The Chatpate Conundrum

Chatpate(no italics) is one of the greatest contributions Nepali culture has made(along with Momos) to humanity. But not all Chatpates are the same-- some are good, and some not so much. Some are, in fact, so bad that that they create uncertainty about their greatness in those that eat them. Everyone needs to understand the cause of difference in the quality, to be able to distinguish the good from the bad.

The most important quality of a good chatpate is its ability to be customized for personal taste. A good  chatpatewallah will always ask his(assumption) customers the saltiness they prefer, the magnitude of spicyness they would like to have, ranging from 'not spicy at all' to 'holy *hit, call the doctor. I might die. I will die if I don't get something to get rid of this', and the exact amount of the secret sauce to be used. If the chatpatewallah does not ask you for these things, he's not a good at this particular trade,  no matter how good a cook or street-food specialist he maybe in general. Never, ever go to him again.

The possible combination are infinite. Probably not infinite, but  so large that if you use combination/permutation to calculate, your calculator will show 'error' which could be assumed to be 'infinite' for our case. The fun thing about this food is, if you want to, you will taste a different flavor of chatpate every time you eat, and you never have to repeat a taste.

The other important factor to consider is the wetness to desirability ratio. A good Chatpate should be wet. However, it should not be so wet so as to make it icky-icky. A good rule of thumb to keep in mind to check how good a Chatpate is by looking at the wetness:desirability ratio. If the ratio is less than 1, that is you find it more desirable than it is wet, it will be too dry and crunchy. If the ratio is much larger than one, ie, if it looks much wetter than desirable, it probably is not going to taste too good. So a good Chatpate is the one that maintains the wetness:desirability ratio (which shall henceforth be known as Runil's Ratio)  as near to 1 as possible.

The usual factors, such as hygiene, and taste do play a part, as in anywhere else, but the final thing to consider while judging a good chatpate is the kind of spoon the chatpatewallah gives. Even after the chatpate wallah has proved his cleanliness, his talents in making a good chatpate, allows for infinite customizations, and maintains the Runil's Ratio, the chatpate produced by him cannot be considered to be of good standards if the spoon/scoop offered is not sturdy enough. The scoop should be able to withstand at least 22 scoops of the chatpate it accompanies. Better scoops, however, should give away after 32 scoops, so that the second scoop, also included, is used.