Credit: Photo by Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Torie Cox / Prop Styling by Thom Driver Chef, cookbook author, restaurateur, and Chopped judge Maneet Chauhan is one of our favorite food personalities. Her recipes draw inspiration from her childhood, especially memories of eating regional street food throughout India, […]
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Chef, cookbook author, restaurateur, and Chopped judge Maneet Chauhan is one of our favorite food personalities. Her recipes draw inspiration from her childhood, especially memories of eating regional street food throughout India, and we've rounded up 11 delicious ones here, showcasing the broad range of sweet, salty, bitter, crunchy, and hot flavors that make her food so popular. These colorful recipes include Buttermilk-Marinated Quail with Herbed Raita and Blood Oranges, a Ros Omelet (Omelet with Tomato Gravy), and Strawberry-Rhubarb Chaat. Read on for these recipes, and more dishes from Chauhan to add to your repertoire.
Plain scrambled eggs are transformed into this vibrant egg bhurji (also spelled "bhurjee") breakfast in just a few minutes. The eggs are flavored with onions, chiles, ginger, tomatoes, and warming spices—lemon juice and cilantro add a final dose of brightness. Enjoy the dish with roti or paratha, or serve it with toast.
Packed with spiced paneer (firm tofu also works), roasted vegetables, and a crispy cabbage salad, each warmly spiced element of these kathi rolls delivers plenty of vibrant flavor in every bite. Use parathas, whole-wheat flour tortillas, or white pita rounds to overstuff these rolls or create an assembly line for guests to make their own.
"Vada pav, one of Mumbai's most popular street foods, is a potato fritter the size of a baseball stuffed into a flaky white bun, smeared with coconut and spicy green chile chutneys, and then squished until it's small enough to fit into your mouth," Chauhan says. "They're so much fun to eat and are one of my favorite chaat to have on sticky, hot Mumbai afternoons."
Pav bhaji is a classic Indian street food of lightly spicy mashed vegetables cooked in tomato sauce seasoned with Kashmiri chile powder and other spices, serrano chiles, and ginger. Served on buttery, toasted rolls, it's a snack that is hearty enough to stand in for a full meal.
Corn puffs form the base of this delicious and impressive snack. You can definitely use Fritos, but try seeking out the Kurkure—they're super crunchy and flavored with a blend of Indian spices. Topped with a mix of vegetables, sweet chutney, and salty queso fresco, this mix is seriously delicious.
Chaat encompasses a range of snacks with a riot of textures and flavors. Here, tart rhubarb plays off the sweetness of strawberries; other flavors like mint leaves, fresh ginger, and red chile powder add sweet and spicy elements. The masala boondi, a puffed chickpea cereal, brings crunchiness to the dish as well.
This fresh and crunchy chaat stars a trio of spring peas punched up with a tempered mixture of cumin seeds, mustard seeds, chiles, and ginger. The tart lemon raita brings a welcome cooling element; spoon any extra over rice, naan, or fresh fruit.
Canned mango pulp works better in these frozen ice pops than fresh mangoes because of its concentrated flavor, which helps balance the richness of the cashews and sweetened condensed milk. Use leftover pulp in this Spicy Mango-Mint Chutney.
Chauhan designed this dish to help get through a long, cold winter. "What I love about this recipe, in terms of the ingredients and method, is that the mint and charred flavors are reminiscent of summertime despite the chill of winter," she says. All of the components may be prepped ahead of time, leaving only the last-minute broiling and plating of the dish.
This fragrant spiced lamb-and-rice dish from Chauhan is just one of the many biryanis she has historically featured quarterly at her Nashville restaurant, Chauhan Ale & Masala House. The flour-and-water dough that covers the biryani while it cooks is not meant to be eaten. Instead, crack off the dough lid and discard before serving, then scoop out the saffron-laced rice and lamb beneath.
"Upon disembarking from the train and entering the Vasco da Gama train station, the ros omelets prepared near the station entrance are too enticing to pass up," Chauhan says. "The aroma of the omelet begins to waft through the air from vendor stalls throughout Goa when the sun begins to set and doesn't stop until well after midnight, after tourists and locals alike have satisfied their cravings. Ros means 'gravy' in Hindi and it's this spicy element that makes this a unique specialty of the region. The coconut gives the gravy a tropical vibe and the tomatoes and chiles add depth and heat."
