fruit chaat desi style.....a salad with fruits

We rarely make any fruit salad as we always believe in eating the fruits in it's most natural form especially the smaller fruits like apricots, peaches and plums so abundantly available in this season . Even apples and mangoes are preferred as standalone snacks n so are bananas , but still there are some fruits which need to be cut into pieces ...... papaya and melons and the tough nut pineapples................papaya n melons are just chopped and devoured as it is but whenever i buy pineapples it is for a salad ......

I have fond memories of fruit salads we used to have whenever we visited Vaishno Devi .......all along the trek there are many fruit chaat vendors selling yummy chaat with tangy hot dressing , they make a rustic salad with roughly chopped fruits , some boiled n chopped potatoes , kachalu ( a kind of yam which grows abundantly along the trek ) and sweet potatoes ...

though you have to forget about hygiene when having this adventure  .........

more than the fruits i love that dressing and sometimes make that at home whenever i have apples, pineapple , guava and  kachalu or a few of them ...........


Here i have used pineapples ( they impart a very tangy sweet twist to this salad n so i consider them essential for this) , banana , rasbharis ( cape gooseberries) , papaya and a long neglected near comatose apple whose skin was so shriveled i had to peel it ( BAD ) ...any fruits can be used for this salad and i missed having guavas this time.......kachalu n boiled potatoes are good but i don't miss them .....

The dressing is very very interesting as it has a special kind of ajwain seeds ( i bought it from Jammu) , regular ajwain can be used too but this smaller variety of ajawain lends a very unique flavor to this salad........

ingredients for the dressing 

ajwain seeds 1 tsp
black pepper powder 1/2 tsp
thick tamarind pulp 1 tbsp or more as per taste
red chilly powder 1/2 tsp or as required
salt to taste
sugar 1 tsp
a handful of mint leaves crushed in mortar n pestle
 

Mix everything together and whisk till the flavors merge .......mint and ajwain is very strange to think about but it results in a great dressing for tangy sweet fruits ......

Whenever your fruits are not very fresh as sometimes they get neglected in the fruit basket or you don't find time for between the meals snacking , this is the dressing which can lift the taste of any fruit which is well past it's prime..just take care to have at least two of the fruits fresh ..

Pour the dressing over the chopped fruits and the salad is ready.......i am sure you would love it's strange sounding dressing , and if you have had it before at that place i know you are going to make it.........

It is a digestive salad and can be a good lunch option when you want to have something filling and yet light on the tummy ......good for stomach upset too.....a great re hydrating salad with healing herbs.

Fruits and fruit salads should not be accompanied with full course meals due to many reasons and they are best eaten a couple of hours before of after a meal.........why not a meal in itself......it's simply yummy.....a desi chaat more than a salad........