Recipes › Tomato (Standard) › Green Tomato and Apple Chaat
Green Tomato and Apple Chaat
A sharp, lively Indian street-food salad that is an ideal way to use up end-of-season tomatoes that haven't quite ripened. Firm green and semi-ripe tomatoes are tossed with crisp apple, red onion, and a tamarind and chaat masala dressing that is tangy, sweet, and spiced all at once. It is ready in fifteen minutes and works brilliantly as a side or a light lunch.
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Ingredients
- 600 g Tomato (Standard), green or semi-ripe, cut into 2cm wedgesripe tomatoes work well too — they will give a juicier result
- 1 eating apple, cored and cut into 1cm cubesuse a tart variety like Granny Smith or Cox
- 1 red onion, very finely sliced
- 2 tbsp tamarind pasteor use 1 tbsp pomegranate molasses plus 1 tsp lemon juice
- 1½ tsp chaat masala
- ½ tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp caster sugar
- 1 fresh green chilli, finely sliced
- 20 g fresh coriander, roughly chopped, leaves and fine stems
- 10 g fresh mint leaves, roughly torn
- ½ tsp fine sea salt
- 30 g sev or puffed rice (optional)
Contains: soya.
Method
- Place the sliced red onion in a small bowl with a pinch of salt and the sugar. Scrunch together with your fingers and leave for 5 minutes — this softens the raw bite slightly.About 5 min
- While the onion macerates, combine the tamarind paste, chaat masala, ground cumin, and salt in a large bowl. Stir well into a dressing.About 2 min
- Add the tomato wedges, apple cubes, sliced chilli, and the macerating onion (including any liquid) to the bowl with the dressing. Toss everything together well so all the pieces are evenly coated.About 2 min
- Add the coriander and mint and toss again briefly. Taste and adjust — you may want a touch more tamarind for sourness or chaat masala for spice.About 1 min
- Transfer to a serving plate or bowl. Scatter over sev or puffed rice if using, and serve immediately.
Tips
- Do not dress the salad more than 15 minutes before serving — the tomatoes will release liquid and it will become watery. The components can be prepped ahead, but dress at the last moment.
- Chaat masala is available in most South Asian grocers and online. It is sharp, salty, and slightly sulphurous from black salt — there is no real substitute, so it is worth having a bag in your spice drawer.
- This is a brilliant end-of-season recipe when you have tomatoes on the vine that simply won't ripen. The firm texture of green tomatoes holds up beautifully in the dressing.
Ring the changes
- Add 200g of boiled and cooled chickpeas to make it more substantial as a lunch.
- Stir in 1 tbsp of finely grated fresh ginger with the dressing for extra warmth.
Keeping it
This salad does not keep well once dressed. Store prepped but undressed components separately in the fridge for up to 4 hours. Dress and serve just before eating.
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