A La Cart

This is a story that I did for Youth Incorporated magazine for June 2012. Enjoy!

Embarking on a food journey on Indian streets, the writer tries to analyse what makes roadside food off a cart one of the most sought after items on a to-do list

Yummilicious chana chat

Hot off the fryer - samosas!

On a cold winter morning (read negative temperatures) when walking the streets of New York City navigating six inches of snow with each step, while my mouth offered new expletives each time, my mind kept thinking of what I’d give up for just one vada pav or a hot cutting at that point of time! That’s the charm of street food in our country – lip smacking fare available at every corner – hot, fresh and made to order. Despite the questionable hygiene, nay, the complete lack of it, very few of us are able to resist the temptation of biting into a just-off-the-kadhai samosa – a thick, crisp and well salted crust on the outside with one of the most delicious potato and pea concoctions on the inside, dipped into the sweet, sour and spicy chutneys on the side. This riot of flavours in your mouth for under Rs 10!
 

The famous Palitana bhel stall. Photo by Hardik Patel

 Not many countries have such a vast variety of street food to offer to the innocent passer-by who is lured in by the aromas that waft through the dust, dirt, concrete and human pockets. From the chats of Delhi to the special pav bhaji of Mumbai, and the sea food of Goa and jhal muri of Kolkata, even a small town called Palitana in Gujarat is famous the world over for the unique bhel it has to offer! In fact, somehow, even the Maggie made and served by street vendors tends to taste better than the one we make at home. No day of an average Mumbaikar, or for that matter an average urban Indian, is complete without having relished at least one item on the unwritten menus of these small yet curiously utilitarian street carts.
The selling point of the street food carts, besides being quick, affordable and at most times totally mouthwatering, is the fact that they know how to be innovative to please the crowd. This innovation has given birth to some of the most loved dishes of all time – like the Chinese bhel, the chop suey dosa, the samosa sandwich and the Chinese vada pav! In fact, it is quite likely that your neighbourhood tapri will offer you lemon tea without milk or sugar, green tea, masala tea, mint tea, milk tea, not to mention the humble cutting poured out into the special cutting glass out of a battered aluminium kettle.
It’s not only about the variety on the menu, it is also about the way things sell. From full meals to simple snacks and fast refreshers, the street vendors have it all at a go. They do not have to ask for the permission of a manager to make substitutions in food, to hand over two extra bhajiyas in lieu of two bucks change, or to give an extra helping of onions or pickle or any other condiment to the customer. The decision is fast, and timely, and revolves around keeping the customer happy. Sometimes one could wonder that the business skills that life has taught these inventive street cooks-cum-entrepreneurs could be equated to those learnt at B-school. I’m sure they could. And in some cases, the street-smart food guys will emerge on top. Which B-school teaches students to deal with haftas to be given to the local police and goons alike, just for basic survival?

Mumbai's famous - pav bhaji! Photo by Ashish Lakhara

As acclaimed photographer Sephi Bergson, who has been tracking down the best street food in the country, combining the vibrant and colours and mouthwatering sights in the pictures, puts in her book Street Food of India, “From the teeming lanes of Old Delhi to the hot, dusty streets in the remote countryside, it is painfully hard to resist the smells and sights and tastes of this roadside food, prepared in front of customers’ eyes with the freshest ingredients and a good helping of panache and showmanship.”
A lot has been written about these innovative entrepreneurs, special cook books have been devoted to them, and every home cook has tried to replicate the tastes in a clean home kitchen. To the despair of those digging into the fare, even the most able cooks have failed to produce the dishes that match up. The taste, as many say, lies in the huge amount of effort that the roadside cooks put in to feed an army of people day in and day out, coupled with the survival instincts needed to combat competition, to stay clear of the local ‘dons’ and the hawaldars, and last but not the least, the sultry weather. Whatever be the case – sweltering heat, an untimely downpour or a gusty wind, a starving stomach, or even a hungry eye will not be deprived of the intense sights, smells and tastes of street food.

