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 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
While 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.
Kheer Recipe Kheer is a famous dessert in the Indian cuisine. Kheer essentially means milk in Sanskrit. This mouth watering dessert is made from broken wheat, vermicelli or rice. You can choose as per your taste. You can add nuts and raisins to make it crunchier and add some saffron to it to get that beautiful color. Initially Kheer was originated in South India but later on it became famous all across India. Items required for preparing Kheer: 1 cup of milk Rice half cup or broken wheat or vermicelli (soaked and washed for 20 minutes) Soaked 20 strands of saffron in 2-3 tablespoon of hot milk. Green cardamoms – 8 – peeled and powdered. Sugar – 6-7 tablespoon. 14 almonds and 12 pistachios. How to prepare: Simmer the milk once it is boiled thoroughly. Grind rice or broken wheat coarsely so that it easily dissolves in the milk. Add milk to coarsely ground rice or wheat. Stir the milk thoroughly nonstop so that it does not stick to the pan. Boil till the milk thickens and the rice or wheat is boiled. Now remove the pan and add almonds and pistachios Serve it hot or cold.
Assam offers just the right kind of flavours to tickle your taste buds. With a wide variety of indigenous food to offer, Assamese food is famous for its distinct flavoring and influences. Delicious pork, chicken and mutton dishes are a must try. Baanhgaj or Lagot Kukura is essentially chicken cooked with bamboo shoots and lentil.The dish goes well with rice and it can be garnished with chopped green chillies and onions. Khaar is truly a unique Assamese preparation. Khaar is a heartwarming dish made with vegetables and pulses and the main ingredient being meat, fish or even duck. Even dried banana leaves which imparts burst of unexpected yet refreshing flavors. Lucchi is prepared by deep frying a roti made up of white flour, without making it crisp. It is served with a delicious potato curry. Lucchi is also known as Poori in other parts of the country. Masor Tenga is slow cooked fish with a broth made from outenga, tomatoes, and lemon and offers an extremely tangy refreshing flavour once done. Every Assamese definitely loves Masor Tenga. Payash is made using Joha rice and is loaded with ghee, dry fruits, and milk. Cooked on a low flame, one can also add cardamom and saffron for garnishing the dish. Overall, it is a must try dish for all those with a sweet tooth.
How to cook Mutton Curry In Tamil curry essentially means sauce. The curries are made from the combination of different types of spices along with yogurt or coconut milk. This combination will depend upon different regions of India. The curry is served either wet or dry depending upon the taste of people. They are made out of mutton, chicken, fish, prawns, eggs and vegetables. Requirements: Cubed 500 grams mutton Chopped onions 5 Ginger – garlic paste 1 tbsp made in 1 cup of water Chilli powder one a half teaspoon Green chilli paste 1 teaspoon Half cup tomato puree Coriander powder 1 tablespoon Turmeric powder half tablespoon Yoghurt 2 cups 8 black peppercorns and cloves 1 tsp – cumin seeds, 1 cup of coriander leaves neatly chopped Half of cup oil Salt to taste Cooking Methodology: Firstly flatten all the meat cubes into flat pieces. Now mix the yoghurt, chilli, turmeric, coriander powder and salt in the flat pieces of meat. Next step is to arrange half of the chopped onions in the pressure cooker at the bottom along with this arrange the pieces of meat along with yogurt mixture on the top of onions. Sprinkle ginger garlic water and rest of the onions then the whole spices Add 2 cups of hot water Pressure cook till done Now remove from the pressure cooker and cook until the gravy is thick. Once the gravy is thick add the tomato puree along with the oil Blend until the oil separates Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot.
