Chai Pani

Our daughters treated me this week to dinner and a visit to the theater.   Katy chose Chai Pani in Decatur for a quick bite to eat.  Chai Pani is slang in India for tea and water  which means going out for a cup of tea or a  little something to eat.  Chai Pani opened its first restaurant in  Asheville basing its menu on street vendor food found in India and the home cooked basic meal in India known as Thali.  

We sampled two items from the Chaat (street snack) menu. We chose to stretch our palate by trying the Sev Potato Dahi Puri which is a puff pastry stuffed with potatoes, onions, kale, cilantro and crunchy chickpea noodles, sweet yogurt and assorted chutneys.   In case we didn’t like the Dahi Puri we also tried the Matchstick Okra Fries which seemed relatively harmless for this fried okra loving family.

Thali is the traditional family meal enjoyed all over India.  Thali means plate and translates into a round platter on which food is served.  Tratitional Thali offers 6 different flavors-sweet, salty, bitter, sour astringent and spicy.    The Malabar Chicken Curry in a cocount tomato curry with a side of sambar.   It was spicy and rich.  The Methi Mutter Paneer (Indian farmer’s cheese) with peas and onions in a cashew -coconut gravy with green chillies, garlic and ginger and a side of cholle is not spicy.   Both dishes are  served with basmati rice, daal, sabji, raita, roti, kachumber, and papadum.