Sizzling tikkis. Photo by Jim Elliman

 There is so much passion for roadside food in India, that families and friends make special plans to go out and eat at their favourite cart, just like families plan to go dining at their favourite restaurant. “Nothing can beat the sizzling sounds of that fried tikki or bhature with the irresistible fragrance of stunningly garnished chholas and pickles spiced up with green chillies and onions,” says writer Nitin Pahuja in a post about Delhi’s street food. It may sound like the dieter’s worst nightmare coming true, but foodies will do anything for these spicy treats.
“There was a time when we used to drive all the way from Mumbai to Khopoli for just that one vada pav from a special vendor out there. At that time, there were not as many road side eateries as we have now,” reminisces food lover Ruchir Sheth of his college days, a high, which he is sad that his (spoilt) children will never experience. Those were times when parents were hoodwinked to obtain cars for long rides, speedometers were taken off so that the kilometres were not added, and cars were zoomed off by this group of friends for just one large juicy bite that encompasses the fried spicy potato filling coated with mild chickpea batter, the garlicky powder chutney that added the extra zing, and the humble pav that cut through all the pungency. Now, that, is what we can call capturing the taste.
Any piece where we talk of street food as a delicacy in the cities (well, for some, due to several reasons, it would be staple), would be incomplete without a little mention of the dhabas on highways across the country. When Rocky Singh and Mayur Sharma chronicled their unusual, unexpected and unknown eating at some of the most popular dhabas in a popular national daily, it was as if a food lover’s eyes were gleaming at the prospect of a delicious meal. No wonder, after tasting over 2000 dishes at more than 600 eateries they say “If you take the foods of the world on one side and the foods of India on another, our pile would easily tilt the scales.”

Dinner polished off at a dhaba. The lassi is arriving!

The ubiquitous dhaba is what invites a weary traveller with the promise of a piping hot meal comprising of delectable curries (spice adjusted to order), with a generous dash of oil or butter as a freebie, to be coupled with crisp rotis, brittle papads and raw onions. This to be washed down with the house beverage –  lassi. Of course, the dhaba guys too have learnt to innovate so suit every customer, there is nothing like a hot traditional meal after a long, weary journey. The open air scenario where customers sit on charpoys and wash their hands with water out of a broken jug (again, questionable water) is an experience you can have only in India. Compare it to the box meal you often have to go for on an American highway after a similar journey, and you know that gastronomic bliss can be achieved on in India!

Stir fry, with a little bit of zing

Don't wait to dig in!

No guys, the zing is not coming from garam masala. Just kidding. This was not meant to be a blog post, it was just supposed to be dinner. But when I saw how delicious it looked, I couldn't resist clicking a picture and putting it up here. Stir fry is one of my all time favourites, little surprise, since I am such a big fan of vegetables. I was, however, tired of the limp and dull stir fries that I have been served, some with just a runny soy sauce thrown into the veggies and some just too dry to get me through my portion of rice. 

I like my stir fry to be hearty with taste, and like a little bit of extra sauce. Both Swati and I know it is due to a hangover of our good old dal-chawal, we just cannot do with just dry veggies over our rice. In addition, I am a fan of the sweet sour Asian sauces, so when I found a simple recipe needing a few ingredients that were readily available in my fridge, I was sold. Doesn't matter that the sauce was part of a recipe for meat or sea food mains. I know how to adapt my food :) And then I decided to end the dish with a corn starch mixture to thicken the sauce and add a glossy sheen to the whole dish. Well, I figure since I was eating so many veggies (which is quite healthy) a spoon of corn starch would not do that much harm! The recipe of the sauce mentioned chilli flakes as an ingredient, but it did not sound interesting enough. Being Indian (all Indians will understand this comment), I decided to add a tablespoon of the schezuan sauce that I had left over from the Chinese vada pav. That's what added the zing and just lifted the taste of the boring stir fry!

I draw satisfaction from the fact that I have not used any oil at all in my stir fry, I just used a dash of Pam Cooking Spray to start frying the garlic. After that, most veggies lost water and so no other medium was required. Using a teflon-coated pan helped. You could easily use one teaspoon of oil (whichever you prefer, I am not picky about this, since I tend to use what I have at home at the time). Want to get started?