DUM AALOO Dum Aaloo is the most popular Kashmiri potato recipe which is well known for its appetizing flavor. This dish is popular all across the world. This dish has originated from Kashmir and is prepared almost in every household in India. Dum Aaloo tastes excellent served with chapattis, Nan or parantha. So let us learn how to prepare this delicious dish in following recipe. Ingredients: Baby small potatoes – 10 nos. Take 3 tablespoon of mustard oil Two tablespoons of tomato puree Half teaspoon of sugar One large onion sliced Two large cloves of garlic Cashewnuts – 6 Salt as per taste Half a teaspoon of turmeric powder Half a teaspoon paprika chilli powder Half a teaspoon of garam masala – this you can get ready made from the market Preparation method Take a heavy bottom pan and heat the oil. Let the oil be hot enough so that you can easily fry the ingredients Now fry the sliced onions until they are golden brown. Remove them and keep them aside Next fry the baby potatoes until they are brown; now remove them and keep it aside Grind the fried brown onions and the garlic into a fine paste and add to the hot oil Next add all the masalas such as turmeric powder, chilli powder, salt, sugar and garam masala along with a bit of sugar These masalas have to be fried on a low flame for some time until the oil leaves the sides of the gravy. Now add tomato puree, cashew paste and let is simmer for some time. Serve hot with roti or rice.
Malai Kofta Recipe The blend of rich creamy texture Malai and combination of Kofta (vegetarian balls) makes this cuisine scrumptious, finger smacking and delicious. In India, this combination was introduced by Moghuls. In ancient times, it is also referred to cooking style of Punjab of using Malai in food. Ingredients:- For Gravy Cream (125 Gms). Paneer or Khoya (75 gms). Milk (150 ml). Cashew nut- (50 Gms). White pepper powder (3 tsp.). Sugar (2.5 tsp.). Grated Ginger (2 tsp.). Nutmeg powder (¼ tsp.). Turmeric powder (1/2 tsp.). Garlic crushed (1 tsp.). Cinnamon (1). Cloves (6). Salt to taste. Ghee (3 tsp.). For Kofta Khoya (50 gms). Paneer (50 gms). Medium sized potatoes- (5). Cashew nuts- (20 Gms). Raisins (20 Gms). Chopped green chillies (4 to 5). Ginger grated (½ tsp.). Chopped Coriander (1 tsp.). Cumin seeds (1/2 tsp.). Salt to taste. For Garnishing Grated cheese or Paneer (1 tbsp.). Chopped coriander- (1 tbsp.). Cooking: Wash and boil potatoes. Mix all the ingredients of Kofta except raisins. Make small balls and then flatten it with cashew and raisins and then again make them into the balls. Repeat the procedure for the remaining dough and keep it on side. Roast cloves, cinnamon, cardamom together. Dry grind them, well grind all other gravy ingredients except ghee. In a skillet, heat ghee and then add dry powders, add gravy paste. After 2-3 minutes, then allow them to fry for 5-7 minutes. Now add 2 cups of water and let them simmer for 15 minutes on low flame. Warm the Kofta on tava. In a serving dish, place the Kofta and then add hot gravy on the koftas, Next place it in a hot oven for 5 minutes Serve hot with various breads or rice.
Fried Fish Recipe Fried fish is a regular dish made all over the world in different ways and has its different versions that are all palatable. It goes well with chips or if you want something Indian then try it with dal and rice. Fish is consumed in India far and wide. The delicious Indian masalas used in making fish and eaten with the rice makes it a wonderful combination. It’s a staple in the coastline belt of India. Ingredients: 1 Kg fresh fish fillets 1 – egg white, beaten 1 cup – bread crumbs 2 tbsp – melted butter Salt as per taste ¼ tsp – pepper powder How to cook: Preheat oven at 350 degree C. Mix egg, salt and pepper Dip the fillets in egg Roll in bread crumbs On a baking tray put the fish to bake after greasing it Pour melted butter over fillets Bake for 10 mins or till it’s done
A lot of people suffer from upset stomach and other related illness by consuming unsafe water and food while traveling. A few people are blessed with iron stomach and immune system better than Terminator. But for rest of us, a lot of effort is spent on not getting sick whenever we step outside our homes for any period of time. This issue is of particular importance for people who are traveling to foreign countries. You will find different notions of hygiene, cleanliness and even different pests and germs in different places. For example, communicable diseases like malaria are almost completely eradicated in western world, but they still claims hundreds of thousands of lives in many other countries. Although, this topic can be written about in a very detailed manner, time and space constraints dictate that I limit this article to basic precautions related to