Image Source: sailusfood.com
India has about 400 street food vendors and counting so it can get messy once you factor in the dry goods vendors and the fresh produce vendors all hawking their wares to anyone and everyone they see. On the 24th of February, Delhi will be enjoying its 2014 street food festival with as many as 400 food vendors from all around the country in the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.
Some of the exciting foods to be enjoyed are the fish pakora, curries of all colors and spiciness, chole bhature, thuppa, momos, and a dozen other dishes from local, national, and international cuisines.
Indian Food Explained
Pakora – Fried fritters which can be made using fish, meats, or vegetables
Chole Bhature -Fried bread with spicy chick peas and served with onions, chutney, and a carrot pickle
Thuppa – This is an Asian chicken noodle dish that originates from Tibet and found its way to India and other countries.
Momos – These are wonderful steamed dumplings or buns that are sold with or without filling. The choices in filling are meats, vegetables, mashed potatoes, paneer, or cheese. They are served with a spicy sauce
Vadas – A vada is a traditional Indian food from the south. It is fried and made of lentil, flour or potato, and onions. It comes in assorted shapes and sizes, looks a little like a donut, and is usually eaten as a morning snack.
Thali – Thali is a food plate with several items and sauces. The food items can be meats, vegetables, fish, grains, or a combination of 2 or all food items. It is served with chutney or something pickled
Kebabs – Everyone should be familiar with kebabs which are grilled meats and/or vegetables served on a stick. It’s a fabulous street food item that can be bought spicy or not.
The Indian Street Food Experience
Part of what makes Indian street food so memorable is the environment. It’s crazy, busy, noisy, and confusing. There’s food everywhere and the food vendors are all eager to sell. It can also appear to be highly unsupervised but you can be picky who you buy from. A few tricks would be to make sure you get freshly cooked food. You can also check the oil being used if it’s dark or light with dark oil indicating old oil. You should also loosely inspect the cooking methods, the surroundings, and the presence of flies and other insects, if any.