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Bhel Puri
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- Category: Mumbai Street Foods
- Published: 31 July 2010
- Written by Dinesh
- Hits: 8946
We have been covering some of the foods that are very typical of Mumbai. We last covered Vada Pav and the next item we are covering is Bhelpuri or Bhel. Bhelpuri is a puffed rice dish with potatoes and a tangy tamarind sauce. It is a type of chaat or small plates of savoury snacks, particularly identified with the beaches of Mumbai (Bombay), such as Chowpatty. Bhel Recipes typically consists of 3 parts |
These three groups of ingredients are mixed in a bowl as per the eater's preferences. Some prefer it more sweet while others prefer it spicy. Bhelpuri is best consumed as soon as it is made. If left for a while, the juices from the tomatoes, chutneys, etc. combine to render the sev and puffed rice soggy. Another variation is to sprinkle the chat with chunks of diced sweet mango. The finished snack is often garnished with a combination of diced onions, coriander leaves and chopped green chilis. It is sometimes served with papri puris, a deep fried small round and crispy wheat bread. The result is a sour/pungent/sweet tasting evening snack that is a treat for the taste buds and a good source of carbohydrates and minerals. There are many variants of Bhelpuri:
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Much like the Vada Pav vendors, you will also find Bhel being served at small Bhel vendors spread around the city. However, you are likely to find the better Bhel stalls at the beaches. In other countries, you are likely to find Bhel on the menus of many Indian restaurants but if you are lucky to have a Little India in your city, you can almost be sure you will find Bhel there. Some of the local Indian Grocery stores also serve Bhel packets.
Vada Pav
- Details
- Category: Mumbai Street Foods
- Published: 22 July 2010
- Written by Dinesh
- Hits: 9363
One of my favorite items growing up was the "Vada Pav". Vada Pav, sometimes spelled wada pav, is a popular vegetarian fast food dish native to the Indian state of Maharashtra. It consists of a batata vada (potato fritter) sandwiched between two slices of a pav (bread). Batata is potato in Marathi and Pav refers to bread (or bun). Finely cut green chilies and ginger and a phodani (tempering) of mustard seeds and turmeric are added to a mash of boiled potatoes, and after dipping patties of the mash in an herb-seasoned batter of gram flour, the patties are deep-fried. |
Vada Pav is typically sold on the street corners of Mumbai. Each vada pava vendor typically has a small cart with a large frying wok to make the vadas. The carts are similar to the hot-dog carts seen in New York. The Pav is typically sourced from local bakeries. Some of the vendors have bigger shops as well. The buyers normally eat their vada pavs near the cart (see image alongside). You typically find a lemonade or sugarcane juice stand near by. Vada pav was supposedly devised by snack vendor Ashok Vaidya outside Dadar station in 1971. |
Variations of the above basic dish include
- Cheese Vada Pav (where slices of cheese are added);
- Samosa Pav - where a "samosa" is used instead of a vada
- Jain Vada Pav - where vada ingredients do not include onions, garlic and potatoes
- Bhajji Pav - where onion fritters are used
Vada pav served in the nearby state of Gujarat is usually fried in Butter or edible Oil. The Pav is first fried in a mixture of Butter or Oil and dried red chilly powder. After that the chutney is applied in the hot fried Pav and the Vada is placed in between. This is the only difference between Vada pav in Gujarat and Maharashtra. In the state of Gujarat, the original unfried Vada Pav recipe is referred to as "Bombay Vada Pav".
There are thousands of Vada Pav stalls all over the city and everyone will tell you that their local Vada Pav stall is the best in the city. If you ever hit Mumbai, make sure you get one. I see a McVadaPao on the McDonald's menu in the near future. In the meantime, you can try and see if you can get Vada Pav at some of your local Indian restaurants.
Indian Food Stores in the US
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- Category: Food Stores
- Published: 06 December 2007
- Written by Dinesh
- Hits: 9789
The United States has a very large Indian community in many of the large cities such as New York, New Jersey, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, San Francisco Bay Area among others. Some of the stores are small mom and pop stores selling basic needs such as rice, dals, spices and vegetables. These stores probably have most of the things you would need to do typical Indian cooking. |
However in some locations like New Jersey, the Indian grocery stores are really large. These stores are almost as large as the American Grocery stores and sell other products such as cooking utensils, DVDs, CDS, Books and Magazines etc. They also carry a larger variety of the basic products.
The Indian Food & Grocery section of the website has a list of such stores. The site currently has over 2500 Indian food & grocery stores listed in the United States. If you think one of the stores has incorrect data or if you have a new store you would like listed, please do contact us. We would greatly appreciate it, if you would provide a review of these stores.
World Diabetes Day 2012
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- Category: Diabetes In India
- Published: 13 November 2012
- Written by Dinesh
- Hits: 8407
If you think that Diabetes only affects the obese and old, you are sadly mistaken. I was 36 years old, 63-65 kgs in weight when I was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. I am from the Indian sub-continent and diabetes runs in my family and most of the males have got it at an early age. Going by that I knew that diabetes would be in my life as well. |
Growing up, I knew my father had diabetes and that he took medicine but he never really educated me on what the disease was, how I could help him and hopefully use that knowledge to delay the onset of my diabetes. It was a different time and perhaps he did not realize the importance of educating me. He eventually passed away from a heart attack, probably a result of his diabetes. I never really learned much from all that and continued to make mistakes of drinking soda, having sweets and having too much food especially rice. I oddly never gained much weight despite these bad habits. Eventually at age 35, I started showing signs of diabetes and was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes at age 36. It changed everything and now I had to watch everything I ate and can no longer eat like I did before and that will be the case for the rest of my life and will get worse as I get older.
Over the last few years, I see many around me, who are at the risk of diabetes but just don't care (like I was a few years ago) and I feel the least I can do is educate them. I have a 6-year old son who knows about diabetes and what he should avoid. He stays away from soda completely, he limits how much sweet stuff he has every day. If he is offered a 2nd piece of cake at a birthday, he asks us if he can have it. The best thing he does is remind me to stay away from things that are bad for me. I know I must do that so I can be in his life for as long as I can and that he can delay the onset of diabetes in his life (or hopefully never get it or perhaps a cure will be found in the next 30-40 years).