Controlled Chaos Overwhelms Your Mouth: Indian Chaat Tantalizes Every Tastebud
Written: Mar 23 '08 (Updated Mar 23 '08)
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Pros: * Delicious and unique to American palates
* Friendly patient service
* Relatively Inexpensive
Cons: * Barebones operation
* Environmental unfriendly servingware
The Bottom Line: Take your tastebuds on an adventure and head on over for some vegetarian Indian chaat!
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Just when I thought I had tried all the good restaurants near my house, I discovered a new one. Chat Patta Corner is a small restaurant tucked away in a tiny strip mall located in a dead-end court at the base of the freeway leading to the Dumbarton Bridge in Fremont, CA. Next door to a liquor store and a Chinese buffet, as well as a Montessori preschool, Chat Patta is just steps from the park and ride lot where I used to board my commuter bus for nearly 4 years (before the birth of my daughter required me to drive). Ironically, I only discovered this place AFTER I stopped taking the bus.
Chat Patta Corner specializes in Indian “street food” which is known as chaat. It’s a very no-frills experience, as chaat is seen as a convenient snack between meals and is served by street vendors in India. “Chaat" means "to lick" in Hindu and one of the most popular explanations of the term stems from when chaat was served on banana leaves and appreciative customers would "lick" off their plates. Our city has a large community of immigrants from India so we have been fortunate to try many different types of Indian food, but this restaurant was the first time we were exposed to chaat. All the chaat at this establishment are vegetarian.
About the Food
While I can’t offer an opinion about how authentic Chat Patta Corner’s chaat is as compared to that in Mumbai or other parts of India, I can talk about my experiences as an American who enjoys this type of cuisine. I can also share that many on-line reviews by Indian immigrants rave about how Chat Patta's chaat is the best they've had outside of India--even better than the famous Vik's Chaat of Berkeley (which gets a lot of attention on San Francisco Bay Area foodie message boards).
What I find most unique is the contrasting textures and flavors. I have found that the chaat utilize many of the following ingredients: a crunchy/crispy fried dough (like puri, papri, or bhature, more on these below), a sweet tamarind chutney, cool creamy yogurt, spicy masala sauce, diced raw red onion, fresh cilantro, and tender yet neutral flavored garbanzo beans and/or potatoes.
Chat Patta Corner prepares all items to order. Thus, you can "customize" certain snacks by asking for them to be sweeter than average or less spicy. On our first visit, my husband and I tentatively walked in only to find that the menu (on the wall above the counter) ONLY lists the names of the items. There are no descriptions at all to differentiate Kachori Choley from Tikki Choley or even Plain Aloo Choley. The last time I went, I asked for a to-go menu (a simple 1/2 page computer print-out of a list of items and prices) so I could google the names from home.
It was quite full on our first visit, so rather than ask the woman to explain each item (since several patrons were in line behind us), we picked out samosa chaat and pav bhaji, two items we have had before at traditional Indian restaurants (see below for descriptions, as those remain two of my favorites!).
On a second visit, we pointed to some items other patrons were eating. On a third visit, when no one was behind me, I just asked the woman to recommend 3 or 4 items she thought someone new to chaat would enjoy.
My favorites, roughly in order that I like them, include:
1) Samosa Chaat - ($4.50) Traditional samosas are offered as appetizers at many Indian restaurants. This is a mashed spicy potato and pea filling wrapped in dough and deep-fried. At a chaat house, the samosa is covered with garbanzo beans, diced raw red onions, cilantro and the tamarind chutney. I loved the interplay between the hot crispy fried samosa (with its dense potato filling) and the toppings (especially the crunch of the raw onions and the sweet/sour taste of the chutney).
2) Pav Bhaji - ($6) This is a thick, slightly spicy, orange pureed vegetable “stew” served hot with a side of buttered toasted dinner rolls (which remind me of King’s Hawaiian rolls or pan de leche). It tastes much better than it sounds! Various sources claim that it’s normally made with cauliflower, tomato, potatoes, onions, carrots, and possibly other vegetables. I love how the complex flavor and unfamiliar spices make it more than just a vegetable stew like those in typical American cuisine. Chat Patta Corner’s version is served with raw diced red onions and fresh cilantro.
