Tomato Slice Chaat | Bangalore Street Food, and many memories too :-))

Street food has its own charm, and eons of bits and bytes (and
books in the pre-internet era) have been and will be devoted to the nuances and
simple happiness that descends upon us when we gorge (not eat) street food -
the sweetness of the dates chutney, the fiery chilly paste, the crunch of the sev and farsaan,
and the entire experience accumulated in one single bite - heaven come
indeed...I can probably live offBhel Puri, Pani Puri, Sev Puri and Dahi batata puri not to forget Pav Bhaji & Ragda Pattiesand other street food for the rest of my life, if only someone else takes care of the calories 😀 Now, thats a tall order, aint it ?

Well, today's post has all these flavours and more.. Plus its totally oil free (read
guilt free) and comes with many memories attached. {PS: I sometimes wonder when
I sit down to write down about food experiences and rake up nostalgia in so
much volume if I have grown that old for my memoirs.. :-)) Memoirs, surely not
this soon, but memories do linger on....)  I clearly remember when I had
this - and where. 

Close to my place in Bangalore - perhaps about 4 km away - during our weekend walks, dad and
me had been eyeing  this vendor setting up his stall
after dusk, under the huge shade of almost a decade-old Gulmohar tree. With
just a flickering oil lamp for company, his wares would be sold out in 2 hours
flat. And then the wait for the next day's treat commenced. Whenever we passed
this way, the true-blue foodies of the family - dad and me (and we were thick
as thieves to sample any street food, as long as it was healthy) used to wish
to stop and have a bite.

Well, we did, and didnt stop at one. We ate, and ate, and ate like
this was the last meal of our lives, and then stopped counting ... the vendor
sold just this Chaat and i think Bhel (churumuri in local lingo), so his
repertoire was limited, but his customers werent. We swarmed like flies on a
honey stick around the gaadi (street cart) and ate to our heart's content . I
have had this chaat many times since then at Bangalore, even then the taste of
that first bite lingers on...

Do me a favour, go ahead and make yourself a batch, I bet you wont
stop at one.. Or two. Or three... :-)) Sending this to BM # 32 under Alphabet T

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Prep time : 15 mins | No cook, just assemble :-)) | Makes : As much as you can
eat 

Notes : 

1) As with most chaats, there is no proportion of ingredients. Its
mostly a bit of that, a less of this, a more of something else. So I have jsut
listed down the ingredients, with no specific quantity.. So, do check out what
suits your palate. 

2) Only thing that matters is you need to have really ripe but
firm tomatoes and crsipy sev and fresh Murumura for that crunch... Whew ! my
stomach is already craving for this :-)))))))

3) Optional addons are roasted peanuts, fried channa dal, raw minced onions

Ingredients:

• Fully ripe but firm Tomatoes (Bangalore variety with thickish
  skin) - 6
• Murmura (puffed rice) - about 4 cups
• Green chutney - as reqd
• Dates - Tamarind chutney - as reqd
• Carrots grated
• Salt - to taste
• Pepper powder 
• Red chilli powder
• Coriander leaves
• Sev / ompudi - 

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Method:

Wash and wipe the tomatoes well. With a serrated knife, cut thick
slices of the tomato and place directly on the serving plate (the vendor used
to serve it on dried leaves placed on a newspaper, and it made that so much
special). Sprinkle salt, red chilli powder and pepper powder to taste. 

Top it with as much sweet and chilly chutneys as you wish (Brush
the tops of the cut slices with the chutneys to ensure equal spreading) . 

Finally, finish with grated carrots, and murmura., ompudi / sev ,
coriander leaves and serve immediately.

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