Ingredient Glossary

Short, plain-language definitions for the flours, spices, chutneys and pantry staples referenced throughout the recipes and technique guides in this library.

Ajwain (Carom Seeds): Small, intensely aromatic seeds with a flavour close to thyme, often added to pastry doughs such as samosa and kachori casings to aid digestion of fried food and add a background warmth.
Amchur (Dried Mango Powder): Ground dried green mango, used as a souring agent in chaat masala and in fillings where fresh citrus is not practical. It gives a fruity sourness distinct from tamarind or lime.
Atta (Whole Wheat Flour): Finely milled whole wheat flour used for everyday flatbreads and, in some regional versions, for puris. It carries more bran and germ than maida, giving a denser bite and a slightly nutty flavour.
Besan (Gram Flour): Flour milled from skinned, split chickpeas (chana dal). It is the base of pakora and bhajiya batters, dhokla and khandvi, and many chaat toppings such as sev and boondi. Besan needs to be whisked thoroughly with water to avoid lumps and is often lightly roasted before use in steamed batters.
Besan Batter Consistency Terms: Recipes in this library describe batter thickness as ribbon-consistency (flows in a slow, unbroken ribbon off a spoon), coating-consistency (thinly coats the back of a spoon), or pouring-consistency (flows freely, similar to heavy cream), since these are more reliable than flour-to-water ratios alone.
Besan ka Sev: See Sev; the full name clarifies it is made from gram flour rather than other flours used for similar fried noodle-like garnishes.
Boondi: Small fried droplets of seasoned gram-flour batter, made by pushing batter through a perforated spoon into hot oil. Sweetened boondi is used in desserts; salted boondi is a chaat topping and raita mix-in.
Chaat Masala: A tangy, savoury spice blend built around dried mango powder and black salt, with roasted cumin, coriander and other spices. It is sprinkled on finished chaat, fruit and roasted snacks rather than cooked into a dish.
Chana Dal (Split Chickpeas): Split, skinned chickpeas, distinct from whole chickpeas (chole), used in some fillings and occasionally tempered whole in South Indian dishes for texture and nuttiness.
Curry Leaves: The aromatic leaves of the curry tree, fried briefly in hot oil as part of a tempering step in South and West Indian cooking. They are used fresh or dried and are not related to curry powder.
Dahi (Yogurt): Plain, thick dairy yogurt, whisked smooth and sometimes lightly sweetened or salted before being spooned over dahi puri, aloo tikki chaat or papdi chaat. Full-fat, well-set yogurt holds its texture best.
Date-Tamarind Chutney: A cooked, thick chutney of tamarind and dates (or jaggery) simmered with spices, providing the sweet-sour counterpoint that balances chaat's heat and tang.
Dhania (Coriander): Refers both to coriander seeds, used whole or ground in spice blends, and fresh coriander leaves (cilantro), used as a garnish and as the base of green chutney.
Dhokla Batter: A fermented or quickly leavened besan batter, steamed into a spongy cake and then tempered with mustard seeds and curry leaves; see the gram flour batter technique guide for handling it correctly.
Garam Masala: A warming spice blend, typically including cardamom, cinnamon, cloves and black pepper among other spices, added toward the end of cooking so its aroma stays bright rather than cooking off.
Garlic Chutney (Dry): A coarse, dry chutney of garlic, dried red chillies and often desiccated coconut, pounded rather than blended smooth, best known as the condiment inside a Mumbai vada pav.
Ghee (Clarified Butter): Butter that has been simmered to separate and remove the milk solids and water, leaving a shelf-stable fat with a high smoke point and a nutty aroma, used for tempering and in some doughs.
Ginger-Garlic Paste: A smooth paste of roughly equal parts fresh ginger and garlic, ground together, used as a base aromatic in marinades such as those for chicken tikka and in some gravies.
Green Chutney (Coriander-Mint Chutney): A blended, uncooked chutney of coriander and mint leaves, green chillies and a souring agent such as lime or raw mango, used across nearly all chaat and many fried snacks.
Gud / Jaggery: An unrefined sugar made by boiling down sugarcane juice or palm sap, used for a deeper, slightly mineral sweetness in chutneys and some masalas compared to refined sugar.
Haldi (Turmeric): Ground dried turmeric root, used in small quantities for colour and a mild earthy bitterness. It is added early in cooking since it can taste raw and chalky if added at the very end.
Hing (Asafoetida): A pungent resin, sold ground and usually blended with rice flour, that mellows into a savoury, almost umami aroma once cooked briefly in hot oil. A pinch is typically added at the start of tempering, especially in dishes without garlic.
