Let's Chaat

Chaat, (pronounced 'chat') as I understand it, means snack. There is a chaat walla at my office and for the first two months I stayed away from him. He stood behind a counter filled with many buckets of colorful condiments, most of which looked like they could turn my stomach upside down. Looking back, this was entirely because chaat was an unknown entity. The first chaat I ate was the closest thing to a tostada that I have ever tasted without actually being a tostada. Seriously, it reminded me of a Taco Bell run after a morning at Linda Mar. Padpri chaat, pictured above, even kind of looks like a tostada.....or have I just been craving Mexican food for too long.