Street foods from Kolkata to Mumbai, Delhi and beyond

The social media loves to showcase street foods from all corners of India and also from abroad. There are prestigious hotels and restaurants that cater to one section of society. However, those who operate outlets of street foods are in a class of their own. They love to experiment with food and offer unique dishes that mesmerize their customers who keep coming back for more. The word spreads and people throng to the counters – sometimes they come as individuals, or with their near and dear ones to share a few moments of tasting the preparations.

Mumbai is famous for its bhel puri. This is similar to the jhal muri of Kolkata. Both are dry mixtures of a whole lot of ingredients. The bhel puri is usually served on paper plates while the jhal muri is served in open-mouthed paper packets known as thongas. Then there is the fuchkas of Kolkata aka gol guppa in Delhi and pani puri in Mumbai. The product is the same. Crisp balls made of flour and stuffed with a mixture of mashed potatoes and other ingredients. The combination is dipped in a liquid before being served to the customer. And – there is always a queue of them around the person who keeps count of the items sold.


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Kolkata mango festival delights young and old alike

Kolkata is crazy for festivals and it is immaterial whether it is for books or movies or music or fish or food. There was a hilsa festival and now, the recently concluded Amantran festival (27th and 28th June 2015) was another example – it was a festival of mangoes or ‘aam’ – hence, the name ‘Amantran’. Actually, the word also means invitation.
Anyway, I was not there in person but enjoyed watching bits of it on TV and it appeared to be yet another proof of the innovate character of Bengalis. A video report on the festival is here.

The event was held in a park called the Taltala Math – and mango lovers had come to watch the innovations and taste the beautiful preparations – the mango-fuchka really bowled over the public. There is hardly any Bengali who is not a fan of the fast food known as fuchka (or gol-gappas as the North Indians call them) and, in the Amantran festival the delightful concoction was mango all the way. Then there were the sweets made of mangoes. In our childhood we loved the taste of mango sandesh – its color was green, its shape was like a mango (thanks to special clay or wooden molds) and there was the distinct flavor of mango. Other well-known and popular products of mango were the mango lassi and ice-cream. And, of course, in the festival there were mangoes of many varieties – both ripe and raw. I remember a mango festival that I had seen in Bangalore. It was held in the Glass House at Lalbag and there was a large variety of mangoes. But – no eatable products of mangoes. It was only mangoes – full, ripe and charming to just look at. (to be continued …)

(Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)
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