water and food safety only. Although, this article is written with India in mind, these are some general instructions which hold true almost everywhere. So let’s begin with Food Safety Rules For Travelers Taking even basic precautions related to food safety and hygiene can save you a lot of trouble. High end restaurants and hotels are considered cleaner than most road-side street food vendors. But this is not true everywhere in very case. One such case in example is freshness of ingredients used. A lot of ofstreet food vendors prepare their dishes earlier in day or during the work hours and serve them as fresh as possible. Meanwhile, restaurants usually prepare large quantities of their most popular food items or ingredients and store them in refrigerators to be heated up just before serving.Here are some points for you to keep in mind when eating food in India or almost anywhere else in the world: a) Get food only from a recommended and trusted source Many street food businesses have good reputations among their customers for solid reasons. If you don’t know much, then take advice from your local friends, guides etc . But make sure that they have no commercial stake in recommending you something. Observing the customers is also a good way of making a choice. A good food vendor will have large number of customers compared to a non-trusted one. Food safety is always important to good vendors. b) Always make sure that the utensils used in serving are clean. Most street food vendors use disposable plate, spoons made of plastic, leaves, cane etc. But if metal utensils are being used, ensure that they are clean first. Use your own wipes, napkins etc to clean them if not sure. c) Do not eat at any place where the food is not covered and exposed to dust and flies. These are major source of germs and observing this basic food safety precaution alone can save you from lots of trouble d) Have fresh food In some places, the food you ask for is prepared right in front of you out of semi-prepared ingredients. Not every vendor brings 100 % read to eat food with him. So, if you see food cooking before being served, it’s very likely that it’ll be fresh. A good food vendor will usually pay heed to your requests and prepare the food exactly to your requirements. But if there are other people waiting, he may have to pay more attention to others. e) Precautions related to food are can be very confusing. People may follow all the hygiene and cleanliness related precautions, but may still suffer from an upset stomach due to some unknown food intolerance or allergy they did not knew about earlier. It can be really difficult to avoid such incidents. In case you know about your food intolerance and allergies, confirm with the vendor before consuming anything. If that’s not possible , try only small portions to check whether you are okay with it. If you have no side-effects and like the dish, go on to enjoy larger portion. Also, always keep a basic first aid kit consisting of a few medicines for an upset stomach, antacid, antihistamines etc. Water Safety Rules For Travelers Contaminated water causes biggest source of preventable infectious diseases worldwide. A number of potentially fatal infectious diseases can be prevented from spreading by just using clean water. Fortunately for travelers, it’s pretty easy almost everywhere. One of the most convenient solutions is to use branded bottled water. It’s easily available almost everywhere and comparatively easily. Some people consider it expensive. It is if you consider that it’s just ordinary water, but considering the alternative of spending so much money on medicines, it’s good enough. Even with bottled water, make sure that you buy only the original brands and properly sealed bottles. If in doubt, leave it and buy it from some place else. But what happens when you are in a place with no bottled water ? Unless you are near a river source with clear fast moving water, glacier etc. you have to boil and filter before drinking. You can use water purifying tablets or drops. Sometimes it causes slight change in taste of water but most people will accept it. Portable filters are another option. There are many types of big and small filters available in market. One portable filter as big as a pen and is used as one would use a straw. It’s very lightweight and small and can be carried in a pocket. Additionally, you can use bottles which come with water filter already fitted in. Most of other filters are are usually too big to lug around comfortably. If you are not carrying your own water filter, then best option to quench thirst are bottled water, juice or soft drinks, in that order. We hope this article may help you keep safe while traveling in India. Contact us for any feedback or information.
