Bhel Puri Stand: inspiration and process
I am a bit of a chaat fiend. Chaat is a type of Indian street hawker food that's made from puri. Puri is basically a type of deep fried biscuit upon which a range of toppings are stacked, like channa (chickpeas) boiled potato, onion, lots of different chutneys, fresh coriander and dahi (curd).
It usually costs about 20-30 rupees (less than $1) and there was a stage I was eating a LOT of it. When I started to get incessant head spins I decided to give it a break for a while- chaat sellers are hardly known for their hygiene. Like all food service in India they seem to think there is a correlation between extreme use of hands and quality food.
The best way to find safe chaat is the same when hunting for food all over India- head to somewhere that's busy and go with your gut. Or if you are in Mumbai head to my favourite haunt Swati Snacks.