Veg stir fry with a sweet sour sauce

Ingredients - for two

Mushrooms, sliced - 3-4 medium

Capsicums (bell peppers) - all colours, diced - 1/2 cup

Baby bokchoy, roughly torn - 1 head

Water chestnuts, peeled and sliced - 7-8

Baby corn, sliced - 5-6

Garlic, peeled and sliced - 2-3 cloves

Salt - 1/4 teaspoon

Oil - 1 teaspoon

For the sauce

Soy sauce - 1/4 cup

Vinegar - 3 tablespoons

Brown sugar - 2-3 tablespoons

Schezuan sauce - 1 tablespoon (You can replace it with 1/2 teaspoon of chilli flakes)

Salt - 1/4 teaspoon

For the corn starch mixture

Corn starch - 1 tablespoon

Soy sauce - 1 tablespoon

Water - 1 tablespoon

Brown or white rice to serve

Method

1. Before you start chopping the vegetables, make sure you have washed them well, especially the mushrooms. The ones available in Indian markets are full of dirt. With the bokchoy make sure you have separated each leaf/ stem and cleaned it  through.

2. Heat the oil in a pan, and add the garlic when it sizzles. Alternatively, you can heat the pan and then spray Pam. 

3. When the garlic slices start turning brown in a couple of minutes, add the baby corn and let it fry for 2-3 minutes. Give it a good stir in between. The heat should be on medium or low. Add in the capsicums, and continue stirring. After another two minutes, add the mushrooms, and let it cook another 2 minutes. Finally add the water chestnuts and bokchoy, and let it cook on low heat. Add the salt.

4. In the meanwhile, assemble all the ingredients of the sauce in a bowl. Once the bokchoy starts going limp, add the sauce mixture to the pan and let it cook.

5. Immediately make the corn starch mixture by dissolving the corn starch in the soy sauce and water so that there are no lumps. Add it to the pan when the sauce in the pan starts to bubble. Let the corn starch cook for 2 minutes and turn off the heat.

6. Let the veg stir fry rest in the pan for 7-10 minutes before serving.

8. Serve with white or brown rice. 

Notes:

• You could add or subtract any vegetables of your choice. Additional vegetables that can be used are spring onions, cabbage, squash and egg plant.
•  Tofu can be added too, but you will need to shallow/ deep fry it. Add it to the dish at the end, after the sauce is cooked.
• It can be served with plain cooked noodles as well. 
• Sorry I do not have pictures of the process, as I said, I had not intended it as a blog post!

The elusive portobellos…

… well not anymore! As I have mentioned in my profile, we in India are deprived of many ‘foreign’ ingredients, most of them that are thought of as exotic. Until a few years ago, mushrooms were part of that group too. Even today, the mushrooms that are freely available now in every market are the button variety, the others still remaining largely elusive to the common man. What a lovely surprise it was, when yesterday, I noticed a packet of portobellos neatly sitting next to all the other exotic stuff at a vendor's in the local market. Right among the small piles of iceberg lettuce, broccoli, purple cabbage, cherry tomatoes and other things, were two packets staring at me. Skeptical about even asking the cost, I just picked up a packet. Rs 40. Not bad at all ($1 approx = Rs 53). Then I asked the vendor – “Kitne ka?” Rs 30! Yay! I wanted to dance right there, on the footpath (sidewalk), but soon realized that I needed to exercise control.

Since the dinner menu for that day was already decided, my mushrooms had to spend a day in the fridge. There was no way, however, that I was going to wait any longer than required. The dilemma – what should I make? I could stuff them, but my mushrooms were small. Sandwich? Naah, didn’t have the right bread. Considering I had stocked up on the salad ingredients too, it seemed the best option. Grilled portobello salad. My mouth was already watering.

The salad bed - just right!

