The original chaat is a mixture of potato pieces, crisp fried bread, dahi vada or dahi bhalla, gram or chickpeas and tangy-salty spices, with sour Indian chili and saunth (dried ginger and tamarind sauce), fresh green coriander leaves and yogurt for garnish, but other popular variants included alu tikkis or samosa (garnished with onion, potatoes, coriander, peas, hot spices and a dash of yogurt), bhel puri, dahi puri, panipuri, dahi vada, papri chaat, and sev puri.

The ingredients are combined and served on a small metal plate or a banana leaf, dried and formed into a bowl.

A recipe for a dahi vada analogue called kshiravata is mentioned in Manasollasa, a 12th-century Sanskrit encyclopedia compiled by Someshvara III, who ruled from present-day Karnataka.

The royal doctors had asked the people of Delhi to consume spicy and fried snacks, as well as dahi, as a countermeasure to the alkaline water of the Yamuna river that coursed through the city.

[8] Most chaats originated in some parts of UP Uttar Pradesh in India later in 20th century,[9] but they are now eaten all across South Asia and neighboring countries.