A slice of bread, toasted on one side, carries a layer of cheese flecked with chopped green chilli, red bell pepper, garlic and coriander. Under a lid on the stove, the cheese melts into the bread. Then the toast is cut into triangles and eaten warm with tomato ketchup. In Hindi it's चिल्ली चीज़ टोस्ट, chilli cheese toast, and it's one of India's best-loved quick snacks: hot and buttery, with a little sweetness from the pepper.
Chilli Cheese Toast in Mumbai
Chilli cheese toast is a true Indian classic, associated with Bombay, now Mumbai. It spread through hotels, homes and street food. One version was on the room-service menu of the Taj Mahal Hotel, made with cheese, tomato, red chilli powder and chopped green chillies.
Nobody agrees on who invented it. One story places it at the hotel's Harbour Bar around 1970 and links it to Arvind Kilachand and chef Santan. Another comes from Ajit Kerkar, a former Taj manager, who credits chef Satish Arora. Arora remembers trying the idea around 1975 or 1976 with grated Amul cheese, chopped onions, hard tomatoes, coriander and white bread.
This recipe is different from the one Arora recalled. It uses red bell pepper and garlic and leaves out the onion and tomato. For more dishes from the same country, see our Indian recipes.
Ingredients (2 servings, 4 slices of bread)
The butter goes into the cheese mixture; the bread is not buttered separately. Ketchup is for serving only and does not go into the topping. No salt, oil, onion, tomato or extra cheese is used.
Equipment
- Cutting board and knife
- Mixing bowl and spoon
- Pan with a lid
- Spreading knife or spoon
Choosing the Bread, Cheese and Chillies
Use ordinary sliced bread and processed cheese. Processed cheese is what gives this toast its smooth melt. Mozzarella, cheddar and other cheeses make a different toast.
Green chillies and red bell pepper each have their own job: the chillies bring heat, and the pepper brings sweetness and color. Use fresh green chillies, and keep in mind that heat varies from chilli to chilli.
Fixing Chilli Cheese Toast Problems
| What you see | What to do |
|---|---|
| The topping looks lumpy | Keep mixing until it is smooth before spreading |
| The topping ended up on the untoasted side | Spread on the toasted side, so the untoasted side faces the pan in step 5 |
| The cheese has not melted yet | Keep the lid on and continue on medium heat until it melts |
| You are tempted to flip the toast | Leave it topping-side up and keep it covered |
Serving and Other Versions
Cut the toast into triangles and eat it while it's warm, with tomato ketchup on the side.
There's also an oven-baked version. It uses white bread, a mozzarella-cheddar blend, green capsicum, boiled sweet corn, garlic, butter, green chillies, black pepper, chilli flakes, herbs, optional milk and salt. Here the bread is buttered, topped and baked in an oven.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does it take?
The recipe takes 10 minutes to prepare and 15 minutes to cook, 25 minutes in total.
Do I need to butter the bread?
No. The heaped tablespoon of butter is mixed into the cheese topping, and the bread goes into the pan plain.
