Ways to Eat It

Most people eat Doosra straight from the bag, standing up, in the kitchen. That's a perfectly good life. But the mix was built the way a good snack table is built — crunchy, salty, sweet, then a slow warm spice at the end — and that makes it useful in more places than a bowl.

Here are the ways we actually eat it. None of them take longer than a minute.

At 4pm, with chai

The original. Boondi and chai have sat together on Indian kitchen tables for generations; ours just brings chocolate along. Pour a small bowl, make the tea strong and milky, and let the spice arrive after the sip.

Works because: the milk cools the chilli and the chocolate stops fighting it.

On vanilla ice cream

Sounds wrong. Isn't. A handful crushed lightly over a scoop turns into something between a sundae and a chikki. Peanut and white chocolate is the one to use here.

Works because: cold and sweet flattens the heat, so what you taste is texture and salt.

With a negroni, or anything bitter

Put it in a small bowl next to a negroni, a martini, or a hoppy beer. It does what a bowl of nuts does at a bar, but with more going on.

Works because: bitter drinks want salt and fat, and the spice keeps you going back.

Over thick yogurt and honey

Breakfast, or the thing you eat at 10pm and don't tell anyone about. Greek yogurt, a spoon of honey, walnut and dark chocolate on top.

Works because: it's granola's more interesting cousin, and the boondi stays crisp longer than oats do.

Crushed over roasted vegetables

Roast sweet potato, squash, carrots, anything sticky and caramelised. Crush a small handful over the top just before serving.

Works because: roasted vegetables are soft and sweet and desperate for crunch and salt.

On the cheese board

Pour a small pile beside a sharp cheddar or an aged gouda. It replaces the sad handful of crackers nobody eats.

Works because: salty, crunchy, a bit sweet — the same job as quince paste and candied nuts, in one bowl.

In a salad, as the crouton

Anything with apple, fennel, pear or bitter leaves. Add at the table, not in the bowl, or it goes soft.

Works because: it brings crunch, salt and warmth without another dressing.

Straight from the bag, standing up, in the kitchen

Still the most popular method. We're not here to judge.

Bringing it to someone else's house

All of the above works as a gift too. The Gift Shop has the bowl and spoon set, the 12 oz duo and boxes for the office — all of it gluten-free, which makes it one of the few food gifts almost everyone at the table can eat.