[Anupy] Nothing captures the energy and flavors of India quite like it's street food.

On today's show we'll make grilled corn on the cob called Bhutta right on the stove, and we'll fry up some delightful chickpea fritters.

All that and more coming up on Indian As Apple Pie.

I'm Anupy Singla, cookbook author and journalist.

I was born in North India and raised in Pennsylvania, with a foot in both cultures.

Growing up in suburban Philadelphia, I learned English from "Sesame Street," and Indian cooking from my grandfather.

Homemade Indian food always brought our family together.

It's why I'm so passionate about preserving our culture and recipes, so that everyone can learn how to make delicious Indian food at home.

This is "Indian as Apple Pie."

[announcer] This program is made possible by... Leysin American School hosts summer camps for students of all ages in scenic Switzerland.

Golden country Oriental food.

BMO Bank.

Al Sahara.

Handmade rugs.

Nothing quite captures the energy or flavors of India like it's street food.

Whether it's corn cobs roasting on open coal flames, or little fritters dipped in spiced water, it is all absolutely delicious and irresistible.

I've been loving it since I was a little girl visiting India growing up.

And now you're going to learn in this episode how to take basic ingredients, pair them with spices, and the right recipe to recreate an Indian Delhi bazaar in your own kitchen.

And you're going to also learn why Indian street food is celebrated across the world.

Street foods are no longer just for the streets of India.

They're also available in restaurants.

We're in a fine dining restaurant, one of the first Indian restaurants in Chicago, called Gaylord.

And they've been so nice to arrange this beautiful array of small plates or chaat for us.

The first is a bhel puri.

This is a classic snack food.

It is puffed rice that's been spiced perfectly and layered with lots of mint and tamarind chutney.

We've got a samosa chaat, which is samosa which is drowning, I always like to say, in spicy chickpeas, and we've got this beautiful sev aloo puri, which usually in India you would get on the streets in these little paper cones, or little bowls.

We've got it arranged beautifully on this plate.

And today I'm going to show you how to take these ingredients, pull them together, and bring the flavors of the streets in India to your own kitchen.

Today, I want to introduce you to the first street food that I ever ate, and that really started this lifelong journey to be obsessed over all of these small plates.

Daikon.

If you've never seen this vegetable, it's a radish.

It's a very long, delicious radish that we use in Asia in so many different ways.

Buy one, test it out, see what you think.

And I'm going to show you what we're going to do.

Just start by just cutting off the ends like you would a carrot.

You've got that woody end on that one side, and this side as well.

And then I'm just going to peel the skin.

Alright, let's get in here with our knife, and we're going to just cut this down lengthwise in thirds, and then again.

I'm we'll just lay this out here on our plate.

So chaat are small plates.

They're just so delicious you want to lick your fingers clean.

So, the first spice that we want to get in is a spice blend called chaat masala.

Masala is that word for mixture of spices.

So, every vendor, in North India especially, has their own version of chaat masala.

And we've created one here as well.

It's a combination of different things like black peppercorn, carom seed, some dried mango powder, all these tart spices that kind of pull together.

They're dry roasted and then they're ground to create this amazing blend.

So, we're going to take a little bit of this chaat masala and just sprinkle it over our daikon.

Now if you don't have chaat masala, don't worry about it.

We'll go for some of the other spices, and a basic salt and pepper is enough, I promise.

Our next spice is going to be our black salt.

I know it looks pink, but when it gets a little wet with the lemon juice, it'll turn a little dark, kind of almost black, so kala namak.

There is some kala namak in the chaat masala, but we want to kind of elevate all of this here.

And I always like to get a little bit on my plate so it looks really pretty.

It has this really nice presentation when you bring it to the table.

Now a little bit or a lot of red chili powder.

I love those memories of daikon at the lake in Chandigarh and it was so spicy.

My lips were burning and that's what I want out of this.

If you don't, no worries, just pull it back a little bit.

And just a touch of regular salt.

So, we're going to go ahead and grab a lemon and then we will just squeeze it on top of here.

It already smells so refreshing because that lemon juice kind of just gets in there and it activates all those flavor profiles that we've got in there from the chaat masala and the black salt.

Alright, look at that.

Mmm.

So good.

Now if you were to get this on the streets in India, you might get it wrapped in a newspaper.

But no matter how you serve it, it is going to be a delicious and healthy snack.

You might be surprised to hear that corn is really popular in India and I always love to make it street style by cooking it on my stove top.

You can also grill it if you want on charcoal.

I love any corn on the cob, but really the best is when you go to the farmer's market and it's in season, and it's a little sweet because it's going to mix with our spices and create just amazing flavor.

But first, let's cook it.

Now, I've got a gas stove, but you can do this on an electric as well as long as you have a diffuser.

And we're just going to put it right here.

If you don't want to make the little bit of mess that's going to happen here, not a problem.

