Anjana Shanker is a chef and baker who has contributed to ChefSteps for many years. Previously, she worked on the R&amp;D team for Modernist Cuisine, as well as at restaurants like Lampreia in Seattle.

Anjana Shanker

Green bean casserole is a traditional side dish at Thanksgiving, but I’ve found it’s usually completely ignored. Every year, I try to jazz it up with a whimsical approach to making it more flavorful: making it “chatpata,” a Hindi adjective that’s used to describe spicy and tangy foods, including the vast and varied world of snacks known as chaat.Chaat means “to lick,” and it refers to how good these snacks are—basically, “finger-licking” good. Spicy, sweet, savory, and sour, with a lot of textural variation, they’re a combination of everything we find craveable in food. Everyone who’s had chaat loves it, and you can eat chaat at any time of the day.Chaat typically consists of some base carbohydrate, like boiled potatoes; a sauce or chutney (or two); crunchy bits, traditionally sev, or fried noodles made from besan (chickpea flour); diced, raw red onion; and chaat masala, an aromatic spice mix. For this chaat riff on green bean casserole, the green beans are the base; tamarind and cilantro chutneys add spicy and tangy flavors; a generous amount of sev, crushed potato chips, and crispy fried shallots provide crunch; sautéed onions add texture and more flavor; and yogurt and a silky-smooth coconut milk roux spiced with nutmeg and chile binds everything together.It’s creamy, flavorful, and well-seasoned, just as a good green bean casserole should be, with a lot of added personality from the chutneys and crunchy stuff. It’s a green bean casserole that literally demands your attention.

Green Bean Casserole Chaat