06 Jun Indian street-food: Eat local !

Nibbling in a dhaba (small street restaurant) is a typical Indian experience. If you have the intention to immerse yourself into the Indian culture, it’s a great way ! Even if hygiene is sometimes succinct, the food is 100% authentic and Nouvini loves it ! In order to avoid sickness, we suggest you to go to places where you can see loads of Indians, it’s always a good sign ! Let’s figure the best type of food to eat avoiding the worse !

Snacks

• The vada pav

You won’t have difficulties to recognize this small fried ball, made of potatoes, seasoned with onions and coriander leaves (for a change). It is usually coming with a coriander sauce and a succulent sweet chutney with dates. As the samossa, it costs around 10 to 12 roupies per unit.

• Momos

Do not rely on their whiteness and slimy appearance, these little Tibetan dumplings can be eaten, and are delicious. You will find meat or vegetables in there, it can be boiled or steamed; and usually coming with a spicy sauce… We warn you… Don’t say we didn’t !

• The samossa

Easy one to recognize thanks to its triangular shape. It is often stuffed with peas, lentils, potatoes, onions and always with coriander leaves. As you can see, those are relatively rich and you won’t need to eat a dozen of it to fill your hunger. The samossa costs around 10 to 12 roupies.

• The pani puri

In hindi « pani » signifies « water » and « puri » is the name given to the small hollow ball. The pani puri can take different shapes but the most frequent one is the fried ball drilled to be fill with potatoes, coriander and peas. You have to dip it into a spicy sauce and then eat at once (our advice) in order to avoid losing a precious drop of broth. It costs around 15 and 30 roupies for a plate of 6 of it.

Indian « rotis »

Bread (roti) for indians are like a third hand – or more like a second hand as the use of the left hand is strongly discouraged. They dip the roti into a sauce and then eat.

• The dosa (or dosaï)

A kind of pancake, it feels like a seaside creperie in Saint malo. You will find the dosa essentially in the South of India as in Kerala or in Mumbai. it can be eaten plain (plain dosaï), stuffed with potatoes (masala dosaï), with cheese (paneer dosaï)… Excellent for breakfast, often coming with a creamy coconut sauce and an other one coriander-based.

• The paratha (or parantha or parauntha)

The paratha is a flatbread, typically indian. You will find those almost everywhere in India due to the fact that it is one of the famous bread of the Indian cuisine. It can be eaten plain or stuffed with vegetables or paneer (cheese). You can also eat the paratha with chutney or yogurt. A simple snack allowing to vary flavors.

The second part of the article in few days…