When we hear ‘Mumbai Street Food’ we start thinking about a lot of dishes in our mind and get tempted. Mumbai street food is for all whether you are rich or poor. A beggar can stop by a stall, buy a street food he can afford whereas people stop their luxury car at a street food corner, and enjoy their food; there is no discrimination. All kinds of people have different choices of street food. Let’s take an example of school children; for them their favourite street food would be vada pav. For college student it might be frankie or sandwiches. For office going people, it might be tapri ki chai with biscoot, for housewives who go for their daily grocery or vegetable shopping it might be paani puri.
People who come to Mumbai from other state or countries are very excited to try the street food available here. There are different types of street food available in Mumbai at every corner, that too affordable. I am going to mention some of them in this article so please bear with your hunger and temptation and visit your favourite street food corner after reading this article.
I will start with the most fav street food for which Mumbai is famous for and on which most of the people are dependent on as it is affordable and tasty, can you guess it?…. well, you guessed it right, it’s the one and only ‘Vada Pav’. You can call it as king of the street food. Spicy masala mixed with boiled potato and dipped in the gram flour batter going straight into hot oil for deep fry. This vada is then resting under the arms of pav with some sweet and spicy green chutney served with fried green chili.
The second most famous Mumbai Street food is ‘Pav Bhaji’. This is a food which you will get in a well-known restaurant as well as on the street. There is no other dish which can replace this. It is loved by all from small kids to golden ager. Spicy masala mixed with different vegetable made in butter and the pav sizzled in butter as well, both served with chopped onion and coriander with lemon sliced with the topping of butter block.
How can one skip the amazing Mumbai street food called ‘Pani Puri’. This is the most popular among chaats. You can find pani puri stalls nearly on every street. The vendor makes a small hole in the crunchy round puri and then it is filled with some mixture of white peas and boiled potato and then dipped in sweet and spicy water. It should be eaten in one go and you’ll love the combination of sweet and spicy.
Another Mumbai Streetfood you can count is ‘Bombay masala sandwich’. It is a must try when you are in Mumbai. It is healthy, tasty, and affordable. Green chutney and butter are spread on one side of bread it is then filled with masala potato which is made up of Indian spices. Thin slices of onion, tomato, capsicum, and sprinkle of chaat masala are added. It is then toasted to make it crispy and served hot along with green chutney and tomato sauce.
‘Samosa’ is the most unique dish. It is spicy and rich in flavours. Moreover, the shape of samosa is quite different from any other snack item. The covering of the filling is made up of all purpose flour and the filling is wrapped in this dough and folded into a triangular shape. The filling of the samosa is made up of potatoes, green peas, spices, and herbs. It is then deep fried in the oil until golden brown and served with mint chutney.
Mumbai street food is incomplete without ‘Bhel Puri’. The base of this is the puffed rice. The typical street side bhel puri is served in the cone made of paper/newspaper. The puffed rice is added in it along with some, boiled mashed potato, chopped tomato, green chilli, green chutney, tamarind and jaggery chutney, ground nut, masala chana dal, sev, fine chopped onion and coriander with paapdi on the top. All these ingredients are mixed to give a crunchy texture.
‘Ragda Pattice’ is another Mumbai street food, which comes under chaat. The crispy aloo tikki made with Indian spices are punched in the plate to spread it and showered with cooked ragda (white peas), green chutney, tamarind chutney, curd, onion, coriander, green chilli, sprinkled with chaat masala and sev.
People often binge ‘Tawa pulao’, which is again one of the Mumbai street food. It’s prepared on large flat griddle called tawa by adding basmati rice, tomatoes, bell peppers, green beans, onion, potato, peas, ginger garlic paste, coriander leaves. It is a quick and medium spicy recipe.
The next famous Mumbai street food, which you should try, is ‘Frankie’ it’s the famous roll. There are different types of Frankie both in veg and non veg. It’s a spicy dish. The base of this is the flat round bread made with all purpose flour cooked on the pan on both the side. Schezwan sauce is then spread over the bread, masala aloo or cooked spicy noodles or Manchurian or any filling as per your choice is placed over the bread. Chopped onion and cabbage are added and frankie masala is added along with cheese (optional). At last, this bread is rolled, and you can enjoy with schezwan sauce or tomato sauce.
After the pandemic the people have become more cautious and alert on trying the street food. Looking into this matter there are many street food joints who are taking a lot of precautions considering safety and hygiene. They are also trying to make these street foods in healthy version too. They are taking maximum safety for example wearing of gloves, wearing masks, using hand sanitizer, proper cleaning at their stall etc.
Pic Credit- Aamchi Mumbai
But there are many foodies around who love these street foods but are also health conscious. While there are few street foods which are designated as healthy as, idli, steamed momo, poha, upma, fruits etc there are also the junk one. People are now more concerned about their health, but they also can’t compromise on this junk street food they are fond of the taste and varieties which are there in Mumbai street food.
So, do you think there can be an alternative of this where the taste and texture would remain same by replacing the ingredient with some healthy option? How about making a vada with the filling of sweet potato by replacing potato or mixture of both? Or say adding soya granules in samosa filling for vegetarian and chicken keema for non-vegetarian, both are rich in protein. There might be many more option which are yet to be discover.
Anyway the list of Mumbai street food can go on. So, if you are in Mumbai don’t wait to go to your favourite street food corner. And if you are planning to come to Mumbai don’t miss to try all these foods. But don’t forget to choose your street food from a hygienic corner.
Superb article Ms Dolly Soni. Enjoyed while reading the article as well as got tempted to have it all😄
Continue writing such beautiful articles.
All the best dear👍👏👏