Intrepid International Chaat Taster

Review: Thela, Cambridge 

Evidently not my best photo, but I was too hungry to wait much longer...

During term time I can make dal or get a curry, but something I cannot get my hands on is chaat – what is an easy thing to buy or put together at home requires too many ingredients for me to seek out here, and so far no restaurant has served it either. But for the past few weeks bright photos of chaat and other dishes have flitted across my newsfeed, with a tantalising 'coming to Cambridge soon...' caption.
After much hype, a friend from Bombay and I went to try out Thela, a new place in Cambridge that claims to serve authentic Indian street food. Of course, I had my favourite dahi batata puri (for reference, see this post!):

1. The speed of service rivalled that of the Bombay Gymkhana... (an old colonial club rooted in the days of long lazy hours and where a glass of water will take longer to arrive than your entire meal.)
2. Nice plate. Artistic points. 
3.  WAS NOT SERVED WITH A SPOON. Dahi puri and forks do not go. A piece of cardboard or papdi (the standard street food options, the former recycled and the latter edible) or a spoon or nothing. We had to ask for them for spoons... -.- 
4. Puris: crunchy. Nothing worse than soggy chaat. Usually either because of Bombay's humidity or the Gymkhana waiters forgetting your plate on a table for 15 minutes. 
5. The aloo: decent on the inside; some basic masala mixed into it.
6. The dahi: (yoghurt) was cold and tamarind chutney was generous enough.
7. The pudina (mint) chutney wasn't spicy and was refreshing.
8. Sev: visible. Of course not handmade like the massive squiggly street stall ones (again, see this post for pictorial reference and a glossary of terms).
9. Dhaniya: what dhaniya? (Coriander)
10. Kachhi kairi: too optimistic. (Raw mango, one of the best parts of my favourite chaat.)
11. Pomegranate: ditto.
12. Salad: as welcome and as useful as the fork. 
13. Yummy crunchy spicy fried bits: still on the shelf at Haldiram's (the authority on namkeen –  crunchy fried Indian nibbly things). 
14. Chaat masala? I had more of it in one handful of popcorn yesterday (highly recommend btw.)  
15. Therefore don't even ask about the other masala. 

The place smelled faintly like a typical local Indian restaurant, for those who know what I mean, which was nice insofar as it was familiar. And water in tall Coca Cola glasses. Of course. 
As we left I spotted the saunf on the counter and dashed back to get some, but it wasn't as good as my packet from Crawford Market, complete with plain fennel, tiny little mystery seeds, shiny silver bits, and rose petals, which I finished weeks ago:p 

Overall: I remember two Bombay friends at Cambridge who were a couple of years above me saying that the lowest ranking Indian food at home is about what you'll get in Cambridge. Our Indian food last year at an Indian restaurant was not bad (though a bit heavy and oily), and the India Society has gotten delicious Indian food for a lot of their events,  but I think with this chaat I see what my friends  meant. The thing is, they got the difficult bits right (the puris, the chutneys), it was just the energy that was missing. You don't hold back when you're making chaat:  fistfuls of coriander and toppings; all the sweet/spicy/crunchy/sour/salty combinations you can manage;  lots of fresh spices (not necessarily spicy); you throw the tomatoes and freshness into the chaat, instead of leaving a sad and vague salad on the side that nobody wants because it's not chaat and it serves no purpose; and you do. not. serve it with a fork, you serve it with an appropriate shovel so that each bite has an adequate amount of all the little flavours and bits and bobs in one go. 
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But the place was busy, the waiter seemed relatively on it, and a person sat near us told the waiter he really enjoyed the food. The menu has a few thalis and some other interesting dishes so maybe I'll give them another try next time Week 5/6 homesickness gets to me.
At least someone is making chaat outside of India, and if I could handle the weather/place for longer it'd be my mission to make sure (good, real, Mohan/Gupta-street style) chaat overtakes Sainsbury's 'poppadoms' and naan and 'balti' as the UK's go-to Indian food 👩🏾‍🍳🇮🇳