The mango is a fleshy stone fruit belonging to the genus Mangifera, consisting of numerous tropical fruiting trees in the flowering plant family Anacardiaceae. The mango is native to India from where it spread all over the world. It is also the most cultivated fruit of the tropical world. While...

 powder), cumin

Cumin

Cumin is a flowering plant in the family Apiaceae, native from the east Mediterranean to India. Its seeds are used in the cuisines of many different cultures, in both whole and ground form.-Etymology:...

, Kala Namak, coriander

Coriander

Coriander is an annual herb in the family Apiaceae. Coriander is native to southern Europe and North Africa to southwestern Asia. It is a soft, hairless plant growing to tall. The leaves are variable in shape, broadly lobed at the base of the plant, and slender and feathery higher on the...

, dried ginger

Ginger

Ginger is the rhizome of the plant Zingiber officinale, consumed as a delicacy, medicine, or spice. It lends its name to its genus and family . Other notable members of this plant family are turmeric, cardamom, and galangal....

, salt

Salt

In chemistry, salts are ionic compounds that result from the neutralization reaction of an acid and a base. They are composed of cations and anions so that the product is electrically neutral...

, black pepper

Black pepper

Black pepper is a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit, which is usually dried and used as a spice and seasoning. The fruit, known as a peppercorn when dried, is approximately in diameter, dark red when fully mature, and, like all drupes, contains a single seed...

, asafoetida

Asafoetida

Asafoetida , alternative spelling asafetida, is the dried latex exuded from the living underground rhizome or tap root of several species of Ferula, which is a perennial herb...

 and chili powder. The ingredients are combined and served on a small metal plate, polystyrene plate or a banana leaf

Banana leaf

Banana leaf is the leaf of the Banana plant. It is used for various functions, such as for decorative elements, wrappings, plate mat, and employed in cooking method....

, dried and formed into a bowl, at chaat

Chaat

Chaat is a term describing savoury snacks, typically served at road-side tracks from stalls or carts in India. With its origins in east India, chaat has become immensely popular in the rest of India and the rest of South Asia...

 carts (especially in Gujarat, Maharastra, Punjab, Sindh

Sindh

Sindh historically referred to as Ba'ab-ul-Islam , is one of the four provinces of Pakistan and historically is home to the Sindhi people. It is also locally known as the "Mehran". Though Muslims form the largest religious group in Sindh, a good number of Christians, Zoroastrians and Hindus can...

 and across Northern India, Pakistan and even Southern India).

Chaat masala has both sweet and sour taste. It is used to flavour all the popular fast foods of India and Pakistan like bhelpuri

Bhelpuri

Bhelpuri is a puffed rice dish with various vegetables and a tangy tamarind sauce. It is a type of chaat, or small plates of savoury snacks, particularly identified with the beaches of Mumbai , such as Chowpatty. Bhelpuri is called Jhaal Muri in Kolkata...

, golgappa, aaloo chaat and Dahi puri

Dahi puri

Dahipuri, or Dahi puri , is an Indian snack which is especially popular in the state of Maharashtra. The dish is a form of chaat and originates from the city of Mumbai. It is served with mini-puri shells , which are more popularly recognized from the dish pani puri...

. It is something of an acquired taste, and can be added to all sorts of everyday foods and drinks or even eaten on its own.

Fruit Chaat Masala

Chaat masala is also sprinkled on various fruits, fruit and regular salads in northern India & Pakistan. Some spice brands market an alternate spice mix called Fruit Chaat Masala. The Fruit Chaat Masala tastes less of cumin, coriander and ginger, but more of chili pepper

Chili pepper

Chili pepper is the fruit of plants from the genus Capsicum, members of the nightshade family, Solanaceae. The term in British English and in Australia, New Zealand, India, Malaysia and other Asian countries is just chilli without pepper.Chili peppers originated in the Americas...

, black salt, amchoor and asafoetida. Street vendors usually mix their own chaat masala, which is sprinkled on the chopped up fruit or fresh vegetables (such as raw daikon

Daikon

Daikon , Raphanus sativus var. longipinnatus, also called White Radish, Japanese radish, Oriental radish, Chinese radish, lo bok and Mooli , is a mild flavoured, very large, white East Asian radish...

 in Pakistan) unless one specifically asks for it not to be added. Sometimes black salt with chili powder alone is used.

In Pakistan

Pakistan

Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

 it is often purchased in large amounts, where it is available in prepackaged form, before the Islamic month of Ramadan

Ramadan

Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, which lasts 29 or 30 days. It is the Islamic month of fasting, in which participating Muslims refrain from eating, drinking, smoking and sex during daylight hours and is intended to teach Muslims about patience, spirituality, humility and...

as different types of Chaat (especially Fruit Chaat) are prepared at sunset which is the time for the opening of the fast.