Food is an essential part of all Indian festivals. Street food adds to the experience of doing pandal hopping during Durga Puja. Presenting here a list of 5 top street food items you must try this festival season.
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Jhal Muri
Jhal Muri is the ultimate street food from Bengal / Odisha. Made of rice puffs, boiled potatoes, chana, peanuts, green chillis and mixed with spices and mustard oil, this street food is healthy and easy on pocket. Perfect to munch while you are pendal hopping in C R Park.
Kathi / chicken roll
If you are not fasting for Navratri, try a piping hot chicken roll. Wrapped in slightly sweetened Indian flat bread and stuffed with chicken, egg and onion and seasoning, these rolls taste divine and you can have it on the go. Go for vegetarian variety if you don’t prefer non veg food during this time.
Beguni / Tele bhaja
Fried brinjals are fav with Bengalis and we dont question why. Brinjals are cut into thin wafer-like discs, dipped in besan, and fried till crispy to make Beguni. Tele bhaja is assorted veggies like capsicum, potatoes, and onion, etc, and somewhat similar to our pakoras.
Jalebi
A fav Indian dessert all over the nation, jalebi stalls can be found near Durga Puja stalls easily. Hot sugar syrup running in concentric n zig-zag circles ensures multiple foodgasms.
Phuchka
Delhi’s gol gappa is phuchka in east. Not just name, even the character of phuchka is slightly different from golgappe. Phuchka is mostly made of atta and is bigger in size. Stuffed with boiled potato mash and gugni (peas or matra) and dipped in tangy water made of lemons, spices, and coriander, this is one of the must-eat items during durga puja. Phuchka is served in dona (dried leaf) rather than a steel or thermocol plate.
For the first time I tasted that begun (began in North) was when I visited a friend from Jharkhand on Holi this year. And then I met a Bengali friend who introduced me to a couple of Bengali dish and Beguni bhaja was something we would make every now and then.