It’s the most authentic cuisine of India. It’s truly an ‘Explosion of Flavors’ in your mouth that tingle your taste buds leaving you wanting more! Indian street food is pretty famous and most tourists gorge on the delicious and affordable roadside food in India to get the real taste of this amazing country. The street food in India is an amalgamation of various flavours that stimulate your taste buds. In every big metro, you will find all roads and small narrow lanes having at least one such portable food stall. The snacks are prepared right there in front of your eyes tempting you visually with the wonderful spicy aromas. In fact there are vendors for whom people don’t mind travelling far.
Street food varies from region to region. The scrumptious snacks, each prepared more temptingly than the other vary depending on the regions. Let’s have a look on what the regions of India have to offer you!
The typical North Indian food is chaat, a generic name for spicy, tangy and not very nutritious delicacies. Chaat literally means to lick yes and the fare is lip-smacking. It is sometimes crisp, tangy and brings out a variety of sensation, literally putting the tongue on fire. The chaat combines all the flavours – salt, sweet, hot, sour into a homogenous blend. Each flavour flows distinct yet it blends as one, giving it a unique taste which is best eaten and not described.
The Aaloo Tikki (potato cutlets) and Chole (spiced chickpeas) is also a famous North Indian Snack. This is my favorite street food. In north India you’ll find many street vendors selling Tikki Chole in the residential areas on a cycle or ‘thela’. In monsoon, you’ll find vendors outside schools and colleges, in markets, near bus stands and railway stations, in short everywhere packed with people waiting for their plate of Tikki chhole. The plate is topped with Dahi (curd), onion, tomato, sev, coriander, tamarind chutney, coriander chutney and some spices. My goodness I’m feeling so hungry while listing these ingredients. The taste is tangy and spicy and believe me you just can’t stop after having one plate of Tikki chhole, you’ll surely ask for another one.
No story on chaat can be complete without reference to the famous paani puri. In Delhi, they call it the gol gappa. In U.P., it is called the batasha, Mumbaiyas call it paani puri while in Kolkata it is popularly known as phhuchka. There is no Indian on this earth, who is not familiar with Panipuri. For those who are coming across this word first time, Panipuri is combination of Puri with potato stuffing, chutney and masala water. Very tasty and sort of addictive too. “I get Panipuri whenever I come back from India. I can never forget the taste of local Panipuri which I enjoyed back home,” says Mina Gupta, a student of York University.
Desi Chinese? ‘Desi Chinese’ is probably a term that you have never heard before. The word ‘desi’ is a direct reference to almost anything Indian (including person, place or thing). So essentially Desi Chinese is Chinese food in Indian style. It’s the best of both worlds and simply delicious. It’s a fusion of Indo-Chinese cuisine at its best. Traditional Chinese dishes are prepared with aromatic Indian flavors and spices. Veg/Gobi-Manchurian is a favourite among fans, it is easy to prepare and tasty. Served along with stir fried noodles with vegetables or fragrant jasmine rice, it makes for a delightful meal.
The southern states do not share the chaat experience at all. The street corners are dotted with food stalls doling out hot idlis, medu vadas, uthappams, or spreading a dosa on a hot griddle offered for one-fourth of what you may have to shell out at a restaurant.
Steaming idlis come and vanish in a flash, devoured by Venkatesh Prasad. “Ek aur lao bhai,” the waiter is instructed even before he turns back. In fact, the best way to start the day would be with the soft and fluffy idlis soaked in coconut chutney with filter coffee. What about Dosa then? Call it a dosa, a pancake, a crepe… there’s no doubt it has caught on with the connoisseurs and commoners alike. The swish and the swirl of the batter on the tawa entices everyone to have it at any time of the day. The dosa may have metamorphosed many versions but it still remains close to everyone’s palate and heart. Along with the idli and vada, it continues to be part of the triumvirate of tiffin down south.
The South Indian thali! The thali arrives with stuff that is simply irresistible. “There is nothing like vegetarian food, especially the South Indian variety. It’s served on a plantain leaf,” says Deepti Agarwal, a student of University of Toronto. “Eating on banana leaf has always been my favourite. I have to agree that there’s something about it that makes it a meal that every once in a while I get such strong urges for that I think it must be laced with some kind of drug! Sometimes my tummy churns and grumbles in a way that only banana leaf can satisfy…and yet it’s such a simple meal served on a large banana leaf instead of a plate… And the experience of eating with your hands is something that cannot be described in words. Maybe it’s the intermingling of all the different flavours and textures… maybe it’s the fact that you’re eating with your hands brings back that feeling of being a child picking up your food and just enjoying it without thinking of etiquette and grace…whatever it is…banana leaf is one of those meals I have to have at least once a month… ”
“My all time favourite snack is Mirchi Bajji! Everyone in our family just loves it. With little garnish it can be just heaven on earth eating the spicy yummy mirchi bajji,” says Shreya Gupta, student of York University. Mirchi Bajji is an Indian street food and is popular during the monsoon season served with coconut chutney. Be it any season or any celebration in India you see Mirchi Bajji is the common snack or appetizer to start with. It is the best snack for teatime.
Indians are culinary enthusiasts with a palette developed for hot and spicy food. The vibrancy of Indian culture is quite evident in its lip-smacking, hot and spicy cuisine. Irrespective of whether one is in the North, South, East or West, street food is available everywhere. Varied, delicious and economical, they are sure to satisfy taste buds and whet the appetite.
Drooling already?