Just lay down some aluminum foil, before you turn your stove on of course, and then put your corn down right on that flame and listen to that crackle.

I almost don't want to talk and ruin it, because this is so fun to listen to.

And how amazing is this?

The sounds just take me back to visiting India and seeing the corn on the cobs in season being fanned on the street by vendors.

And you go over there and you buy one.

They spice it up for you, and you eat it right there on the spot.

See this right here, that's where I want to get it.

I want all that nice char, and I want it to just get nice and juicy.

And as they finish I'm going to pull them off, put them back on the plate.

So, easy.

So, simple to do.

The last one is done.

We're going to turn off the burner, and then I'm going to show you how to spice this up perfectly.

Now we get to spice up this corn.

First, I want to get my lemon and just cut it in half, really simple.

And then we get a tray for our spices.

You can do it on a simple plate as well, a flat plate, but just big enough that we can fit the spices and that corn.

And we want to use some of these spices that we used for other chaats, other small plates.

So, basic salt, about a teaspoon.

Our black salt.

A teaspoon of that.

Red chili powder, only if you like the heat.

If you don't, leave this one out.

We're just making a little mound here.

And our chaat masala, which is a combination of all of these spices and more.

Now, we're going to go in there, and this is the fun part.

If you've got kids, they love doing this.

I'm going to grab a cob.

They're cool enough to handle.

You want to be a little bit careful.

I like to squeeze my lemon into that pile of spices.

And then I take the lemon half, and I just get it in there, and I have all that spice on the half of lemon.

And as I go to my cob, I want to go ahead and just rub this down, and squeeze the lemon as you're doing it so you get a lot of that lemon juice rubbed into the corn.

That's it.

It's really that simple.

Everybody loves it when I make a big batch of this corn.

I can't wait to serve it.

One of my favorite things to make is what I call a chunky chaat, and that's just a combination of lots of fresh ingredients like a salad, but the base is beans.

It's black chickpeas that are cooked to soft perfection.

Now, the black chickpea has a little bit of a bite compared to the white chickpea.

It's a little hardier, and it really does have a stronger taste profile, but when you cook it to perfection-- I cook these in a pressure cooker.

These are just a great addition to the chaat.

It's a good base to start from.

And now, we're going to just keep adding to this bowl of chickpeas.

We want to start with onion.

It can be any kind of onion that you like.

I like the red only because it's just so pretty, and it's going to look so nice in my chaat.

And we're going to dice it very small.

We've got our onion in, so the next thing is potato.

Potato is a perfect backdrop and addition for a chaat, because who can resist a potato.

It just really fills this and makes it almost into a meal.

And it's really a great way to showcase our spices.

So, just roughly chop a boiled potato.

Here we go.

This is going to go right in.

Could you use a different potato?

Of course you can, whatever you like.

But I like the Russett just because it's got lots of starchiness.

They're just really yummy.

And what about our other ingredients?

We've got some tomato.

It's already diced.

We're going to just put that in there.

We want all the juice to come with it.

There it goes.

And then we're going to take a Serrano chili.

And it's up to you how much heat you want in your chaat.

This is going to be a spicy chunky chaat for us.

So, let's just go ahead and we will slice this down.

That looks so good already.

Why don't we go ahead and grab some cilantro and throw that in as well.

And on the cilantro, we're going to just chop it.

We're going to keep those stems.

It's really this simple.

It's hard to believe that our snacks are this healthy.

They truly are.

And we're going to make this so delicious and irresistible.

Now we get to take this and add in some more flavors, because remember, it is all about layering and layering and layering.

Again, we're going to reach for our chaat masala, which is that combination of tart spices.

And let's, just because we've got quite a bit here, let's just go ahead and put in two teaspoons.

And then from our masala dabba we're going to just add in salt and red chili pepper.

And on the red chili, not a problem.

If you don't want too much of that heat, don't add it or just add a little bit.

So about half a teaspoon, that's enough.

Okay, so we've got our ingredients in here.

The last thing is going to be the lemon juice, which is going to pull everything together.

What's fun about these salads or chaats is that they don't need any oil.

It's all these fresh ingredients, which makes them really light and really healthy.

Now we are going to mix it the way they do on the streets of India.

Then we're going to grab our lid.

We're just going to shake, shake, shake.

And that is the best way to get all of these ingredients to mix beautifully and you'll see our bowl is mixed so beautifully.

This has all come together so well, and it is nice and spicy, but we want to add our last ingredient.

We're going to take this sweet tamarind chutney and we're going to pour this on, and that is your last opportunity for another layer of complex flavor.

Now, I'm going to serve this in small bowls, but when you get it in India, it's served in a cone made from newspaper or a little paper cup, or a little bowl.

But let's see how this tastes.

This is a great example of how snack foods can be healthy as well as delicious.

We are making pakoras or fritters.

