Sprinkle on the Magic Dust

Juicy, refreshing, hydrating, sweet, sticky, sexy — you can’t improve on summer fruit, especially this extra-hot summer. Well, maybe you can. Want a cool treat that’ll take fruit salad to the next level?  Honey, let’s chaat.

• Funky cumin
• Fiery chile 
• Briny salt
• Tart amchoor (dried green mango powder) 

Mix them together, and you have the basic makings for the Indian spice blend known as chaat. Switch out the amchoor for fresh lime juice, and the Latinx crowd calls it tajin spice. By any name, it magically adds dazzle and dimension to everything it touches. That’s why I call it magic dust.

Chaat is why bhel puri and other Indian street food is so incredibly cravable. As Priya Krishna says, chaat is no mere spice blend, it’s a way of life, an exuberant blend of sweet, sour and spicy. Indians take their chaat seriously. In addition to the four core flavors, chaat can comprise upwards of  a dozen kinds of seeds and spices to provide more nuanced flavors. Fennel, coriander and mint add green, grassy notes, but that’s just he beginning.  Other blends can contain:

• aijwain — tiny seeds which impart a gentle herbaceous flavor, similar to thyme
• kala namak — black salt with a distinctly sulfuric taste you either love or you don’t

Tajin spice is more straightforward.  It hits the four notes, funky, fiery, briny and tart and doesn’t mess with success. It can be used as a spice rub or added to a stew, but most often, it’s used as originally intended — to sprinkle on fruit.

The first time I heard about this, I thought it was crazypants.  I love the flavors in magic dust,  but couldn’t imagine how they’d work with juicy, sweet, sexy, sticky summer fruit. They work just fine. Dust it on a tumble of just-picked berries, fragrant, ripe-to-bursting plums and nectarines, and sassy citrus, and suddenly you’ve got fruit on HD. 

Magic dust turns any fruit salad into a tropical treat.  Take the treat to the next level.  Instead of tossing the chopped fruit together, plate it as a fresh fruit board. Everybody loves boards, an assembly of DIY nibble with eye appeal. It’s a new name for an old concept. If you’ve ever had a mezze or antipasto platter, you’ve had a board. And it’s easier to put together than you’d think. The vibrant colors and designery shapes of fruit make it almost foolproof.  

We could all do with a little magic dust right now.

Tips for a Pretty Plate and More Magical Magic Dust

• More is better. You’ll need at least five cups of local, seasonal fruit at its most luscious. 
• Almost any fruit’ll do here, and the more colors, textures and flavors, the better. 
• Using a variety makes for a prettier presentation.
• Focusing on fresh, seasonal fruit means you never have to serve the same fruit chaat twice, with different bright flavors all year long. 
• Slice melons and orchard fruits like peaches and plums into regular bite-size pieces. 
• Slice citrus into rounds or half-rounds, poking out the seeds.
• Cover every inch of the plate or board’s surface. If you listen to Alt-J, you’ll know the term is tessellate.
• Fruits that oxidize quickly, like apples and bananas, can go brown and mushy, so add them just before serving.
• Accessorize. Fill any gaps between the fruit by tucking in nuts, crystallized ginger, mint leaves, microgreens and/or edible flowers like nasturtiums, butterfly pea blossoms and bachelor buttons for extra eye appeal.
• Don’t forget the magic dust, the chaat masala.
• You can find amchoor in many Indian and Asian markets, and online.
• Sumac, made from a tart dried berry, gives you a similarly mouth-puckering taste.
• If sumac or amchoor aren’t easily gettable substitute a squeeze of fresh lime juice just before serving.

How to Make Magic Dust

• In a small dry skillet, toast cumin and chile over medium heat just for a minute or two until spices warm and release their fragrance.
• Pour cumin and chile into a small bowl or ramekin. Add amchoor and sea salt and set aside.
• On a platter or in a bowl: combine fruit. Accessorize. 
• Finish by sprinkling on the magic dust and serve at once.

Magic Dust

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Ingredients

  

• 1 teaspoon cumin
• ¼ teaspoon chile
• 1 teaspoon amchoor dried mango powder available at some specialty stores and online. Or use a teaspoon of sumac or one good squeeze of lime juice
• 1 good pinch sea salt

Instructions

 

• In a dry skillet, toast cumin and chile over medium heat just for a minute or two until spices warm and release their fragrance.
• Pour cumin and chile into a small bowl or ramekin. Add amchoor and sea salt and set aside.
• On a platter or in a bowl: combine fruit. Accessorize with chopped nuts, crystallized ginger and mint leaves or microgreens.
• Finish by sprinkling on the chaat masala, and serve at once.

More Fun with Fruit

• Ginger Coconut Tofu with Peanut Sauce
• Grapefruit and Fennel Salad
• Classic Orange and Fennel Salad
• Vegan Peach Melba from Fran Costigan
• Mango Chow from Caribbean Pot
• Mango Fudge Bars from Vegan Richa

Thank you for reading my vegan stories and plant-based recipes. I sincerely love to connect with listeners and would like to hear your feedback, takeaways, “ah-ha!” moments, etc in the comments.

Connect with me for discounts, exclusive tips, and other freebies:
• Join my NEWSLETTER for exclusive content & offers
• Join my social networks on LINKEDIN, TWITTER and FACEBOOK

Want to learn more?
Explore more of my VEGAN RECIPES, and my COOK BOOKS.
Do you want a happier life, a greener plate, and a delicious world? Then sign up for VEG THERAPY.