Dabeli chaat was a spicy, fruity, and filling potato snack topped with peanuts and crunchy sev noodles.
I’m not great at small talk, but I love chaat. Okay, I can hear the chorus of boos from here. I’ll just show myself out.
Seriously, though, the Indian street food delight known as chaat appeals to me, so much so that a search on the word in the Louisville HotBytes archives brought up references at a dozen different local Indian eateries. I’ve eaten plenty of chaat, and I’ve spent plenty of words trying to describe it. Recalling just a few of them:
• The word “chaat” rhymes with “hot,” not “hat.”
“Chaat” is not a server’s introductory spiel. It’s tempting North Indian street food.
• It’s Indian small plates, somewhat akin to tapas or dim sum.
It’s affordable, and it’s made for walk-around eating.
• The name chaat comes from the Hindi word for “lick.”
• Salty, crunchy, soft, and savory, chaat comes in dozens of forms. These intriguing and varied snack-size goodies may be crunchy, tangy, fruity, hot, or sweet, often all at the same time.
• It’s a crunchy, tangy, sweet-and-spicy vegetarian blend of crunchy carbs, tangy and spicy sauce, fresh veggies – chickpeas, diced onions, potatoes, or tomatoes are typical – topped with more crunchies and a dusting of spice.
• This crunchy, salty snack that makes me think of a savory Indian take on trail mix … if trail mix grew up and turned out to be really cool.
• Chaat may contain xrispy, spicy bits of fried wheat pastry, tiny fried potato sticks, chickpeas, cucumber and onion bits. All those crunchies might get mixed into a savory blend of rich yogurt, sweet tamarind sauce and spicy mint chutney. Sounds messy? Tastes addictive. Think of chaat as India’s answer to nachos.
Tempted yet? I certainly am. In search of chaat and more, we headed over to Shreeji Indian Vegetarian Street Food, a longtime favorite that’s good enough to overcome my natural aversion to fighting the traffic on Hurstbourne Parkway south of I-64.
Shreeji’s extensive menu offers about two dozen chaats, each briefly but helpfully described. They’re just as varied as you might expect, but most of them check off the familiar boxes of crisp, spicy, tart, fruity, and sweet. ...
Read the full review on LouisvilleHotBytes,
https://www.louisvillehotbytes.com/chaa ... eji-indian
You'll also find this review in LEO Weekly's Food & Drink section today:
https://www.leoweekly.com/category/food-drink/
Shreeji Indian Vegetarian Street Food
1987 S. Hurstbourne Pkwy.
890-4000
https://shreejiindianrestaurant.com
Noise Level: Conversation was easy during busy but not jammed lunch hour. Average sound level 69dB.
Accessibility: The strip shopping-center building appears fully accessible to wheelchair users.