A street food journey through India
Commonly made fresh to order — swiftly and inexpensively — street food is integral to Indian food culture, author Chetna Makan says. From Mumbai’s vada pav (spiced potatoes stuffed into a soft bread roll) to Kolkata’s dal chilla (light, lentil-based savoury pancakes), regional specialties offer insight into a deliciously varied cuisine. In Chai, Chaat & Chutney: A Street Food Journey Through India (Mitchell Beazley, 2017), Makan takes readers on a street food tour of India. Originally from Jabalpur, a city in the central state of Madhya Pradesh, she worked as a fashion designer in Mumbai before moving to the U.K. in 2003. “I wanted to introduce people to much more than just samosa and kachori — the basics that everyone knows,” she says. “There is such a vast variety of Indian street food.”
Fans of The Great British Bake Off will recognize Makan as a 2014 semifinalist. While her first cookbook — The Cardamom Trail — naturally focused on baking, Makan here turned the aspect of Indian life she misses the most. She paints a mouth-watering picture of the street food landscapes of India’s four biggest cities: Chennai in the south, Kolkata in the east, Mumbai in the west and Delhi in the north.
“I couldn’t have written a book on all Indian street food because it wouldn’t be fair to just pick random recipes from all over the country,” she says.
“So I picked four cities, actually visited them, tried the recipes (in the book) and made it as authentic as possible.”
She highlights the fact that street food in India is much more than the flavourful quick bites that have become popular the world over — it also represents “a daily lifeline for many Indians.” Regardless of season, people turn to these dishes for nourishment around the clock.