For foreign national traveling to India, a piece of advise reliably parroted by U.S. medical personnel and program administrators is to avoid street food outright. The problem with this prevailing wisdom is that street food in India is delicious and incredibly inexpensive. Back in 2017, when I lived in Rajasthan for a summer (my first and only previous trip to India) I honored this protocol faithfully for the full eight weeks of my Hindi intensive in Jaipur. Only in the course of visiting an Indian friend in Kolkata after my program did street vendors become a regular part of my life. Perhaps by then the flora in my intestines had acclimated to South Asia, perhaps I simply have a strong stomach, or perhaps eating street food is always and forever a game of bacterial roulette, In any case, those initial forays into Kolkata street food proved digestively uneventful and remain some of my fondest culinary memories from that summer. They also gave me the confidence and resolve to hit the ground running this time around.
"Delhi Belly," a euphemism for the common and rather unsavory symptoms of food-borne illness experienced by European-American visitors to the subcontinent, is well established in the Anglo-Indian vernacular. It is even the name of a "Hinglish" Bollywood film produced by Aamir Khan (2011), which I have not seen but probably should. At some point during my nine months here, I will almost certainly suffer digestive issues. Rest assured, if things get bad enough, I have prescription medications courtesy of the gracious physicians at the UCSC Student Health Center and I'm not ashamed to use them.
For now, it's open season. The weather in Delhi is perfect for meandering the streets of Hauz Khas Market, relaxing in Gulmohar Park, and indulging in the diverse offerings of the neighborhood street vendors. Within two blocks of the apartment there are vendors selling kathi rolls, momos, chole bhature, rajma chaaval, parathas made to order with your choice of fillings (potato, onion, paneer, etc...), aloo tikka, pav bhaji, the list goes on and on... Most of these items would never appear on the menu at Indian restaurants abroad. On the off chance they did, chances are slim they'd hold a candle to the stands lining Gulmohar Park and Hauz Khas Market. Even then they'd cost 800-1000% percent what we're paying on the street in Delhi. Lunch has become a 55-100 rupee affair most days. For reference, 100 INR is roughly $1.33 at current exchange rates. That would be on the expensive side. For 100 INR, I can order rajma chaaval and a paratha, then stand there and watch a fine gentlemen and his helper, presumably his son, make the meal by hand--finishing it with fresh cilantro, thinly sliced red onion, pickle, and green chilies. For an additional 20 rupees, I can visit the chaiwala down the block and indulge in chai masala, also made to order. It's heaven.
I relay this information merely to convey my current level of excitement, which is immense. Anyone who knows me knows I am enthusiastic about food and drink, and this week a new stratum of the culinary spectrum has opened itself to me. If it sounds as if I'm throwing myself into this new world of seductive delights with reckless abandon, that would only be a half truth. Kyle and I have already established a subset of reliable vendors near the park, and when venturing beyond known vendors we rely on instinct and experience to decide where and what to eat. In general, you want to frequent high-traffic institutions that are moving a lot of product. You don't want to consume a mint-cilantro chutney that's been sitting in the sun for seven hours. There are plenty food carts out there I would refrain from patronizing due to lack of foot traffic. I'm sure they're fine--or could be--but as much as I'm enjoying this honeymoon period, I'm still wary of ending up in fetal position in my bed regretting an imprudent caloric indulgence.
Specific beloved street foods, such as golgappa (panipuri), are the primary offenders for foreigner travelers. This is because they are little more than crispy, fried dough filled with spiced water. In the end, it's usually the water that gets you. Sure, these days I brush my teeth with the stuff that comes out of our tap in our apartment. But I never drink it. And I never drink water from unknown sources on the street. That's just the way life is here. RO (reverse osmosis) water is your friend. Street water is not. Even with this knowledge it's possible to slip up, but observing simple rules gets you through most situations.
That being said, definitely eat the street food. A universe of flavor and adventure awaits.
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