From Mumbai to Delhi: The food of the people
"You probably get to eat chole-bhature everyday for breakfast now, don’t you!," exclaimed a friend casually when we met for coffee earlier this week. While such a sweeping comment may sound rather strange to you, here’s a crucial bit of context—I’m in Mumbai. The bustling financial capital is a place I called home for nearly 15 years, and continue to have strong, infallible bonds with. Having grown up here, I still visit Mumbai quite often—despite having now cumulatively spent close to a decade in Delhi, ‘Bombay’ is still home to my family, and thus to me, too.
While I’ve come to cherish my Mumbai visits with the same emotions as that of meeting your oldest friend after years, I can’t help but be amused at some of the stereotypes that folks in both the metros believe about each other. What’s funnier is that most of these stereotypes are true as well!
Especially when it comes to food, most leave Delhi with the upper hand. Mumbai, or Bombay as many still call the city that literally never sleeps, one would find street staples where the ‘pav’ is the omnipresent supporting act—you have it in pav-bhaji, misal-pav, vada-pav, maska-pav and a wide variety of sandwiches, too. The other Bombay favourites are its chaat staples of sev puri and bhel puri, which keep the city running.
Apart from the maska-pav and ‘cutting’ chai, ‘cyclewala annas’ are a characteristic seen dominantly all across Mumbai—especially in work and student junctions. Items on offer here include piping hot kande pohe, upma, and idli-vada-chutney—all a super-affordable Rs 20 for a plate. In a city that is always on the run and functions like clockwork, these food vendors ensure that no one goes hungry. The food of Mumbai is not just tasty, but also economical and practical, and caters to every single demographic. It is also very unique in how it tastes.
Move over to Delhi, and the love for eating can bring the city to a halt. We all share a love-hate relationship with chole-bhature, greasy kulchas served with spicy gravies and chilled boondi raita on roadside stalls, lip-smacking dahi chaats, and succulent kebabs at most corners—Delhi, truly, is a kaleidoscope that offers the full spectrum of flavours.
Back in college, I’d occasionally enjoy a plate of hot lunch at a government-run stall outside the Yusuf Sarai metro station near AIIMS. Run by a gentleman named Kailash Sharma, each plate cost Rs 25 about 15 years ago, and consisted of two aloo-kulchas, one subzi (that would change every day), and boondi raita. As a college student, this was a delicious, filling meal that I could enjoy within a budget. Others around would be students from NIFT or visitors who would be waiting for their turn at AIIMS—both in need of comfort and carbs.
This, though, would just be one part of the working person’s luncheon in Delhi. At Connaught Place, we’d indulge in the occasional cream rolls and burgers that would be stacked inside aluminium-and-glass boxes that the vendors would drag around the Connaught Circle, often to settle between two blocks near a chaiwala—a guaranteed place of sale.
Having spent time in both the cities as a student on a budget, I’ve travelled and eaten my fair share of delicious, economical full-plate meals on the move. While there’s a fast-paced efficiency to Mumbai, it is contrasted with a slower-paced savouring of food in Delhi. The food in both the cities is best suited to their respective weathers and seasonal changes, which you can see in the items on offer, and their ingredients too. It would, for instance, be unfair to expect a plate of chole-bhature to work in the temperate, humid Mumbai—or similarly to have kande pohe or sabudana khichdi as breakfast in Delhi instead of the steaming hot paranthas during the freezing months of winter.
Having split my time as a balance between two of the greatest metro cities of the world, I’ve come to realise how my taste preferences have also been bifurcated. In most house parties, the question “which city do you prefer” never fails to amuse me, as a result—for me, my home is in both Delhi and Mumbai, and I can therefore never pick just one.That, I’ve come to realise, is true for the food as well—while I do love chole-bhature, I also crave for my own version of kanda poha at least once a week.
Vernika Awal
is a food writer who is known for her research-based articles through her blog ‘Delectable Reveries’