bademiya (street food)

This post will be about Bademiya, a delicious roadside stall in Colaba where I got Paneer Bhurji and a Paneer Roll. The full name of this place is Bademiya: Seekh Kabobs.

They apparently also cook the brains of goats there, but we just got paneer, since we’re veg. MM. So Bademiya is located in Colaba, which is kind of almost at the tip of South Bombay (where I stay). Colaba is a real touristy spot (made popular by books like Shantaram, in which the main character frequents Cafe Leopold, located on Colaba Causeway, and also cuz a lot of tourist attractions like the Gateway of India and the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel and the VT Train Station) and it’s also a trendy spot for youngsters with a bunch of night clubs. Anyway, the point is, people drink late at night in Colaba, and then they get hungry, and then they go to Bademiya and eat such tasty paneer…

Bhurji means “scrambled,” I think. This paneer was cut up really tiny, or probably just scrambled and cooked in a tomato based sauce with tons of spices. The rotis we ate it with were stretchy and white, kind of like tortillas. And we got a side dish of onions and spicy chutney to dip this mess into. We also had wraps, with bigger pieces of paneer that were marinated in different spices than the bhurji was cooked in. So good…

More street food exploration to come!

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an illustrated guide to the breach candy sandwich

I’m in Bombay: capital of finger-licking, lip-smacking chat-put chaat and eating always, constantly, around the clock.

One of Bombay’s best (and most famous) foods is the “Breach Candy Sandwich”- aka the Grilled Veggie Sandwich. The Breach Candy Sandwich is a double-decker crispy feast. Mmm I’m getting hungry. It’s on three huge triangular pieces of buttered bread, which are slathered with chutney and then piled high with potatoes, tomatoes, onions, capsicums, shredded cheese, and then sprinkled with some secret masala for which I will figure out the recipe through eating the sandwich once a week while I’m here.

You get it at this small hole-in-the-wall take-out place aptly named “The Right Place” in Breach Candy (some section of South Bombay close to my Dadi’s house). It’s always really crowded, and the space is really tiny. You pay in the front (Grilled Veggie Sandwich with Cheese is Rs. 45) and then kind of slither your way to the back of this joint, where you wait in hungry anticipation while the man behind the tin cart goes through the process….

 

The Slathering of Butter Upon Bread:

 

The Spreading of Green Chutney Upon Buttered Slices:

The Piling High of Veggies:

 

The Mountains of Shredded Cheese:

 

The Cutting Of The Sandwich Into Manageable Pieces:

 

 

And the Hot, Final Product:

 

Does that not look amaaazing? This is the sandwich I always talk about. Vegetarian sandwiches in the US do not compare to this. It’s buttery, crispy, flavorful and filling (it’s a struggle to finish one). In past years, the sandwich has definitely been more tasty than when I had it last week (two days after I landed)… I think they changed the chutney making man.

Well, this concludes No. 1 in Bombay food.

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