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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Street food rules the roost, regular food joints must innovate to survive

Street foods have become a craze not only in India but also all over the world. It is difficult to pinpoint the exact time when the first street food outlet was born. There used to be jhal muri and fuchka at locations that had attractive footfalls like in front of cinema halls or parks. As far as my memory goes, one of the first street food outlets appeared in Kolkata in the 1970s. They came in the form of handcarts and the products used to be egg rolls. The owner was usually an unemployed young man who chose this method to earn a living. He did not have to pay any rent, employ people, or provide any seating arrangement. In fact, his overheads were minimum. He had to have adequate stock of ingredients like eggs, flour, cooking oil, onions, chilies, utensils, kerosene stove and kerosene etcetera. LPG was non-existent in those days. Of course, he might have had the blessings of people who matter. The fact is that the culture spread like wildfire. Restaurants had to innovate in order to survive the challenges posed by street food.

Taking food on the roadside with a background music of honking vehicles is a unique experience. The men and women who are clamoring for the food would be strangers and the heady fragrance of perfume might create a spell. It might force you to turn your head around for a moment. In the early days, street food outlets would open in the evening and the only problem would be the rainy season. However, with the passage of time things have changed. (To be continued ..)

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A street food named jhal muri

Jhal muri is a street food that is unique to Kolkata – it has been there for ages and no one can really remember who invented this recipe. It is a very simple recipe and requires no cooking as such. It is a ready to eat mixture that is usually prepared and served to the customers on demand. It is always fresh and a delicious preparation that used to, once upon a time, be the catalyst for relationships between the boys and the girls – in the days when social networking, as we now know it, was nonexistent.
The art of making jhal muri is a well-kept secret of those who have mastered the art. Way back in the 1950s and 1960s, the sellers, wearing ghungroos (bells) around their ankles, would go about the neighborhood. The very sound of the bells was music to the ears and children would flock to the source of the jingling to get in queue and lay hands on the jhal muri packets.

These packets would be made of paper, mostly large size pages of magazines.
As to the ingredients – most important was the fluffed rice of muri. The dispenser of the concoction would put a fistful of muri into a container which would usually be a can that once held oil or ghee or some such product.
Then would follow a whole lot of ingredients like tiny pieces of onions, green chili, fried groundnuts, and a few other exotic items. He would then sprinkle a few drops of mustard oil in the container and stir the ingredients with a large spoon.
And – then he would remove a packet, pour the jhal muri into it and serve with a flourish. Usually, the quantity of jhal muri prepared would depend on the number of customers at that point of time.
Incidentally, jhal muri vendors are also seen in trains bound for Kolkata – they board the trains when they enter the borders of West Bengal and the long distance passengers are their patrons because jhal muri is an identity of Bengalis. (to be continued …)

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