Thought for Food: Roadside restaurants

Darina Allen takes a chance on some authentic cuisine in IndiaI went to India without a medicine chest, not even an aspirin – for three weeks we travelled through North and South India, eating in fancy hotels, local restaurants, neighbourhood dhabas, market stalls, beach shacks. I drank sweet frothy chai masala at roadside teashops, tucked into bhelpuri in Mumbai, queued up with the locals for sweet sticky jalebis and galab jamum in Kujaraho, drank saffron and rosewater lassi in a local dhaba.
One of our guides, who said he had never been asked to bring a guest to a dhaba in 23 years of guiding, brought us to his favourite café in Kancheepuram. We ate a delicious thali, watched by bemused locals. Well over 50 per cent of Indians are vegetarians. Restaurant signs indicate whether the food is “veg”, “pure veg”, or “non-veg”. The vegetarian food is some of the most imaginative and tasty one is ever likely to taste. We had many delicious meals and flavour combinations that linger in my taste memory – pani poori on Marina Beach in Chennai, sand roasted peanuts in newspaper cornets, pistachio kulfi (a delicious firm-textured ice-cream) frozen in little clay pots. In Cochin I bought spanking fresh fish directly from the fishermen and had it cooked on the spot in sizzling coconut oil, with garlic, chilli and lots of fresh coriander – divine.
Some of the most memorable flavours were street food which varies from region to region and even between neighbourhoods. Whatever the time of the day, people are peeling, juicing, frying, boiling, roasting, simmering or baking some kind of food for passers-by. Deep fried food is the staple on the street. We ate pyramid-shaped samosas, spicy bhajis, crispy pakoras (veg fritters), and both sweet and savoury katchori. Visitors to India shouldn't miss these delicious street foods, even when the stall is basic, deep-frying kills any bacteria, so be brave. If the locals are queuing up is usually a good sign.
Everywhere, we found intriguingly spiced ‘curries', some dry, some with gravy. The meat was mostly chicken, lamb or ‘mutton' which we later discovered was the term for goat. Thick unctuous homemade yoghurt raitas, chutneys and relishes were served with virtually every meal. Not to mention the wonderful breads – flat breads like chapatti, deep fried poori, paratha, naan, poori, millet flat bread which we enjoyed with every meal.
For over three weeks we ate and drank our way through India from the roadside shacks to 5 star restaurants. Not once had even a tinge of ‘Delhi belly'. I keep wondering whether it can be anything to do with eating unprocessed foods and drinking fresh unpasteurised milk which are known to boost one's immune system. India is intriguing on every level, but for foodies with a penchant for spicy food it's a paradise.