Idli Rava: A coarse, parboiled rice grit specifically milled for idli and dosa batters, distinct from semolina (sooji), which is milled from wheat.
Imli (Tamarind): The sour pulp of the tamarind pod, sold as a block, concentrate or paste, and simmered with jaggery and spices to make the sweet-sour tamarind chutney central to most chaat.
Jeera (Cumin Seeds): Whole cumin seeds are a near-universal first step in tempering (tadka), bloomed briefly in hot oil or ghee to release their aroma before other ingredients are added.
Kala Namak (Black Salt): A mineral salt with a distinct sulphurous aroma from naturally occurring compounds, central to chaat masala and spiced chaat water. A little goes a long way; it is used in small pinches rather than as a general-purpose salt.
Kasuri Methi (Dried Fenugreek Leaves): Dried fenugreek leaves, crumbled between the palms before use, added near the end of cooking for a distinctive slightly bitter, hay-like aroma common in North Indian gravies and some tikka marinades.
Khoya / Mawa: Milk solids reduced from whole milk by slow simmering until a dense, slightly grainy paste remains. It appears in some festive snack variations and sweets rather than everyday chaat.
Kokum: A dried, deep purple fruit rind used as a souring agent in parts of Western India, offering a fruitier, less sharp sourness than tamarind, occasionally used in regional chutney variations.
Lal Mirch (Red Chilli Powder): Ground dried red chillies, used for both colour and heat. Different regional blends vary widely in spiciness, so recipes in this library specify quantities as a starting point rather than an absolute.
Maida (Refined Wheat Flour): A finely milled, low-protein white wheat flour similar to cake flour, used for samosa and kachori pastry and for bhature dough. It produces a tender, flaky or puffed texture that whole-wheat flour cannot replicate on its own.
Momos Dough: A simple, unleavened dough of refined flour and water, rolled thin and used to wrap steamed dumpling fillings; it should be pliable enough to pleat without tearing but not sticky.
Moong Dal (Split Mung Bean): Small split pulses, available with or without their green skin, used in savoury pakoras, in some dhokla variations and in lighter snack batters.
Mustard Oil: A pungent, sharp-flavoured oil pressed from mustard seeds, traditionally heated until it stops smoking before use to mellow its raw bite, used in parts of North and East Indian cooking.
Paneer: A fresh, non-melting cheese made by curdling hot milk with an acid and pressing the curds. It is used cubed and grilled in paneer tikka or crumbled into stuffed snacks, and does not require aging or culturing.
Papdi: A small, flat, crisp disc of fried dough made from flour, semolina and oil, used as the base of papdi chaat and sev puri. It should shatter cleanly rather than bend.
Poha (Flattened Rice): Parboiled rice that has been pressed flat and dried. It cooks without boiling, needing only a rinse and a brief steam, and is the base of the breakfast dish of the same name as well as some chivda mixes.
Puri (Chaat Shell): In the chaat context, a small hollow sphere of fried semolina or wheat dough that puffs into a crisp shell, used for pani puri and dahi puri. This is distinct from the puffed wheat bread also called puri served at meals.
Rai / Sarson (Mustard Seeds): Small round seeds, usually black or brown, that pop when added to hot oil. They are a common first step in South and West Indian tempering, often alongside curry leaves and urad dal.
Rava / Sooji (Semolina): Coarsely milled durum wheat used for crisp pani puri shells, upma, and instant rava dosa. Fine and coarse grades behave differently, so recipes typically specify which one to use.
Rice Flour: Finely milled rice, used in some dosa and idli batter variations and in certain chutney or batter thickening steps. It behaves differently from wheat flour and is not a direct substitute in gluten-based doughs.
Sabudana (Sago / Tapioca Pearls): Small starch pearls processed from tapioca root, used in sabudana vada and often eaten during religious fasting periods because it is grain-free. It must be soaked, not boiled, to hydrate correctly.
Sev: Thin, crisp noodles of seasoned, fried gram-flour batter, pressed through a perforated press. It is both a snack on its own and a crunchy topping for bhel puri and sev puri.
Tadka / Tempering: The technique of briefly frying whole spices, and sometimes aromatics, in hot oil or ghee to release their flavour before they are stirred into a finished or near-finished dish. See the dedicated technique guide for a full explanation.
Urad Dal (Split Black Gram): A dense, starchy pulse that, once soaked and ground, gives idli and dosa batter its characteristic lift and medu vada its structure. Whole and split, skinned versions behave differently and are not interchangeable.