Street cuisine

She sits on the footpath everyday along with her mother. They have with them a small table, stove, frying pan, green chillies, boiled potatoes, pav and garlic chutley. Sitting in the background, the mother makes small balls of mashed potato and drops them into the hot oil to fry them. The potato balls sizzle in the hot oil and turn light brown. They are then removed from the oil and put in a tray ready to be sold. The girl puts some garlic chutney in the pav and serves it with the vada. Not five minutes pass by and the tray is empty. Vada pav has gained such iconic status in Bombay that even the rich and famous can be seen eating vada pav at road side stalls.

There are thousands of road side stalls in Bombay dishing out things like bhel puri, pav bhaji, vada pav, pani puri, sandwich etc. A typical scene in Bombay will be people crowding around some popular road side stall in order to eat something. The idea of eating at a road side stall might seem shocking to an outsider, but it is in fact the way of life in Bombay. Lunch time will see hordes of people swarming these stalls and busy stall owners feeding these hungry people. Bombay cannot be experienced fully without eating at a road side stall. The taste will remain with you forever.

Who said street food is bad for health? During good old school and college days I used to thrive on my daily dose of Vada pavs, sandwiches, bhel puri etc. The taste they used to offer was unmatched. Not even the most expensive restaurants could provide such mouth watering snacks. My favourite dinner destination used to be the road side stalls serving chinese food. Me and my friends used to go there in a group and have a feast. The food there would probably put china to shame, but the taste is unforgettable and ofcourse economic on the pocket too. The good thing about such eating joints was that they used to be open even past midnight. So it was quite convenient to go and eat something in case you are hungry after studying late nights.

However I am not yet accustomed to eating at road side stalls in Bangalore. I am afraid of the consequences it might have on my stomach. So I am trying to lead a healthy life here. Sometimes I do get tempted when I see big green chillies being fried in some stall, but I let the feeling pass. But even today when I go to Bombay, there is no chance that I will return without having some street cuisine.