`How else do I describe the feeling of eating something on a roadside gaadi? As I write I can feel my mouth watering.
I dont know who all feel that urge or love to have that street food. If you do love it, then read on....else you can just skip it. And if you havent eaten them, then let me repeat Rachna's words - "Just too bad buddy. You'll never know what you missed. A better life next time"
The first thing that I picked from road to eat probably was in front of my school in Mysore. (My memory is not going beyond that). The old lady who sat with the bamboo basket full of guava, cucumber, raw mango, some peanuts, some masala mandakki (masala bhel), some boti, some tomatoes....I mean no less than a supermarket of little eatables. Unlike the school bus or the autos that the kids today in India go to school in, I was going in a tanga (horse cart). On the last day of school, our tangawala uncle would give us a small treat of these things.Putting that salted guava in my mouth, feeling that salt melt which cannot make you hold the temptation to chew the piece in your mouth....wow or mmm what else can I say?
Those hot summer days with the sun shining to it fullest glory, when that old lady gave that thin sheet of cucumber smeared with proper combination of salt and chilli powder and said "10 paisa"....good looking cucumber is treat to the eyes, low price is music to the ears and that taste is heavenly for the tongue...well I dont know what it was to the stomach...but I have and many have survived many such trips of eating roadside food.
I was in Shimoga, another town of Karnataka, from my high school days to end of college. This was where my love to another famous street food developed....the 'puri' series. Burst of that tangy pani in the mouth when you bite that puri......wow or mmm what else can I say? Not to forget that last bowl of just pani.... The mysterious masala, which even my mom could never recreate at home was ofcourse the highlight of any of them...pani puri, masala puri, bhel puri, sev puri, aloo puri.....wow right?
During my graduation days one of my friends introduced me to another set of eatables.....tomato masala, boti masala, nippattu masala (I cant translate it to any other language sorry) and the the very famous masala pepsi or masala soda. I was a total fan of tomato masala...those round slices of tomatoes sprinkled with salt, chilli powder and some other secret ingredient, then it had a layer of churmuri (plain bhel or mandakki) then a sprinkle of grated carrot, onion and coriander leaves...then another dash of that secret ingredient. It was then all set to be eaten.....what a food it was.
And now I have a husband who is not in much favour of such food (he is one of those people who will never understand what this blog is about). He feels its not hygienic, doesnt matter I still have had pani puris from those places when he is around and muttering, "I dont want...you eat".
My world hasnt taken me outside Karnataka for street food tasting, but I am sure the feeling will be the same anywhere in India.....may be outside too. But what makes them tick? While having golgappas why is it that you have to tell that bhaiyya to tell you when one plate is over? Why is it that you have to see reviews of restaurants and dont really bother to try anything roadside in any city? Is it that warm smile of the person who serves you? Is it with the price that you pay? Is it that nostalgic chit chatter with friends while having them? Is it with the microbial germs breeding there? Or the permutation and combination of all of these?
Whatever it is, the wow quotient has never gone down for such eatables...
Are you at a hands reach to pani puri, take my name and have one :)
Do you have any memories with them? Share it...
P.S : Couldnt stop myself from writing this, after reading the post : http://www.rachnabisht.com/3/post/2011/06/roadside-rendezvous.html
I dont know who all feel that urge or love to have that street food. If you do love it, then read on....else you can just skip it. And if you havent eaten them, then let me repeat Rachna's words - "Just too bad buddy. You'll never know what you missed. A better life next time"
The first thing that I picked from road to eat probably was in front of my school in Mysore. (My memory is not going beyond that). The old lady who sat with the bamboo basket full of guava, cucumber, raw mango, some peanuts, some masala mandakki (masala bhel), some boti, some tomatoes....I mean no less than a supermarket of little eatables. Unlike the school bus or the autos that the kids today in India go to school in, I was going in a tanga (horse cart). On the last day of school, our tangawala uncle would give us a small treat of these things.Putting that salted guava in my mouth, feeling that salt melt which cannot make you hold the temptation to chew the piece in your mouth....wow or mmm what else can I say?
Those hot summer days with the sun shining to it fullest glory, when that old lady gave that thin sheet of cucumber smeared with proper combination of salt and chilli powder and said "10 paisa"....good looking cucumber is treat to the eyes, low price is music to the ears and that taste is heavenly for the tongue...well I dont know what it was to the stomach...but I have and many have survived many such trips of eating roadside food.
I was in Shimoga, another town of Karnataka, from my high school days to end of college. This was where my love to another famous street food developed....the 'puri' series. Burst of that tangy pani in the mouth when you bite that puri......wow or mmm what else can I say? Not to forget that last bowl of just pani.... The mysterious masala, which even my mom could never recreate at home was ofcourse the highlight of any of them...pani puri, masala puri, bhel puri, sev puri, aloo puri.....wow right?
During my graduation days one of my friends introduced me to another set of eatables.....tomato masala, boti masala, nippattu masala (I cant translate it to any other language sorry) and the the very famous masala pepsi or masala soda. I was a total fan of tomato masala...those round slices of tomatoes sprinkled with salt, chilli powder and some other secret ingredient, then it had a layer of churmuri (plain bhel or mandakki) then a sprinkle of grated carrot, onion and coriander leaves...then another dash of that secret ingredient. It was then all set to be eaten.....what a food it was.
And now I have a husband who is not in much favour of such food (he is one of those people who will never understand what this blog is about). He feels its not hygienic, doesnt matter I still have had pani puris from those places when he is around and muttering, "I dont want...you eat".
My world hasnt taken me outside Karnataka for street food tasting, but I am sure the feeling will be the same anywhere in India.....may be outside too. But what makes them tick? While having golgappas why is it that you have to tell that bhaiyya to tell you when one plate is over? Why is it that you have to see reviews of restaurants and dont really bother to try anything roadside in any city? Is it that warm smile of the person who serves you? Is it with the price that you pay? Is it that nostalgic chit chatter with friends while having them? Is it with the microbial germs breeding there? Or the permutation and combination of all of these?
Whatever it is, the wow quotient has never gone down for such eatables...
Are you at a hands reach to pani puri, take my name and have one :)
Do you have any memories with them? Share it...
P.S : Couldnt stop myself from writing this, after reading the post : http://www.rachnabisht.com/3/post/2011/06/roadside-rendezvous.html
6 comments:
How much can i agree with you for street food...
And anywhere in India the Golgappa is as divine as in shimoga(pani puri); i liked the most in Haridwar on the way to some temple; 3 varities of pani!!!
Sushma you had it there? wow...a heavenly food in a holy land :)
hey, your paani puri and bhel have my mouth watering. shall be rechecking them out soon. also, better not tell yr husband about this crooked paani puri wallah who was doing unmentionable things in his paani ka lota :)
Rachna, he has already seen that video that has been floating over the net for quite some time now. I havent as I dont want to start hating such a wonderful thing :)
Riding the Tanga seemed to give one that much more time to experience the street and the goodies about them.
I suppose in the smaller towns about India it's still safe to eat streetside.
Well written. that dalebi(i'm sorry forgot its name again..) you made was just mmmmmmm.. Even Sreekanth dint let me have one more bite. He loved it and asked me "Who told you I dont like chats?"
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