The fast food culture in India

People eat food for various reasons. They do so when they are hungry, when they are in a celebration mood, or when they want to let down their hair and experiment with new cuisine and food outlets. The street food culture has spread because at times, people get fed up of dining at home or in hotels or restaurants. They want to enjoy their foods in the open and in the company of strangers. Thanks to the social media, this variety of food has flourished. You name it and they have it. They have very little overheads, hence can offer foods at unbelievable prices. Their patrons love to go to the street-side food outlets with others in queue. The menus offer South Indian items like dosa and idli to North Indian items like chana bhature, and biryani to egg based snacks. There are also the universal favorites like golguppa or fuchka and bhel puri or jhal muri.

The popularity of fast foods has encouraged them to set up their own and unique business models. Any person who operates one of these outlets tries to offer something unique. He wants his customers to keep coming back. He does not need to rope in PR teams – his foods do that. He has the uncanny ability of maintaining an inventory that will never run short of the ingredients. Each of them is a successful businessman or a business woman. Yes, many women are also into these ventures.

Dhokla - the lovely fluffy besan product

Apart from boondi and sweets made out of boondi, besan is used to make many other eatables to soothe the Indian palate – and, one of these is the fluffy dhokla. Once restricted to Gujarat, it is now common fare all over the country and, like snacks like idli, dosa, uthappam of the south, dhokla has won over Indians in all corners.
Dhokla is a sort of snack unique to Gujarat and its lightness is a matter of mystery – when laid out on display in the shops with a sprinkling of chopped coriander leaves and a splattering of mustard seeds it beckons with its fluffy yellow color and porosity.

It is not too difficult to prepare and it involves mixing besan with yoghurt in proper proportions with addition of water and a pinch of salt. The mixture is to be kept for sufficient time (3 to 4 hours) in order to allow the fermentation to take place. Once that is done, a bit of turmeric is added to bring the yellow color and the mixture is ready to be cooked. Some would add green chili and ginger paste to bring in a different taste apart from lemon juice, sodium bicarbonate and a tiny bit of oil.
Now comes the cooking part. Put the mixture in a greased container and then in the steamer – dhokla has to be steam cooked. This should not take more than ten minutes. Then cut it into suitable size fluffy cubes and allow it to cool.
The last step is the garnishing with coriander leaves, ground coconut and whole mustard seeds. The mustard seeds are put in a kadai of boiling oil and as it starts to splutter, pour it over the dhokla and finish off with the white and green garnishing of coriander leaves and grated coconut. (to be continued …)
(Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)


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