India Food Tour

Tag: indian street food

  • Chaat, One of best Indian street food items

    Chaat – Indian Street Food

    Various varieties of  Chaat are some of most popular Indian street food dishes and quite more than just snacks for people in India. Chaat is among the lightest, cheapest and most convenient meal to have when someone is in a hurry.  Indian street food is incomplete without a mention of chaat.  A confusing point that many people don’t get is that a lot of Indian street food items are called chaat. Some of more popular chaat dishes are papdi chaat, gol gappa also called paani puri,and bhalla chaat. Chaat is a street food dish, but some kind of it always served during most parties in India. Even posh, high-end restaurants have started serving chaat items, but they are often beaten by the street food vendors who have been doing it for generations
    A large number of chaat food items exist in India, many with completely different  Bhalla_Papri_Chaat_with_saunth_chutney, Chaat Indian street food flavours, looks and ingredients from the rest. Many chaats are eaten cool and thus are enjoyable even in summer. Pani puris for example, are just water flavoured with digestive spices served in hollow balls made of crisp flour. Sometimes they are garnished with chick peas and boiled mashed potatoes. The flavoured water is usually salty made using pudina (mint), rock salt, pepper,  and some other ingredients depending upon where you eat it. For people who like sweetness, bit of sweet and tangy tamarind chutney is added. A number of different flavours among pani puris are available catering to almost every type of  fan. The flavoured water is considered to help with digestion and is useful in preventing dehydration during hot summers of India.  Many people drink pani puri water by cups.

    Puris are the most common ingredients for other types of chaats. They are small, crisp  and crackle loudly when broken. Boiled or fried potatoes and two or more types of chutney ( a type of sauce) are also used. One chutney, made of imli (tamarind) is sweet and tangy . Second one is spicy and  made of pudina (mint), ginger and green chillies.

    Many street food items, including chaat  may or may not have dahi (curd, yooghurt), another popular food item in India. It helps with digestion and makes tolerating excess spiciness easy for people who are not used to it.  Dahi bhalla chaat is a very popular and tasty street food item, specially popular during summers. The yoghurt is thickened and sometimes sweetened, giving it a smooth creamy texture which gels really well with bhalla . It is sometimes sprinkled with chaat masala, onion garnishing and bits of fried potatoes.
    Chaat masala is another thing which helps with digestion but is used more in a wa, not just to increase the flavours. It may have different varieties and ingredients in different places. Most popular are powders of  , dried raw mango (aam choor), ginger, pepper, rock salt and dried pomegranates ( anaar daana). Apart from their use as chaat masala, these ingredients are also used in combination with other different ingredients as churan to help with digestion.

    Bhel puri, from Maharashtra is a very tasty light snack made of sev ( thin noodle like crisps made of besan) and puffed rice. They are sprinkled with  chaat masala, chutney and garnished with tomatoes and onions. It’s a good snack to have, light on stomach and low on oil.

    Aaloo tikki is another very popular chaat dish made of boiled and then crisply fried potato cakes. They are served as soon as they are cooked, garnished with chaat masala, chutney and sometimes yoghurt. It’s a heavy dish due to fried potatoes but it’s popular all the same.  McDonalds in India even launched a McAaloo Tikki burger to cash in on its popularity.
    Even if the chaat may seem heavy or tough to digest, yoghurt and chat masala make sure that your digestive system stays fit and healthy. As with everything else, it’s not good to eat chaat in excess, especially if you don’t know about Indian food in details

    How to eat chaat or any other food in India

    Chaat_with_saunth_chutney, Chaat Indian street foodWhile traveling in Delhi or any other Indian city, you will find a number of street food vendors selling different varities of  food with chaat vendors being a significant majority. Some of them will be there just to make a quick buck and be done with the whole thing, while others serve their food with pride and care for customers. Important thing is to know how to distinguish between the two. Good street food vendors care for their clientele and serve only the best quality food. You can tell it from their loyal customers.

