One of our favorite things to do in a new country or city is visit the local street food vendors. It’s the only version of fast food that I will endorse. Indian Street food is a perfect way to sample India’s vast cuisine and culture. You get to stand around a food cart and watch the magic of vendors slinging ingredients together to make their local delicacies. You get to see the love and attention that goes into food and food consumption. A good street food vendor will consistently be surrounded by loyal consumers. It also gives you the chance to stand around and chat with the locals whom you already have something in common with… a love of good Indian street food!
Frying up a storm
Samosa
This is an extremely large samosa filled with a curried potato mixture. Samosas are probably the most popular Indian snack food. Deep friend dough filled with a spiced potato mixture, they come in many shapes, and with infinite fillings. I’ve even seen them filled with sweet potatoes.
Giant Samosa
Tandoori Nan
This is a tandoori aloo nan. It is made in a clay oven and you dip it into raita (a yogurt based sauce) and some form of curry and top with onions. This one was freshly made and put steaming hot in front of me, and if that was not tempting enough, it was then topped with freshly made butter. It lasted about 3 minutes before I completely destroyed it. Yummy!
Tandoori Aloo Nan
Dosa
This is an Indian street food favorite, dosa. It is a very thin, crepe-like exterior (but crunchy), made of rice and black lentils then filled with a concoction of your desire. Most are filled with potatoes, like the one I have here. They are served with dipping chutneys and raita.
Dosa!!!
Burger
This Indian burger was very deceiving. I, being wholly American, was in India for weeks when I came across burger on a menu. I panicked and ordered it without thinking. Turned out to be an amazingly delicious mistake. The patty was a succulently mashed and fried potato (no beef here), that was sandwiched between two slices of fresh cheese and topped with a spicy mayo on toasted buns. Everything was so freshly made, that it made my beefless plight seem not so bad.
Indian “Burger”
Jalebi
These lil guys turned out to be one of my favorite new found foods. These are momos. Momos are dumplings filled with meat and/or veggies and steamed. The Indian momos get their influence from the Tibetans in the Himalayas. They were delicate and downright delicious.
Momos
This is one of Kenin’s all-time favorite foods (and mine as well). This is jalebi. Jalebi is a deep-fried sweet dough that is served hot and most times dipped in a sugary rose water before consumption. Kenin was introduced to this sweet delicacy in Trinidad when we first met and has made it a habit of getting one every time we go. It was amazing to me to eat them in India and compare them to the ones I grew up eating. Fortunately for Kenin, they tasted almost exactly the same.
Jalebi
Hope you enjoyed this tasty tour of Indian delights. Now get out there and try some local grub!
