Something is in the air. I suppose it’s fall, but it hasn’t felt much like summer … all summer long.
Here we are on the far side of Labor Day and lawns and fields that would be parched and brown are verdant and lush with clover.
By now, I should be at the end of a monthlong maintenance schedule of daily heirloom tomato and basil sandwiches. But my crop has been less than satisfying.
The same goes for peaches. They feel ripe but don’t have the sweetness you’d expect. Nevertheless, a recipe for a peach-and-tomato chaat from G. Daniela Galarza in The Washington Post caught my eye.
Chaat is a generic Hindi word meaning “to lick” or “to taste.” But in the larger scheme of Indian foodways, it identifies a cuisine of mostly little bowls and snacks, like Spanish tapas. This bowl of seasoned chopped peaches and tomatoes resembles a slightly off-kilter Mexican salsa.
The addition of lime and honey has the advantage in this questionable harvest of brightening and sweetening less-than-optimal fruit and extending the season. (Climate change and excessive heat have already impacted formerly thriving Indian peach and tomato crops, so this could be a portent of things to come.)
While Galarza’s spices include ginger and chaat masala (a blend of salt, cumin, chili and dried fruit powders), and a garnish of crunchy, noodle-like bits of spiced and fried chickpea flour paste known as sev, all read “Indian.” However, the component parts and substitutions (particularly crushed corn chips or tortillas for the sev), and additional garni of chopped peanuts and cilantro, could easily read Meso-American or East Asian.
Other stone fruits — nectarines, apricots or mangoes — could replace the peaches to good effect. Or try crushed plantain chips instead of tortillas. Prone to playing with my food, I found myself romancing the addition of black beans or fresh corn, but that is for another time.
What shall we do with this sweet-savory mess? You could use it as the salsa served with chips. Or serve it on a bed of arugula with cubed avocado. Or try it with a piece of grilled (or chilled) salmon, shrimp, chicken or pork.
Does it matter what we call it?
Peach-Tomato Chaat (Salsa)
Makes 5 to 6 cups to serve 4 to 6
- 1 pound peaches, halved, pitted and quartered, cut into ¼-inch slices
- 1 pound tomatoes (cherries, Romas or heirlooms) seeded, diced, sliced or chopped into bite-size pieces
- Grated zest and juice of a lime
- ½ cup diced red onion or shallot
- 1 Fresno or jalapeño chile, seeded, deveined and sliced thin
- 1-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and grated
- 1 to 2 teaspoons honey
- 1 teaspoon chaat masala*
- 2 tablespoons tamarind paste (substitute molasses cut with vinegar or lime juice)
- ½ cup crushed tortilla or plantain chips
- ½ cup chopped cilantro leaves
- ½ cup chopped roasted peanuts
1. In a large bowl, combine the peaches and their juice with the tomatoes and their juice. Add the lime juice and zest, diced onion or shallot, sliced chile, grated ginger, honey and chaat masala or other spices. Toss to combine; let sit at room temperature for 10 to 15 minutes.
2. Drizzle with tamarind paste/molasses. Garnish with cilantro, chopped peanuts and crushed chips. Serve at room temperature. (See story for serving suggestions.)
* If you can’t find chaat masala, mix equal parts ground cumin, ground coriander, ground fennel, ground ginger, dried mint, ground black pepper and a big pinch of salt. Or experiment with ground sumac or curry powder.
