Chaat Masala Chips – Two Ways

About a week ago, at lunch, I was at home heating up a bowl of chicken and vegetable noodle soup and wanted something crunchy with my meal. Something crunchy that was also spicy. Chips! Who hasn’t liked those sensations that you get from eating chips? It’s those sensations that hook you. Crunch. Flavor. Crunch. That’s why chips are so addicting. Can’t explain that experience of eating chips into words very well. Some phenomenological qualia that’s addicting. Lol. However, chips are usually fried and I don’t like to eat fried foods often. When I make nachos, I make my own tortilla chips by baking them, so I decided to make myself some baked tortilla chips since I had some corn tortillas on hand. Of course, normal fried tortilla chips taste better, but baking the chips is a nice compromise. For the flavor kick, I used chaat masala, an Indian spice mix that I really enjoy. I like the hint of sweetness from the amchoor (dried mango powder) in the blend of spices.

I’m also a fan of veggie chips and earlier this week wanted some kale chips. Why not spice it up with some chaat masala? Kale with  garlic, salt & pepper is a great classic, but it also pairs well with the sweet and spicy notes in chaat masala. Below is a recipe for chaat masala chips, two ways:  spicy kale and tortilla chips.

Chaat masala kale chips in a football bowl. Remember the cartoon with the boy who had a football-shaped head ? I loved watching that show in fourth grade. HEEEYYYYY ARNOLD!!!!! I watched it all again on Netflix 😀

I also made parmesan-garlic chips for my husband who prefers not-so-spicy foods.

Tortilla chaat masala chips. Food just looks cuter in this bowl 🙂

Parmesan-garlic tortilla chips. Italian-style doritos?

Chaat Masala Chips

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons oil (divided into two equal portions for each type of chips)
• lemon or lime juice, just a squeeze
• 1 bunch of kale, washed and dried (make sure you dry it well)
• salt & pepper to taste
• chaat masala
• parmesan, grated
• garlic powder
• dried parsley
• ~8 corn tortillas, cut into wedges

1. Kale chips: Preheat your oven to 300 degrees F. Make sure your kale is dry so that it will get crispy. You don’t want it to steam in the oven. Remove the tough stem. You just want the fluffy leaves. Tear the leaves into bite-sized pieces with your hands or use a knife to cut them.
2. Whisk 1 tablespoon of oil with a squeeze of lemon or lime. The acidity brightens the flavors of the chip. Sprinkle some salt & pepper to taste.
3. Toss the kale with the oil-lemon mixture (I guess it is a vinaigrette).
4. Place the tossed kale on 2 parchment-lined baking sheets. Keep the kale in one layer without too much overlap.
5. Bake for 20 minutes until crispy. Check on them at 10 minutes, the halfway mark, and also rotate the pans to cook evenly. For the parmesan-garlic kale chips, mix some garlic powder, grated parmesan, and parsley together (you can make it as cheesy or garlicky as you want). At ~15 minutes of baking time, take some of the kale chips out of the oven and toss in the garlic-cheese mix. Place back on the baking sheet and sprinkle some garlic-cheese mix on top. Bake for another ~5 minutes until crispy. The parmesan garlic kale chips may be softer after you pull them out of the oven, but will get totally crispy as it cools.
6. For the chaat masala kale chips, toss the kale carefully in the chaat masala or sprinkle it on while the chips are still warm. If it is cool, the spices will not stick easily.
7. Tortilla chips:  Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. Repeat step 2 to make the vinaigrette. Toss the tortilla wedges with the vinaigrette.
8. Place the tortilla wedges on 2 parchment-lined baking sheets. Keep the tortilla wedges in one layer without overlap.
9. Bake for about 12-14 minutes, checking halfway through the baking time and flipping the chips over for even baking. For the parmesan-garlic tortilla chips, at about 7-10 minutes of baking time when the chips are starting to brown, take them out of the oven and toss with the garlic-parmesan mixture. Place them back onto the baking sheet and sprinkle more of the garlic-cheese mix on top. Bake for another 4-7 minutes or until crisp and golden brown.
10. For the chaat masala tortilla chips, after the chips are finished baking and are still warm, toss in chaat masala or sprinkle some on top. Done.

Related articles

• Baked Tortilla Chips (afternoonpopcornsnack.com)
• Recipe for Paneer Veg Nibbles (femmehavenn.wordpress.com)
• Perfecting kale chips (winterbounty.wordpress.com)