The humble Indian golgappa-papri sees a posh makeover as bloggers, home-chefs recreate traditional cheese boards with a desi twist.
When Pennsylvania-based popular South Asian social media influencer Nabela Noor featured “golgappas,” or “puchkas” as her choice of evening snack in a new video called, “What I eat in a Day,” on YouTube, we knew it was time that the desi puchka got a posh new makeover.
Noor, speaking to her more than a million strong social media following, showed her South Asian roots by aesthetically assembling the golgappas on a cheese board as she savored the tangy balls of delight.
For the uninitiated, chaat is a popular street food in India, where sweet, savory and spicy flavors come together to tingle your taste buds. Quite a snack, it comprises of papri (thin, crisp fried chips, made from wheat flour) and a host of chutneys ranging from mint to tamarind dunked together with yogurt, boiled potatoes and chickpeas. Chaat also refers to many different snacks like a golgappa.
Golgappa, or puchkas, as it is sometimes called, is a hollow, deep fried ball made of wheat flour. Filled with a tangy, refreshing drink and some condiments, it is the ultimate South Asian street food.
Noor is not alone in bringing the Indian chaat to American attention. This past week, Bay Area- based Indian American food blogger Kamana Bhaskaran posted a video tutorial on “How to make a chaat-cutarie Board,” on her Instagram handle. It went viral immediately, scoring more than a million views in just a few days. The trend worked, perhaps because while every desi could relate to how perfectly the Indian chaat ingredients work in a graze board, the rest of the world got intrigued on what these new charcuterie entrants were!
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Talking to the American Bazaar about her unique creation, Bhaskaran, a full-time working mom, popular for sharing South Asian inspired recipes, tips, and hacks on social media, said, “What I love about Indian street food is that it tastes delicious and is easy to make. You can also add store bought items to make it semi-homemade. I’m all about easy and approachable cooking! As a full time working mom, I appreciate real life content that is relatable and anyone can try. I’m so glad the #Chaatcutarie board resonated with so many and love seeing everyone’s take on it!”
So, just when we thought that the graze boards or the charcuterie boards have had their moment in the sun, trust the desi foodies to bring that Indian twist to it. A trend started by ethnic food bloggers, ‘chaat-cuterie’ is a neologism, given to a new assembled dish, where Indian street food – chaat is seen replacing the cheese, cold cuts, nut and olives in a charcuterie board.
Originally a French concept, charcuterie boards or more colloquially known as graze boards in the US, have been taking the internet by storm for some time now. However, the Indian chaat making its presence felt on a graze board setting that is otherwise reserved for propah parties is an interesting food amalgamation to watch out.
If the home cooks are creating newer versions with puchkas and Parle-Gs, the ethnic restaurants couldn’t have been far behind. Davidson, North Carolina,-based Indian eatery Masala Mastee is promoting a “chaat-cuterie” board on their menu as the new Valentines’ Day special treat. For $17.99 a platter you can experience the the chaat board be an unusual but definitely a spicy option to share with your date.
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