Chaats are mouth-watering, finger-licking little Indian snacks with a roller coaster of contrasting flavors and textures. To experience the ride from cool and crisp to hot and tangy to sweet, creamy and crunchy, stop by Bombay Chaat House, a modest spot in a Pembroke Pines shopping plaza.

Despite the name, chaats are far from the only attraction here. Subs made with spice-marinated roast chicken, beef and lamb make a delicious lunch, and there's a bargain-priced weekend buffet.

The place is run by the Monteiro family, who are Canadian via Pakistan and India. Cassandra, 21, staffs the counter and makes the chaats, while her mom, Loretta, cooks and dad William manages.

The couple met in Karachi, a port city on Pakistan's Arabian Sea coast, where their parents had emigrated from Goa, a former Portuguese colony on the southwest coast of India, after the 1947 British partition. The whole clan left Pakistan in 1987 for Toronto, and came to South Florida seven years ago on a business visa.

Pakistani food is similar to North Indian but with many more meat dishes. Vegetarian chaats, which are popular across both borders, originated in bazaars to tide shoppers over. Some to try here are bhel, a jumble of puffed rice; sev (chickpea noodle bits) with chopped onions and diced potato drizzled with tamarind chutney, and masala fries (spicy fries with yogurt).

Gol gappa are make-it-your-self water puffs. Poke a hole in one of the hollow crisps, add some of the accompanying potato-chickpea mixture and spoon in the spiced tamarind water. Then pop it in your mouth and enjoy a delicious explosion. Dahi puri is the same but with sweet yogurt instead of spiced water. All are seasoned with chaat masala, a tantalizing blend of spices including black salt and green mango powder.

The weekend buffet offers a choice of vegetarian curries with dal, basmati rice and chapatti bread. Pakistani specialties include haleem, a thick stew of cracked wheat and lentils with shredded goat meat; chicken curry and paya (beef trotter stew, simmered until gelatinous). Nihari, derived from the Urdu word for ``morning'' are lamb shanks cooked overnight in a creamy sauce, traditionally eaten for breakfast.

Cool the spice with a smoothie, sugar cane juice or soft-serve mango or pineapple ice cream. Heat and sweet -- they can't be beat.

Linda Bladholm's latest book is Latin and Caribbean Grocery Stores Demystified.