President’s Message
Fellow Rotarians,
Very Warm Greetings!
Street food: probably, few countries can match the extent, variety, flavour and taste of Indian street food.
This is ready-to-eat food sold in streets or public places by vendors usually from portable outlets. But, in India, it covers both vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes across roadside carts, holes in the wall, small stalls, ‘Khau Gallis’, small to medium eateries, single outlets, multiple outlets and even food chains. Mumbai’s Khau Gallis are located all over the city, the more famous ones at Zaveri Bazar, Girgaum Chowpatty, Ghatkopar, Malad, Chembur, Dadar and Mahim.
The diversity of India’s manifold multicultural, multiregional cuisines is also expressed in its street food. Aloo Tikkis, popular almost throughout India, Puchkas, Jhal Muri and Ghugni Chaat from Bengal, Momos, Aloo Chaat and Bhalla Papdi, Ram Ladoo, Nagori Halwa and Bedmi Poori, stuffed Kulchas and Parathas from Delhi, Akki Rotti from Karnataka, Mirchi Bajji from Hyderabad, Chhole Bhature from Punjab, Kathi Rolls from Calcutta, Poha, Jalebi from Madhya Pradesh, Bikaneri Kachori and Kanji Vada from Rajasthan, Dosas, Idli Sambhar from Chennai and many more.
Coming to aamchi Mumbai, its famous street foods: Vada Pav, Pav Bhaji, Dabelis, Kanda Bhajjis, Moong dal Bhajjias,, Misal Pav, Sabudana Vada, Kothambir Vadi, Zunka Bhakar, Bhutta, Bhelpuri, Sev Puri, Dahi Batata Puri, Pani Puri, Ragda Pattice, Samosas, Bombay sandwich, Dosas, Medu Wadas, Idlis, Rolls, Frankies, Kheema Pav, Kheema Ghotala Pav, Anda Pav, Kebabs, Shawarmas, Momos, Chinese Bhel, Chinjabi Chinese, Faloodas, fruit juices, hand churned ice-creams, kulfis, Ice Golas, etc. For each of these, everyone has that one special place which he or she will swear by and vouch for.
Every Mumbaiker’s quick bite is ‘Vada Pav’ served with coriander and red thecha chutneys and sometimes also fried green chillies. It is common to see Vada Pav stalls surrounded by crowds of everyone from school students to businessmen. One Ashok Vaidya of Dadar (near Kirti College) is credited with innovating the combination of Vada with Pav.
The mouth-watering ‘Pav Bhaji’, which has its origins attributed to demand for a night odd-hour meal from hungry textile workers of Mumbai, tastes best with butter oozing pavs served with lemon and onions. This dish, though it originated in Maharashtra, is now popular throughout India. From roadside vendors to five-star hotels, you can find it everywhere. Variants are ‘khada’ pav bhaji where the vegetables are not mashed and ‘green’ pav bhaji with green spices replacing the red chillies.
‘Bhelpuri’, ‘Sev Puri’, ‘Dahi Batata Puri’, theories of their origins abound, from ‘created by Vithal restaurant near Victoria Terminus’ to ‘created by the city’s Gujaratis’, who made it by adding complex flavours to the simple North Indian chaat. There are yet other staple street foods with thousands of Bhelpuriwalas in streets and on beaches. Being low in calories, they are considered a healthy option amongst street foods and can be made more healthy by adding cucumber and tomatoes.
Another delicious snack is Mumbai’s ‘Misal Pav’, whether it be Puneri, Kolhapuri, Nagpur or Nashik styles.
Mumbai also caters to street foods from other parts of the country, two of which have always interested me are ‘Pani Puri’ (or gol gappa or pucchka), said to have originated in Uttar Pradesh. When the liquid-filled puri explodes in one’s mouth releasing the minty and savoury contents, one craves for more. Another one is ‘Dabeli’, a snack food of Kutch, said to be created by a Keshavji Gabha Chudasama alias Kesha Malam and Mohan Bavaji of Kutch Mandvi in the 1960s, and prepared as a mixture of special dabeli masala and boiled potatoes put into a ‘ladi pav’ with different chutneys like garlic, tamarind, date, chilli, etc. and garnished with roasted peanuts and pomegranate.
Once upon a time, and probably even now, when one thinks of ‘Frankie’, with its origins in Mumbai, one imagines a roll with a variety of fillings, a unique taste and masalas.
Our metropolis is very much a food city and, in my view, one of the best in the world when it comes to the variety of dynamic flavours, especially street food. Hope Mumbai’s street food is not lost.
Preeti Mehta
President
Mario Miranda prints used for representational purposes only