Tangy, salty, sweet, and juicy, this Pakistani fruit chaat is a medley of flavors and textures and is a great way to enjoy some of the best seasonal fruit out there.
This chaat is essentially a fruit salad seasoned with some chaat masala and some other spices and is typically featured on the iftar table during the month of Ramadan.
Plus, it is packed with antioxidants and fiber, both of which are great for your health in more ways than one.
In Pakistan and almost every other part of the world, fruit in any form is eaten for iftar during the month of Ramadan.
I love making my favorites- mango Tajin salad and watermelon feta Tajin salad, but this delightful fruit chaat was a must-try.
I got to use up some of those extra fruits I had, and everyone in my family absolutely loved it!
Jump to:
- What's So Great About the Recipe?
- Ingredients For the Pakistani Fruit Chaat Recipe
- How to Make Pakistani Fruit Chaat
- Substitutions & Variations
- 💭Top Tip
- Equipment
- How to Store Leftover Fruit Chaat
- Tips & Tricks to Nail the Recipe
- How to Serve the Pakistani Fruit Salad
- FAQs
- Related Recipes
- Pakistani Fruit Chaat
What's So Great About the Recipe?
My favorite part about this recipe is the fact that it is made with seasonal fruits.
You can get to enjoy a variety of fruits in one single bowl, which is a great way to get your daily fruit intake covered.
Another big plus is the fact that you can actually customize it to your preference too!
Ingredients For the Pakistani Fruit Chaat Recipe
You’ll need just a handful of pantry staples to make this sweet and spicy fruit salad.
Fresh fruits: Choose any and all fresh fruits you can get your hands on. I used apples, grapes, strawberries, oranges and pomegranate, but you can also use peaches, nectarines, blueberries, pineapple, watermelon, cantaloupe, bananas, mango, pear and guava.
Chaat masala: Chaat masala is truly the hero ingredient here when it comes to flavor. You should be able to find fruit chaat masala - a delightful spice mix at most supermarkets.
Lemon juice: Lemon juice lends a beautiful citrusy deliciousness to the fruit chaat.
Sugar: Sugar helps balance out the other flavors of this spiced fruit salad. It is, of course, optional, but highly recommended.
Black salt: I used black salt because it lends a beautiful flavor to the chaat. You can stick to using regular table salt if you want to.
Mint leaves: Mint leaves lend a beautiful hint of freshness to the fruit chaat. I like to use a pinch or two of my dried mint when I don’t find fresh mint.
See recipe card for quantities.
How to Make Pakistani Fruit Chaat
Ready to make fruit chaat from scratch? Here’s what you’ll need to do.
Step 1: Wash and peel the fruits that need to be peeled. Cut them into bite-sized chunks.
Step 2: Add them all to a large bowl along with all the other ingredients.
Step 3: Squeeze lemon juice on the top and give it all a good mix.
Step 4: Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Substitutions & Variations
- If you don’t have the lemon juice that the recipe calls for, feel free to use some orange juice or lime juice instead.
- For an extra hint of spice, you can also add a bit of red chili powder or black pepper into the mix.
- Roasted cumin powder also makes for a nice addition to this version of a fruit salad.
💭Top Tip
For a punchy flavor, you can also add mango juice to the fruit chaat.
Equipment
How to Store Leftover Fruit Chaat
I would recommend finishing this fruit chaat quickly and not storing it for too long, as the fresh fruits can quickly get mushy.
If you do want to prep the chaat in advance, you can chop all the fruits and store them in a glass container with an airtight lid in the refrigerator, and then add in the spices and lemon juice right before serving.
Tips & Tricks to Nail the Recipe
- If you’re adding bananas, apples, and pears to the fruit salad, you may want to squeeze some lime juice over them and toss them before you add them to the fruit chaat. This will help keep them from turning brown.
- To lend a bit of tanginess to the fruit chaat, you can also add some dry mango powder aka amchur into the mix.
- To make this dish healthier, you can swap the store-bought chaat masala and use homemade chaat masala instead.
- To bring a bit of variation to this chaat, you can also add some boiled or canned chickpeas into the salad and turn it into a fruity chickpea salad.
How to Serve the Pakistani Fruit Salad
The best way to serve fruit chaat is to enjoy it as an appetizer or a mid-day or evening snack.
And of course, having fruit chaat at iftar is another story altogether. You can team it up with traditional Pakistani iftar foods like pakoras and samosas.
I recently made this chaat and served it with my quick Turkish cheese rolls and Sumac chicken.
I also love pairing this fruit chaat with my all time favorite chana chaat.
FAQs
Some of the most commonly used fruits are bananas, apples, oranges, watermelon and cantaloupe. You can also add avocado into the mix if you want to!
Want to add a bit of heat to the sweet and tangy fruit chaat? You can add some chopped green chilies or some cayenne pepper into the mix.
Chaat masala is a spice mix that’s a staple in every Pakistani and Indian household. It is not just used in a fruit chaat, but also to season a lot of other dishes. It typically contains spices like cumin, coriander, black pepper, salt, and asafetida.
While you can use frozen fruits to make the Pakistani fruit chaat, I would recommend sticking to using fresh fruit. If you really want to though, make sure you drain the excess canning liquid before adding the fruit into the mix.
Related Recipes
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
Pakistani Fruit Chaat
Ingredients
- 1 cup strawberries diced
- 1 cup grapes halved
- 1 cup apple diced
- 1 orange segmented
- ½ cup pomegranate arils
- ½ teaspoon chaat masala
- ¼ teaspoon black salt
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 5-6 mint leaves
Instructions
- Wash and peel the fruits that need to be peeled.
- Cut them into bite-sized chunks.
- Add them all to a large bowl along with all the other ingredients and give it all a good mix.
- Refrigerate until ready to serve.