Chaat masala
Preparation Time
11 minutes
Cooking Time
11 minutes
Difficulty Level
easy
Meal Type
Evening Snack
Serves 7
Key Ingredients
- Amchur powder
About This Recipe
Chaat masala is the tangy, salty spice that finishes Indian street snacks: a pinch goes over fruit chaat, papdi chaat, bhel, roasted corn and aloo tikki. Stalls keep house blends, but the backbone is usually the same — roasted cumin and coriander, dried mango powder and black salt.
This is the home version of the same idea. Whole cumin, coriander, peppercorns, red chillies, fennel and ajwain are dry-roasted in batches, cooled, then ground with amchur, dry ginger and black salt. Roasting draws out the oils in the seeds and gives the mix a deeper flavour than raw powders, and grinding it yourself means the masala starts out strong and fresh. The quantities below make about 100 g.
Amchur and chaat masala are not the same thing. Plain amchur powder is a single ingredient — dried raw mango, ground — and it brings sourness alone. Chaat masala is a blend built around it: the amchur supplies the tang while the roasted spices, ginger and salt fill in the rest of the taste; that is the whole difference between amchur and chaat masala.
Black salt gives the mix its savoury edge; ordinary salt does the job if that is all you have, though the masala loses that edge. Leave out the ajwain for a milder mix, or stir in a teaspoon of dried mint powder after grinding for a greener note. For amchur made from scratch, how to make amchur powder at home covers drying and grinding raw mango.
Ingredient List
Serving Size:
1x
2x
3x
Whole spices (to roast)
- Cumin Seeds — 3 tbsp
- Coriander seeds — 2 tbsp
- Black peppercorns — 1 tbsp
- Dried red chillies — 6 pieces
- Fennel Seeds — 1 tbsp
- Ajwain (carom seeds) — 1 tsp
Powders (to mix in)
- Amchur powder — 3 tbsp
- Dry ginger powder — 1 tbsp
- Black salt (kala namak) — 2 tbsp
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Serving Suggestions
Scatter a pinch over sliced fruit — guava, apple, cucumber and raw mango — or over papdi chaat, bhel, roasted corn and aloo tikki. It also sharpens raita, dahi vada and lemonade. Start with half a teaspoon per plate and add more after tasting, because the salt builds up fast. A pinch over hot jeera aloo, or over chaat with a drizzle of imli chutney, is the street-stall finish.
Tips for Cooking Chaat masala
Dry-roast on the lowest flame: cumin scorches in under a minute on medium heat, and one burnt batch spoils the whole jar. Judge by smell rather than colour, since every spice is done when its aroma turns deep and toasted. Grind only once the spices are completely cool, and taste the finished masala on a slice of cucumber or apple rather than off a spoon, so the salt and tang land on something neutral.
Chef’s Note
The masala is ready to use the moment it is mixed, but the flavours blend further over the first few days in the jar, so make it a day ahead when you can. A level teaspoon (3 g) is all a plate of fruit chaat needs and adds only about 4 kcal. Kept dry, tightly closed and away from the stove, the jar holds its aroma for months.
Per serving (approx.): 21 kcal, protein 1 g, carbs 2 g, fat 1 g, fibre 2.5 g. Computed from IFCT 2017 / USDA values for the listed quantities. Measures: 1 cup = 240 ml, 1 tbsp = 15 ml, 1 tsp = 5 ml.
Happy Cooking
!!
ByCOWBERRY
Sep 06, 2026
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