3) Pani Puri - ($4.00) Pani is the Hindu word for water and puri are hollow, puffed shells made from wheat flour. The shells are very thin and light, though I can’t think of any American equivalent to help readers who haven’t had this understand. It’s much lighter and crispier than a fried taco shell. When you order it, the shell is “popped” by the server behind the counter, filled with a mixture of boiled potato and garbanzo beans, topped with a spicy masala sauce and sweet tamarind chutney, and then dunked in the "water," a spicy, sour, salty mixture concocted from various herbs and spices.
I frequently see folks standing by the counter eating this because it's assembled one by one according to your requests (e.g., you can ask for medium spicy and very sweet). There are six shells in an order. The best part of eating these is popping the whole shell in your mouth and experiencing the dramatic contrasts in your mouth. It’s really like an explosion of flavors and textures as the crisp shell breaks apart. Several of my Indian friends love this particular chaat. The only thing is that you must eat it immediately, as the pani and the sauces would quickly make the puri soggy if you waited.
4) Choley Bhature - ($6) This is garbanzo bean curry (choley) and large soft puffed bread (bhature, which reminded me of Native American frybread). The bhature looks like a puffed up tortilla, except it’s chewier and thicker. My favorite part was the bhature, as I love good breads, but the choley was a nice complement to it as I've never been so impressed with garbanzo beans. They are flavorful and complex, as opposed to the bland, tasteless cold garbanzo beans in salads (which I often found to have an unappetizing mush texture).
Other details
Since everything is prepared to order, the restaurant only offers counter service and is staffed leanly. Most days, I see the same young woman at the counter and can catch glimpses of an older woman in the back running the kitchen for hot chaat.
The crowd is mixed in terms of age groups: I see families with young toddlers, young couples, groups of men (bachelors here in Silicaon Valley for work?), and occasionally teenagers/college students. On all 3 occasions, we were the only non-Indians in the restaurant. I did not see any white, Latino, African American or other East Asian Americans. Thus, I take that as a sign that this specialty cuisine is quite authentic.
The one complaint I have is that everything is served on Styrofoam plates/bowls, even if you eat there. It’s so wasteful but I can see this is a small operation so they might not have enough staff to wash real plates/bowls. Behind the counter is a tiny pass-through window that allows occasional glimpses into the kitchen. I often see older Indian women back there preparing the ingredients that are assembled by the young English-speaking Indian woman in the front. Hot dishes like the Pav Bhaji are prepared in back.
Open from noon to 8:30 pm everyday except Monday, we've been here 3 times at varying hours. The busiest was a recent Sunday afternoon at 5:30. I actually waited over 30 minutes to bring our large to-go order home! Most folks eat there, as I didn’t see anyone else picking up to-go orders. It makes sense because you have to assemble everything yourself if you bring it home.
Parking is usually easy, since the liquor store and pre-school don’t have a lot of customers who linger so turnover of spaces is high. It’s just such an out of the way place you can barely see as you drive by, because there is the local road goes up an overpass and this restaurant is partially blocked from view by the Jack in the Box and trees.
Finally, this location is one of two run by the owners. The other one is a “stall” inside an Indian grocery store that does not have any seating and is not open as often as this restaurant. Thus, I’ve never bothered going to that location.
Final Thoughts
As I mentioned earlier, I can't compare this chaat house to any other place. However, I have found over the course of several visits that the food is freshly prepared, the staff is friendly to those new to chaat, and the prices to be reasonable.
Many thanks to megugrrrl for adding this restaurant to the database for me!
Recommended:
Yes
Kid Friendliness: Yes
Vegetarian Friendly: Yes
Notes, Tips or Menu Recommendations Pick a slow time between meals so the staff can patiently explain the menu items to you
Best Suited For: Friends
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