Goodbye Chutney, Hello Soy Sauce!

I am now on a panel of columnists writing the Cityscope column from different world cities for the Sunday Post magazine of South China Morning Post. I have written a couple of pieces for them already – nothing yet on travel but that is on the cards. The column looks at lifestyle, food, arts, pop culture – anything Chinese, from an Indian perspective.

My first column kicked off yesterday with a piece on Chinese street food in India… (link is not available since the website is only for subscribers – will try to upload a pdf soon)

Chindian, anyone?

After it was first brought to India by immigrants to Calcutta, Chinese food in the country slowly turned into “Chindian”, with the addition of local spices and flavours. However, it is in Mumbai where Chindian food has come into its own.

At about 5pm every day, a specific kind of hunger seizes the city. Lunch is a distant memory and it’s too early to entertain thoughts of dinner. All roads then lead to the friendly neighbourhood chaatwala – vendors who ply the streets, selling fried, spicy snacks from handcarts. The only question here is: Indian or Chinese?

The Chinese dishes sound familiar – but there are a few surprises. Chow mein in its local vegetarian guise is anything but a simple stir-fry. Vegetables of all shapes and colours go into it, from green peas and carrots to paneer (cottage cheese). Then there’s the popular American-Chinese chop suey. Gobi and chicken Manchurian is a Mumbai original: deep-fried cauliflower and chicken fritters dunked in various sauces.

The latest trend on the street, however, is the Sinification of Indian food. The simple South Indian dosa (a crepe made of rice batter) is now available as a Sichuan dosa, filled with stir-fried noodles. I’ve heard rumours about a chow mein samosa (triangular deep-fried pastries usually filled with spicy potato), but I haven’t been adventurous enough to verify this. And there’s a new best-seller.

Image courtesy: Shubhangi Athalye

Bhelpuri – a mixture of puffed rice, sweet and spicy chutney, and a sprinkling of coriander and raw onion – has also gone east. Create a base with fried or steamed noodles (for the health-conscious), throw in some shredded cabbage, green pepper and carrot, replace the raw onion with spring onion and splash some “Chinese sauces” on top (soy, chilli or, usually, fiery red “Sichuan sauce”, which is uniquely Indian), sprinkle with a handful of fresh coriander and there you have it: Chinese bhel. This dish, born entirely from Mumbai innovation, is giving all other street snacks a run for their money.

Chinese bhel has firmly lodged itself in the minds – and stomachs – of Mumbai residents. It is an optimal combination of all the flavours that satisfy the Indian palate, it is healthier than most other street snacks and it is the cheapest way to “eat Chinese”. Furthermore, it’s the one of the city’s few street snacks that has its own Facebook page.

His and Hers: Biscuits for both

Recession has done strange things to the food scene in Kuala Lumpur. See this, for one…

And also this – anything to maintain peace at home during these tough times, looks like…

Bangalore’s Food Street

A short piece I wrote on Bangalore’s Food Street appeared recently in The India Tube. Every time someone asked me what I missed most about Bombay, street food came somewhere on top of that list, so this came as quite a nice surprise. We headed there one Sunday night and walked from one end to the other sampling from several stalls, taking photographs and enjoying the unique spellings.

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I have been hearing about the Food Street in Bangalore in several conversations with friends and I finally make my way there one weekend. Known locally as thindi beedi, a literal translation, the street stretches out long and narrow in front of me, filled with eateries on either side and with several food carts (thela) spilling over to the road.

At the entrance to the road stands the corn seller, stocking over ten varieties of corn, including the slightly puzzling ‘lemon butter baby masala corn’.

We have been advised to check out all the shops before deciding on the night’s menu and duly make our way down the street with that in mind. However, at the third stall selling holige (a sweet made with jaggery, known as puran poli in Hindi) our resolve crumbles. The cook stands rooted to his spot, patting the dough filled with the jaggery, his fingers flying over the hot stove, now putting one more on it, now turning a semi-cooked one or taking one off it. He has a helper, a chhotu (small one) who serves it piping hot to the waiting customers, after adding a generous dollop of ghee on top.

The best way to derive maximum enjoyment from Food Street is to sample judiciously and return to what you really like; as many stalls and as many types of food as possible. Of course, it could (and indeed does) happen that several of these small samples make a heavy meal in itself and there is just no room for seconds. There is street food of every kind here, from Karnataka specialties like akki roti (a thin roti made with rice flour and eaten with spicy chutney and curry) and holige, to typically North Indian chaat (I read somewhere that the chaatwala is originally from Ajmer in Rajasthan) and Bombay’s famous pav bhaji and vada pav. There are shops selling only South Indian short eats, from steaming idli to fried bonda and vada while others offer a “multi-cuisine” eating experience, which includes Indian Chinese – the ‘Gobi Manjuri’ variety.

The specialty of Food Street however is dosa – there is a huge a variety on offer, from the usual suspects like masala and rava to ragi and podi (gunpowder) roast all the way to bhath masala dosa – a name that invites closer inspection! Regulars also seem to believe that the right way to end a meal at thindi beedi is by washing it down with badam (almond) milk, served hot or cold.

It is a Sunday night and the entire area has the feel of a mela (fun fair) – parents with children, groups of friends (one orders twenty pieces of holige in front of me, causing a mini stampede among the waiting crowds), balloon sellers and plastic toy vendors. The Food Street is very popular with locals as a weekend evening destination for the entire family. Unlike most small eateries in Bangalore, this is open till late in the night, and there is something for everyone. The food (all vegetarian) is reasonably priced, with most costing between Rs.15-30. And the best thing is that everything is fresh and hot, made in front of you and consumed before it has even had a chance to cool.

General Information

Food Street is located at V.V.Puram, close to the Lalbagh West Gate. It is open all days of the week, from 6 p.m. till about 11 p.m. (although sometime the stalls shut earlier due to police interference). The weeks before Sankranti (the harvest festival celebrated in mid January) are a good time to go to Food Street, since vendors are known to rustle up regional food specialities.

Sin and the city: street snacks in old Delhi

And if all the oil and spice of parathewaligali has not left you sated and/or with heart-burn, walk on…

As you walk out of Chandni Chowk station towards parathewaligali, ignore the Haldirams on your right. Or not. Of all things to eat in Delhi, I found their khandvi of the rare melt-in-the-mouth variety. So Stop there for a quick snack or two. Or head on to unhealthier things.

There was some news a couple of years ago about street snack stalls in Delhi facing the chop but nothing came of it finally. So now there are the samosas and kachoris, the moong and mirchi pakoras, the fried papad (especially in winter), the fruit and alu chaat.

End with a dessert of nankhatai biscuits…

And finally the lassi, to wash down – sadly not away, all the sins… Or in peak summer, nimbu paani.

I am not enough of a Delhi person to tell you where to go for what – I know people who insist on eating kachori only at a particular place and then walking a few hundred metres for the next thing – me, I just stop where the eyes and nose lead me – and the camera. And then all those sari shops and sign-boards along the way. But that is another post in itself…