This article is meant to be a brief India travel guide for tourists who need some information about means of transport in India . Anyone traveling to India for the first time is sure to be overwhelmed by the diversity of cultures, languages, people, food, climates and almost everything else. It isn’t possible to write a comprehensive India travel guide which can cover even a fraction of what a tourist may encounter in India. We aim to cover as much vital details as possible without drowning the reader with too much information. We have already posted some India travel guides on this website,: Traveling safely and for cheap in India during monsoons, How to keep safe from water and food related problems while traveling and How to avoid scams and touts while traveling This guide intends to cover some of the general issues related to transport and travel in India. So let’s begin with : Travel by trains in India India has the biggest system of railway lines on the planet and the service is very good, if not excellent. Traveling in India on via train gives you the chance to explore India in detail and in general is cheaper than domestic air travel. Train travel in India offers good connectivity all over India for people with all kind of budgets .For someone with an inquisitive and open mind, it’s a great way of meeting all kinds of Indian people belonging to different regions and classes. There are different types of trains with different levels of service catering to people with different budgets and needs. Trains like Rajdhani, Shatabdi are air-conditioned, fastest in India and provide meals. There are other trains like Duronto, Garib Rath, various Express and other trains which offer varying levels of service at different prices. Apart from that, there are some luxury trains Palace on Wheels, Maharajas’ Express, The Golden Chariot and a few more. These trains are run jointly by Indian railways and tourism ministries of different states in which they operate. Journeying on these trains covers all aspects of transport, food, lodging and sightseeing. Service and level of comfort offered is among the best in world One major drawback of trains is that it can prove difficult to procure tickets. Another one are the delays which can happen frequently on long routes. If you are very tight schedule, relying on trains for your India journey can backfire. Inter-city or inter-state travel in India by Bus In India, travel by bus is 2nd most popular way of cheap travel and in some cases, the only way of public transport to reach places like Manali, Laddakh etc, not yet connected by train network. There are different types of buses available on budget of the traveler. Ordinary buses are usually very crowded and it’s not possible to reserve tickets. They don’t have any air-conditioning or comfortable seats either, But they are very cheap as even a 5 hour journey may cost only Rs 100. Then there are luxury buses with better seats which may or may not have air-conditioning available. They are generally more comfortable and price for a 7-10 hour journey may vary between Rs 300 to Rs 800 for different places and operators. Tickets in air-conditioned buses cost around 1.5 times to double for same kind of seats. Apart from these, there are luxury buses operated by private as well as government which offer maximum comfort at slightly higher prices. These buses are usually supplied by Volvo or Mercedes and have more comfortable seating arrangements than the rest. Travel by Car A car with driver is the most comfortable and safest way of travel in India.It is possible to get a car on rent and drive it yourselves, if you have necessary paperwork, but Indian roads are too chaotic for a foreigner. It’s better to hire a driver along with the car. Salary for driver is about Rs. 150-300 per day which is included in rent for the car and you don’t have to pay for his food or lodging. Different varieties of vehicles have different rent prices and they vary between Rs 8 per km to Rs 20 per km for most models which include Ambassador, Tata Indigo, Toyota Qualis and a few others. Renting a car is a good option for various reasons as you have much more flexibility and don’t have to worry about following a strict schedule or missing a train or worry about tickets. Having a good driver who can communicate well also means that he can help you with finding good hotels, restaurants and other amenities easily. But be wary of drivers who act as touts. A majority of them try to take tourists to businesses which offer them commissions. It isn’t exactly illegal, but tourists should evaluate their choices before making decisions. They should make sure that they are getting good value for their money for the services availed. Travel by motor-bikes Using a motorbike (motorcycle) can be a great adventure if you are up to driving on dangerous roads. Royal Enfield is the most popular brand for motorcycle enthusiasts in India. It’s less fuel efficient but is powerful enough for most Indian roads including those on mountains. Motorcycles with engines of 100 to 220 cc are more common and cheaper and cam offer a mileage of 40kmpl to 70 kmpl depending upon various factors. It is possible to rent or buy new or used motorcycles. Rental cost per day for bikes vary between Rs 600 to Rs 1500 in different places for different bikes. While buying, it’s advisable to go for 2nd hand bikes which may cost anything between Rs 12000 to Rs 40000. Travel in Indian cities by auto-rickshaws (tuk-tuk) Auto/ tuk-tuk/three-wheeler is a good albeit slightly uncomfortable choice for short-distance travel inside Indian cities. Due to their small size, they can dodge traffic rush easily but have slow speeds which is actually good due to less safety features. Before getting in to an
