Kulia Fruit Chaat (Fruity Bowls)

Kulia Fruit Chat is a delicacy of North Delhi wherein, various fruits are hollowed and then filled with spicy and tangy fillings.

Sharing with you authentic Kulia fruit chaat recipe as I belong to Old Delhi only and have had this chat umpteen times on various occasions.

Unlike RAM LADDOO OR KALMI VADA or PALAK PATTA CHAAT, this one is a healthy chat which involves minimal cooking of just boiling few ingredients.

 

Kulia Fruit Chaat At My Place

Call it Chaat or spicy salad, but is loved by all especially those fond of spicy food and so it is loved by me and my hubby as well. We do not like to leave an opportunity for a good sumptuous and spicy Chaat.

If you are fond of spicy food too, then you must try this HALWAI STYLE KACHALU CHAAT

My Uncles-in-law stay in old Delhi and we have a real treat whenever we go there.

My brother is a great chaat fan too and he visits old Delhi quite frequently to enjoy helpings of Chaat and more particularly during Navratra festivals when Chaats are very famously consumed by all and sundry.

My sister-in-law, Tripti Gupta makes excellent Kulias (fruity Bowls) owing to her expertise in art and craft. Yes, chopping watermelon in the perfect shape and then scoop out the flesh from it is no less than a work of art.  In fact, today also I sought her guidance before making these sumptuous fruity bowls.

This is an all-weather chaat, more so in summers, when the appetite may not be high due to high temperatures outside apart from the other benefits it may bring for the body and soul.

.Another hit chaat for summers is this NO-COOK DAHI VADA CHAAT. It's perfect for summers as there is no cooking involved.

Similar to Dahi Vada is LEFTOVER IDLI CHAAT as it is made with leftover Idlis and is made in airfryer.

Delhi Chaat

When you talk of Delhi, host of things immediately comes to your mind - its winters, scorching summers, Delhi's traffic, Delhi's smart girls, Delhi's metro, Delhi's aggressive culture, its politics but to top it all is its food.  And the most famous of this is - Chaat !!! Something which is so routinely consumed and relished not just by Delhites but any visitor to Delhi.

You could find a Chaat vendor lurking around every colony/market place and there are a host of these in old Delhi.

Not only this, but the Chaat in its various forms is also a standard part of a menu in most of the social gatherings and festivals. People of all ages and social backgrounds love to have it.

What is Chaat?

The literary meaning of Chaat - has evolved from the Hindi word - Chaatna i.e. to lick. Yes, chaats are meant to be so yummy that it is expected that the eater would not leave anything on the platter because of the sheer taste of it.

Chaat is very hot and spicy and if a newcomer, he may break into perspiration. The old-timers and connoisseurs love the spicy chat.

But thankfully, you can tell the vendor if you need to keep it milder and he would do so most willingly.

Chaats are traditionally served in plates made of dried leaves or leaves held together with a mall toothpick like pins made of thin bamboo shavings - entirely biodegradable, though these days this trend is changing in favour of cutlery.

When talking about Chhat, how can we forget everyone's favourite, crunchy PALAK PATTA CHAAT? You must be making it, if not, try it as soon as possible.

 

A Little About Chaat

There is very interesting folklore around how chaat became so spicy and hot as a part of Delhi's cuisine. It so happened that in Mughal era, sometime after the construction of the Red Fort was completed and Chandni  Chowk got established as a bazaar, there was a strange fever which afflicted the people and kept on bothering the citizens of Delhi. No medicine seemed to prevent or cure this fever effectively. So the people started leaving Delhi and the emperor got worried and pressed resources to find a cure but in vain, till one day a fakir came along and after deliberation announced that if the people wanted to save themselves from the fever, they should consume very spicy and hot food. The remedy proved successful and the people got relived from the strange fever.

 And that's how the Delhi Chaat became very hot and spicy and has remained so over generations. Its now only, for last few years, that the spice in the old Delhi Chaat has shown some signs of mellowing down.

I will now share with you the recipe for making Kulia Chaat!!!! But are you wondering what is a Kulia ???

What is Kulia?

Kulia is a Hindi word and it refers to small fruit cups chiselled out of fruit dumplings and scoops being carved (scooped) out of them by removing some portion of fruit. This then can be called fruit bowls and resemble little bowls (Kulia). It is ensured that the bottom remains intact otherwise the filling would dropdown. This Kulia chaat is also known as Kulle Ki Chaat

 

 

Kulia Chaat During Fasts/Navratras

Healthy, no-cook, easy, delicious Kulia chaat is very good for Navratras fast or any other fast too.

• For consuming it during fasts, just omit chickpeas and use pomegranates only for filling.
• Similarly, use rock salt in place of common salt.

 

How To Make Kulia Chaat?

• This easy to make Chaat is healthy and involves very basic cooking of just boiling the chickpeas or potatoes.
• To make Kulia Chaat, soaked chickpeas (preferably very small ones) are first boiled and then mixed with the spice mixture or simply say, Chaat Masala.
• Thereafter, various fruits like banana, watermelon, cucumber and veggies like boiled potatoes, tomatoes are scooped out. These Chana or chickpeas are then filled in the cavity created due to scooping. Lemon juice is added in to make them more sour and tasty.
• Making Watermelon Kulias is a hell of a task and leads to wastage too. Not wastage actually, as the leftover pieces can be eaten or use for making juice. But all this is worth the effort as these are the best !!. Same way scooping out Banana is also ticklish.

More than the recipe there is a method to make these Kulias. These can be made of any fruit which can be chiselled (scooped).

For variation and also to add colour, we use pomegranate seeds too in addition to chickpeas for filling purposes.

I have tried to share step by step pics so that it becomes easier for you to make these.

Also, though I have listed the ingredients but it is not possible to specify their quantity. Use as per your taste and preferences.

Go through the Method and Notes first then it would be easier for you to make it.

 

 Step By Step Photos

• Soak chickpeas for 3-4 hours and boil them.
• Separate pomegranate seeds.

 

• Cut big dumplings of the given fruits/vegetables.
• Scoop out the flesh inside these with the help of a scooper/peeler. (See Notes2 and 3)

 

5. Mix salt, rock salt, cumin powder, chaat masala and Boora sugar.

 

6. Marinate the hollowed vegetables/fruits with the above-prepared spices. But marinate only from the inside. For this, sprinkle the above-made masala in the hollowed vegetables/fruits. (See Note 7)

 

•  Mix salt, chaat masala and lemon juice in boiled chickpeas and in pomegranate seeds separately.
• Fill this filling in marinated vegetables/fruits.
•  Put some lemon juice in each Kulia.
•  Garnish with ginger julienne and green coriander.

 

• Serve with love.

 

 

I hope you have liked this easy recipe of Kulia fruit chaat and will surely try it out for your loved ones.

I will be happy if you share your creations on Instagram and tag me #samirasrecipediary there.

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