Alu chat (also spelled as alu chaat, aloo chat, or aloo chaat) is a

street food Street food is ready-to-eat food or drinks sold by a hawker, or vendor, in a street or at other public places, such as markets or fairs. It is often sold from a portable food booth, food cart, or food truck and is meant for immediate consumption ...

originating from the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a list of the physiographic regions of the world, physiographical region in United Nations geoscheme for Asia#Southern Asia, Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian O ...

, it is popular in

North India North India is a loosely defined region consisting of the northern part of India. The dominant geographical features of North India are the Indo-Gangetic Plain and the Himalayas, which demarcate the region from the Tibetan Plateau and Central ...

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...

Eastern India East India is a region of India consisting of the Indian states of Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal and also the union territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The region roughly corresponds to the historical region of Magadha fr ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

, parts of

Sylhet Division Sylhet Division ( bn, সিলেট বিভাগ) is the northeastern division of Bangladesh. It is bordered by the Indian states of Meghalaya, Assam and Tripura to the north, east and south respectively, and by the Bangladeshi divisions of ...

of Bangladesh and

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

. It is prepared by frying

potato The potato is a starchy food, a tuber of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'' and is a root vegetable native to the Americas. The plant is a perennial in the nightshade family Solanaceae. Wild potato species can be found from the southern Unit ...

es in oil and adding spices and

chutney A chutney is a spread in the cuisines of the Indian subcontinent. Chutneys are made in a wide variety of forms, such as a tomato relish, a ground peanut garnish, yogurt or curd, cucumber, spicy coconut, spicy onion or mint dipping sauce. ...

. It can also be prepared with unfried boiled potatoes and also adding fruits along with spices, lime juice and chutney. Alu chat is mainly a street food. It can be served as a snack, a side dish or a light meal. It is made from boiled and fried cubed potatoes served with

chat masala Chaat masala, also spelled chat masala, is a powder spice mix, or masala, originating from South Asia, typically used to add flavor to chaat. It typically consists of amchoor (dried mango powder), cumin, coriander, dried ginger, salt (often black ...

. It is a versatile dish that has many regional variations. The word ''alu'' means potatoes in Hindi and the word ''

chat Chat or chats may refer to: Communication * Conversation, particularly casual * Online chat, text message communication over the Internet in real-time * Synchronous conferencing, a formal term for online chat * SMS chat, a form of text messagin ...

'' is derived from Hindi word ''chatna'' which means tasting. Thus, alu chat means a savory potato snack. File:Aloo_chaat_vendor,_Connaught_Place,_New_Delhi.jpg, Alu chat vendor, Connaught Place,

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...

File:Alu Kabli.jpg, Alu kabli, a Bengali alu chat made with sliced boiled potatoes, chickpeas, tomatoes, cucumbers, tamarind sauce, Bengali spices, chopped chillies and garnished with coriander leaves.

References

{{Street food Pakistani snack foods Pakistani fast food Indian snack foods Indian fast food Bengali cuisine Bangladeshi cuisine Street food Sylheti cuisine Trinidad and Tobago cuisine