First, a word on this dish
Standing at a corn cart after dark, you watch the vendor do the same few things every time: butter hits a hot griddle, kernels go on, a fistful of spice goes over, a squeeze of lemon, and the cup is in your hand within a minute. That is all masala corn is, and it is worth copying at home, because the technique fits in one pan.
There are two ways carts make it. One boils or steams the corn, then dresses it off the heat with butter and spice. The other, which this recipe follows, fries the kernels on a hot surface with the butter and spices, so a few of them blister and pick up a little char. It tastes better, and the boiled method is mentioned for days when you want something lighter.
The story behind the dish
Many chaat dishes belong to one city. This one does not. The corn behind it is a variety that only became common across India from the middle of the twentieth century, long after pani puri and bhel puri had settled into their local forms. When corn got cheap and easy to find, it grew into an anyone's-cart snack, so you now get nearly the same cup in Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore and Kolkata. Variations are small. Carts in the north tend to add more butter and chilli. Parts of the west and south lean on lemon and sometimes grated coconut. Along the coast, the version people eat on the beach is plainer, just salt and chilli. Together with roasted peanuts and cut fruit, it is one of the few street snacks that belongs to every chaat tradition and to none in particular.
The method, in order
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Prep
Boil the corn and drain it dry
Whole fresh cobs go into salted boiling water for 6 to 8 minutes, until a kernel gives when pressed but still has some spring. Let them cool and slice the kernels off. For frozen kernels, 4 to 5 minutes of boiling or steaming is enough. Whichever you use, drain thoroughly and let the kernels sit in the colander for a moment. If they go into the pan wet, they steam and never brown.
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Cook
Sear in foaming butter
Set a wide skillet over medium-high heat and melt the butter until it froths. Pour in the corn in one even layer and do not touch it for a full minute, so some kernels catch golden patches. After that, stir occasionally. About 4 to 5 minutes in total is right.
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Cook
Dust with the spices
Lower the heat a notch and scatter over the chilli powder, chaat masala, cumin, pepper and salt. Keep the corn moving for 30 to 45 seconds. The goal is for the powder to coat each kernel and toast lightly in the butter, not to settle in a clump or burn.
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Serve
Finish off the heat
Take the pan off the burner, then stir in the fresh chilli if you are using it, followed by the lemon juice and coriander. Taste for balance: sour, salty and hot should all show up together. Pour it into cups right away, because once it cools, the butter sets and the appeal fades quickly.
Ingredient stand-ins
Frozen corn is every bit as good as fresh and is what most people use out of season. You can go straight from the freezer to the pot, adding a minute or two to the boil. Swap in oil for butter if you want it dairy-free, though butter is what makes the cup rich and is worth keeping if you can. Grated fresh coconut folded in at the end is a common touch along the coast of Maharashtra and Karnataka. When you want a rounder, less sharp sourness, replace the lemon with a little tamarind pulp.
Making it milder or fiercer
Because the spice goes in at the end, this is simple to scale either way. To tone it down, use just a pinch of chilli powder, leave out the green chilli, and let chaat masala and lemon carry the flavour. To push it up, choose a hotter chilli powder and add chopped green chilli, or finish with a few drops of vinegary chilli sauce, as some Mumbai vendors do. Keep the black pepper even in a mild batch. It adds a different, sharper heat and gives the cup more depth.
The slip most cooks make
A pale, soft cup usually means the corn went into the butter wet, so it steamed instead of browning. Another frequent slip is adding the chaat masala and lemon early. Both turn dull with prolonged heat, so keep them for the last moment, away from the burner. Under-salting is the quiet one: corn is sweet, and without enough salt and chaat masala it tastes like buttered corn on the cob, not a savoury snack. And if you let the cup stand around before eating, the butter turns waxy and the kernels go cold and rubbery.
Storing what is left
Fridge or counter: Leftover masala corn keeps in a sealed container in the fridge for up to two days, though it is clearly better fresh, because the butter firms up and the kernels toughen as they chill. It is not a make-ahead dish, since the hot-butter finish and the bright lemon and coriander fade fast. If you want to get ahead, boil and drain the kernels a day early and keep them in the fridge, then do the butter and spice step right before you serve.
Bringing it back to life: Put leftovers in a dry or lightly buttered skillet over medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring, until hot through. A few kernels will crisp again. The microwave is acceptable in a rush but tends to leave the corn soggy. After warming, add a squeeze of lemon and a pinch of chaat masala, since both lose their punch in the fridge.
Handle with care
Nothing about this dish is unusual from a safety standpoint. Make sure the corn is cooked through, and put leftovers in the fridge within two hours of cooking. Buttered corn left on the counter in warm weather is a poor idea. When you start from fresh cobs, rinse them before boiling to remove dirt from the husk and silk.