Chai Pani Matchstick Okra Fries Price

Chai Pani's signature Matchstick Okra Fries are a vegan starter featuring fresh okra that is julienned into thin strips, fried until perfectly crisp, and then tossed with salt and a tangy chaat masala spice blend. The dish is served as a shareable pile of crispy "fries" with a wedge of lime on the side for squeezing over the top, which brightens the flavors. This creative take on a classic vegetable is one of the restaurant's most popular items. The Chai Pani Matchstick Okra Fries price is between $11.99 and $13.75.

Matchstick Okra Fries can be compared to the traditional cornmeal-crusted fried okra found at Southern restaurants like Tupelo Honey Cafe. Chai Pani's version is light and crispy, a quality praised in reviews as a nice change that completely avoids the vegetable's sometimes slimy texture. Customers say they cannot visit without ordering them, noting the fries are perfectly crispy and so delicious that they convert even those who are not fans of okra. This starter is an excellent prelude to one of Chai Pani's heartier offerings, like the Chicken Kathi Roll, the spicy Vada Pav potato dumpling sandwich, or the Kashmiri Fried Chicken Sandwich.

The Matchstick Okra Fries are a perfect representation of Chai Pani's mission to serve "mindblasting" Indian street food. Chef Meherwan Irani and his wife Molly opened the first Chai Pani in Asheville in 2009, aiming to showcase the underrepresented chaat (street snacks) and thalis (home-style meals) of India. The restaurant, whose name is slang for "a little something," has since received numerous accolades, including being named Outstanding Restaurant by the James Beard Foundation and earning a spot on The New-York Times' list of America's Favorite Restaurants.