    Make sure that the food vendors you visit obey basic hygiene rules. Confirm that the food ingredients are covered and protected from dust and flies. Most street food vendors use disposable plates, but if they are not, make sure that they are clean. Read this article to know more about how to keep safe from water and food related problems while traveling.

    We hope that this article will help you enjoy Indian street food, specially chaat better. Happy munching. Contact us for feedback, queries or for booking an Indian street food tour.

    Image courtesy: Wikipedia

  • Indian Street Food in India

    Authentic Indian Street Food

    Different people think differently about street food. Some people feel shy about eating in open streets while some may have concerns about food hygiene and cleanliness. But the point which makes street food popular is the sheer innovation an quality of food from street vendors which established fancy restaurants find very hard to replicate. Street food is not only easy on pocket but also very good to eat. Most street food vendors worth their salt actually have better cleanliness than many restaurants. Quite often in case of street food, not only you can see the food being cooked in front of you with your own eyes but also ask for customizations which are difficult to accommodate in restaurant meals. In many street food businesses, the cooking recipe is a trade secret and is zealously guarded just like MNCs like KFC, Pepsi etc. guard their own recipes.

    Indian street food, bhaajiThe variety of food available in India is unmatched anywhere in the world. India is a melting pot of various diverse cultures and their cuisines, each one with their unique flavours. What passes for Indian cuisine elsewhere in world is only a very poor and incomplete imitation of the real deal which is a amalgam of thousands of different dishes from different cultures. Even native Indians can’t expect to cover all the food varieties available here and do justice to them. A person living in Tamilnadu will have a very different diet from one living in West Bengal or Bihar or Gujarat or Rajasthan. With faster ways of communications, different regional cuisines are finding acceptance in other parts slowly but steadily. Paav Bhaaji, a typical Maharashtraian dish, Dosa from south India, Dhokla from Gujarat and many other such items are just few examples of regional Indian food dishes which have gained popularity not only inside India, but also in foreign countries.

    Owing to it’s accessibility and low price, street food culture has played a very important role in increasing popularity of regional Indian food. It’s not possible for everyone to go to a fancy niche restaurant to eat authentically prepared exotic dish. In similar way, it’s not always possible for restaurants in far away locations to find good cooks and  keep the authentic flavours intact. Street food vendors solve this dilemma quite well. Not only they have low prices, but the food is prepared in an authentic manner too. In most cases, a single street food vendor will specialise in preparing only one or a handful of dishes, which keeps their focus intact and also helps with increasing their expertise and gives them opportunities  to experiment and innovate.

    Safely eating Indian street food in IndiaIndian Street Food In India

    Almost every city in India has it’s own street food culture influenced by a number of factors. But there a  few Indian street food dishes which one can expect to find almost anywhere, so popular they’ve become.  Gol Gappe, Aaloo Tikki, kathi roll, Pakode with different stuffings, Dahi Bhalle, Poori Kachori, Chaat, Chole Bhatoore,  Samosa, Dahi vada, Bhel poori and many many more dishes which used to be just regional foods now have not only pan-Indian but also international presence. Some of these food items have become so popular that people don’t even think of them as something exotic anymore. They are truly a part of Indian cuisine.

    Different types of street food dishes in India are consumed as snack as well as  complete meals. This is not to say that you can have pakode or smaosa for a meal.  Some dishes like dosa, idli, biryani, vada paav etc, which are considered proper meals in their places of origin are eaten often eaten as street food snack elsewhere.  It may get confusing for some foreigners who know only a liittle about Indian food but not the fine details needed by a dedicated foodie or even someone hungry looking for a good fulfilling meal. One needs to spend some time and effort observing the surroundings or get some one who is knowledgeable to explain the details.Indian street food, sabudana vada
    Not every street food shop is worth visiting and a many are over hyped too. Some shops may not serve and operate in hygienic conditions either. Selecting a street food shop which serves good food at good price and ensures cleanliness is a bit harder than it looks and if you are new to a place. This is where food tour services prove useful. Of course it’s possible to indulge in some exploration by yourself, but in a strange country it’s better to have some one guide you when it comes to something as diverse as Indian street food, at least initially.