Desi fruit chaat is a tangy, spiced fruit salad with made with a combination of finely chopped fruits and chaat masala.

You can make Desi fruit chaat using whatever fruits you have on hand although I personally like a mix of mangoes, pears, apples, cherries, and grapes. Soft fruits like bananas and pears do not hold well but you certainly can add them if you’d like. Making Desi fruit chaat is extremely easy and it’s more of a lets grab your favorite fruits, chop them bite-size pieces, and toss them with chaat masala to our liking type ‘recipe’.

Begin Desi fruit chaat with cherries or mangoes as they don’t brown quickly like apples and pears. I like mangoes that are slightly unripe because it has that slightly sour taste which compliments the salad very well.  To prevent apples and pears from browning, generously squeeze lemon juice over it and toss them with other fruits.

Once the fruits are chopped , it’s time to add chaat masala. It’s a quintessential ‘masala’ or a spice mix that most Desi household will have in order to make chaat or we love to sprinkle on various dishes, fresh fruit, and veggies.

I have seen homemade chaat masala recipes online but have yet to make one because chaat masala is easily available at Indian grocery stores along with other spice mixes. It essentially consists of amchoor (dried mango powder), cumin, coriander, dried ginger, black salt (often kala namak), black pepper, asafoetida (hing) and chili powder.

If you dont have chaat masala at home , at the least season Desi fruit chaat with black salt, plenty of lemon juice, freshly roasted and ground cumin powder and chili powder. I usually eye ball the amount of chaat masala in the recipe because it really depends on the type of fruit and their sweetness/sourness.

Also, don’t hesitate to balance out the flavor with sugar, salt, pepper, lemon juice as needed.

Desi fruit chat tastes really good once it sits and marinates in the refrigerator for about an hour or so. It is best to eat Desi fruit chat the day it is made as fruits starts to breakdown and lose it’s texture overtime.

Desi Fruit Chaat

Serves: 3-4

Ingredients

• 1 apple, cored and diced

• 1 pear, cored and diced

• 15-20 cherries, pitted and diced

• 1 slightly unripe mango, peeled, cored, and diced

• 1.5-2 teaspoon chaat masala

• 1 teaspoon sugar

• salt, pepper, lemon juice, optional/per taste

Instructions

1. In a large bowl, combine all the diced fruits.

2. Add chaat masala, salt, pepper, sugar, and lemon juice then mix well.

3. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed.

4. Let Desi fruit chat chill in the refrigerator for about an hour before serving.

Recipes highlighting more fruits and veggies:

• Aloo Chaat

• Agua Fresca

• Gut-Friendly Kachumber

• Beet Carpaccio

• Black Bean & Mango Salsa