Well. Dressing? Choices choices. Not that many. Used a bottled vinaigrette, or whip up something. Considering how much I enjoy the latter, there was no question. A bit of soy sauce, a little vinegar, salt and pepper. I was set. No wait, something to cut the acidity (ha ha I can use Masterchef words too :) Since I had no maple syrup, I used honey. Perfect.  
When marinating the mushrooms, I set out to make the bed for my salad. Once again, the exotic ingredient dilemma. I had lettuce – the one variety popular in Indian markets – iceberg. Right or wrong, I had to use it. Salad greens? None. I could use spinach, but wasn’t up to eating spinach tonight. Digging in the vegetable drawer, I found a perfect solution (well, at least for me!) Cucumber. Just peeled ribbons length wise, leaving the dark green skin on. Into the freezer to chill and provide crunch.

Sizzle sizzle

The 'Masterchef deglaze'

By then, I started grilling the mushrooms. (I saved the remnants of the marinade to use at a dressing over my salad. I used a simple grill pan on a stove top. A slight dash of olive oil. Yumm! Once my mushrooms were done, I realized that there was too much taste that was stuck on the pan, and all those episodes of Masterchef where they talk of ‘deglazing the pan’ came running back to my mind. My heart, nay, my taste buds, would not allow me to waste that! So I just threw in the  tomatoes (they were supposed to go in raw in the salad) and let them grill in the juices. After taking them off and setting them to cool, the Indian in me could not resist sprinkling a pinch of dried oregano over the tomatoes. Trust me, it went well with the whole dish! (I guess mixed herbs would do just as well.)

Not one to waste any bit of the taste, I even toasted my bread on the same pan. A light grill on each side. All I needed was a bit of assembly, and then dig in! Simple delicious. I can’t wait to chance upon a packet of shiitakes now!

 

Grilled Portobello Salad

Ingredients

Cooling off. Notice the 'Indianness'
- oregano on the tomatoes

Portobello mushrooms – 5-6 medium size
Tomatoes – 1 large
Iceberg lettuce (or any other you like) – 2-3 leaves
Cucumber – 1 large (you could substitute it with salad greens
Salt – a pinch
Crushed black pepper – a pinch
Olive oil – 1 teaspoon
Brown bread – 2 slices

For the dressing/ marinade

Salt – 1 teaspoon
Crushed black pepper – 1 teaspoon
Soy sauce – 2 tablespoons
Vinegar (you could use any you like) – 1 tablespoon
Honey – 1 teaspoon

Method
1. Stem the mushrooms and thoroughly wash them.
2. Mix the marinade ingredients in a bowl and put in the mushrooms. Let them marinate for 20 minutes.
3. Wash the lettuce and chop it roughly to make a bed on your plate. Peel ribbons or strips of the cucumber to sit in the middle of the plate to make a bed for the mushrooms. Stick it in the freezer to chill.
4. Heat your grill pan, and grease it with a little bit of olive oil. Place the mushrooms on it to leave them to grill. Don’t forget to take in the aromas while they sizzle away. Season them on the pan, if need be. And turn them over to do the other side as well.
5. Chop the tomatoes in 1 cm cubes, while the mushrooms are on the grill.
6. Once the mushrooms are done on both sides, take them off pan, and throw in the tomatoes. Take them off when they are slightly charred and have absorbed all the juices. Don’t turn off the heat yet. Place the bread slices (halved into triangles). Grill until brown on both sides.

Pretty, ain't it

7. Now, assemble. Take out the salad bed from the freezer. You will need to season the lettuce and cucumber on the plate itself. Sprinkle a bit of pepper is you want. At this point, you could grate a small piece of ginger over it if you want. (I didn’t, since I thought of it only while I’m writing this!) Drizzle 1 tablespoon of dressing over it. Lay the tomatoes on one side. Slice the mushrooms and lay them on top of the cucumber bed. And place the toast on the side. Then? Do not wait one more minute. Just devour it!

The perfect bite

Notes:

I do feel that I should have used fresh lemon instead of vinegar. It would be refreshing in a summer salad. Well, there's always next time!