They're fried, made with chickpea flour, and so delicious with a cup of hot tea as a light snack.

Even smashed between two pieces of bread as a sandwich.

They're so good, and they're all over India.

Such a common easy street food to get your hands on.

And you're going to make it in your kitchen today so easily with a few ingredients.

The key ingredient is going to be chickpea flour.

It's called besan in Hindi.

Now, what is this?

Well, it's a naturally gluten free flour that comes from chickpeas.

But maybe not from the chickpeas that you are used to.

It actually comes from the black chickpeas.

And it makes this flour a little bit more dense.

Now, the chickpea flour I've seen in a lot of western markets looks like it's coming from the white chickpea or the garbanzo bean, so the consistencies are just a little bit different.

We want the besan from the black chickpeas, and that is going to be the base for our fritters today.

So, were just going to put that into a bowl and then we're going to start adding other ingredients including our spinach.

We want a cup of besan or chickpea flour, two cups of spinach that'll just break down and cook down really easily.

And then we'll put in some ginger.

I want some ground ginger.

The easiest is put it through a food processor.

If you want to chop the ginger, you want a bite of ginger when you're eating these fritters, that's fine as well.

And some onion.

It can be any onion.

I love red onion.

It can be chopped like this, sliced finely.

About half an onion.

And then chilis.

We always love chilis in Indian cuisine.

Today, let's go for the Serrano.

So, I'll just take off that tip right there, and then give it a little bit of a slice and dice.

See what happens.

It's going to be delicious.

And again, in our house, we love the heat.

We've got our fresh ingredients in here, and now we want the spices.

Remember, we always like to spice our Indian food as well, as much as we can.

We'll grab the spice box, and for me, I want simplicity on the spices because we have so much going on already.

Just a little bit of salt, maybe a teaspoon, half a teaspoon of turmeric powder, half a teaspoon of red chili powder.

And I want a seed to go in here as well to give it just that subtle crunch and bite, and that little bit of taste.

Usually it will be a carom seed or [inaudible] today, but let's mix it up a little bit, and use some black cumin.

A teaspoon is going to go in.

You could use two teaspoons if you like.

And now that we have all the ingredients in our bowl, let's give this a stir.

Alright, we are ready now to add our water.

Typically, we'll use half a cup, maybe just a little bit more than that, but I am going to just start with the half cup, and then mix until we get our consistency right.

And we are just about there.

It is thick enough where we can take a clump like this, put it into oil, and get it to fry out beautifully.

I'm heating up my oil.

I've got to test it.

This is the thermometer that's going to get us up to 350.

It's a little over and that's okay.

And then let's give it the cumin seed test.

This is the way my mom taught me.

Just drop one little cumin seed in there, and see if it just starts to sizzle and pop up.

It did, and so we are ready.

The oil is nice and hot.

I want to get a nice wide spoon and then get another spoon, and we're going to work really fast to get this into the oil.

Here we go.

We want to just make sure they're separated so that they don't clump up together.

And then I want to show you a trick that my mausi, my mom's youngest sister in Chandigarh, taught me when I asked her how to make these really crispy and delicious.

Lay them on a tray lined with some paper towel.

So, you'll know they're ready to pull out when they turn just brown.

So, just a couple of minutes, maybe two to three minutes on each side as you're turning them.

And then what I want to do is come in with a small bowl, and I just want to smash them because the chickpea flour is a little thick.

And if it's not cooked through it can taste raw, and you don't want that.

You want it to cook all the way through.

So, this is a perfect way to do that.

And what I'm just going to do is grab tongs if you want, or your bare hands, and just take these and they're going to go right back in.

And then we're going to really let them crisp up about two to three minutes, maybe a little bit longer, until they're nice and golden and brown.

Just be careful of that oil.

And when you see them kind of pop up to that top surface, you know they're starting to cook through.

They're starting to get nice and brown.

You see how golden brown they get, crispy on the edges.

And let's pull them out.

I'm just going to fry up the rest of these, and then we'll be ready to eat.

We have our pakoras here and I set them aside to cool.

And now we get to the really important part and that is tasting them.

And we're just going to pull this apart.

Look how beautiful it is.

Crispy on the outside, and all those delicious ingredients on the inside.

The way I like to eat it is with chutney, with a mint chutney, and a tamarind chutney.

And there's nothing better than just hand holding street food as if you're standing on the streets of Delhi.

So good.

Indian street food in your own kitchen is one of my favorite things in the world.

[Anupy] I'm all about making Indian cuisine more accessible.

Visit Indianasapplepie.com for more healthy, flavorful recipes, cooking tips, and much more, all rooted in tradition and simplified for our busy lives.

[announcer] This program is made possible by... Leysin American School hosts summer camps for students of all ages in scenic Switzerland.

Golden country Oriental food.

BMO Bank.

Al Sahara.

Handmade rugs.