What are the best things to do in Kolkata this Durga Puja? Hopping across puja pandals, zipping through jostling crowds at puja spots, watching a Bengali art film, riding the underground Metro, visiting the Victoria Memorial, shopping at New Market, and having the quintessential Kolkata street food experience. If you go by a Kolkata street food guide for tips on what to eat on the roadside, you will feel like being spoilt for choice over a huge number of street food items in Kolkata.

So, we recommend five best street food items which you must have in the City of Joy. Notably, ‘Kolkata is the best destination for street food,’ according to a survey that the Taste of Travel conducted among 56727 respondents across 30 street food markets in India this year. 

It is jhal muri that is unique to the Kolkata street food experience for anyone and at any time of the year. One of the most popular evening snacks, it is a great mouth entertainer, both in and out of home. The locals are seen entertaining themselves over this crispy and spicy item, here and there in the city. Vendors are found selling jhal muri at public places including parks, gardens, cinema halls, markets, bus stops and railway platforms. It is made of puffed rice, fried lentils, and other crunchy ingredients mixed with drops of mustard oil, spices, chopped tomatoes and onion slices. You will see young boys and girls standing in long queues outside the puja pandals and spending time over jhal muri during Durga Puja.

Another evening special tongue-teasing item is pani puri that deserves to be among the top ten on a Kolkata street food guide for its popularity with the locals. This iconic Indian street food snack is known as puchka all over  the city. It is a tamarind mixed watery item with spiced potato mash in round chip. The mouthful relish of puchkas outside the Victoria Memorial, a brand icon of Kolkata City, is a craze with tourists. In the Bollywood movie Parineeta, a sequence featuring Vidya Balan, Sanjay Dutt and Raima Sen eating puchkas from a roadside vendor was shot at the Victoria Memorial. It is a must have on the festive evenings of Durga Puja.

India boasts a rich and diverse chaat culture – a common culinary thread in the multi-layered social fabric of the country. Mumbai, Delhi and other metro cities have papri chat, kachori chat, and alu chat in common, while Kolkata enjoys uniqueness for its distinct roadside chaat item – ghugni chaat. It is made from boiled yellow peas mixed with onion and tomato slices, seasoned with lime juice and spices, and served in small leaf bowls. Taste a few spoons of ghugni chaat to feel one with the street food culture of Kolkata. Bengalis are in the habit of taking ghugni chaat with slices of bread.

Kolkata street food retains the distinction of being unique to the culinary essence of the city, and harmonizes with the influences of other countries at the same time. It is chowmein that best reflects this dual identity of Kolkata street food culture. Made by frying boiled chow noodles with mix veggies in oil, chowmein is a borrowing from the Chinese cuisine. The main ingredient may be Chinese, but the smokey, spicy flavor is Kolkatan to the core. Bengalis are fond of egg and chicken chowmein, while veg chowmein is popular with the people in other parts of the country.

Do ask Kolkattans what they like to eat when they go out for shopping or watching a movie? Most of them will say for sure that it is spring roll stuffed with an omelet or chopped chicken or small mutton pieces. The mouthwatering bites of egg rolls, chicken rolls and mutton rolls define the pleasure of evening outings for the locals. Even the Bengalis born and bred in a cosmopolitan society prefer this street food to burgers. Kolkata will not disappoint you if you are veg. Paneer spring roll is also available there. However, rolls are served smoking hot with sauce and wrapped in a thin piece of paper.

Kachuri, moglai, momo, fish fry, chicken cutlet, and alu chop are the other must-try tongue teasers on the list. These items not only define the uniqueness of Kolkata street food culture but also reason why the city is called a city of foodies.

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Interesting Food Stories of India

• Best Places to Eat Biryani & Kebab in Lucknow
• Indulge in a Sin with Street Food of Mumbai
• Interesting Facts of Tirupati Temple Laddu
• Origin and Journey of Haleem to Hyderabad
• Popular Sweets of Bengal in All Seasons

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Dosa has been a ‘thing of joy’ across India and beyond for years. The most popular dish of South India, dosa has become a pan-Indian delicacy riding the waves of popularity with cosmopolitan foodies. It did not fail to woo the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge – Prince William and Kate Middleton – on their visit to India in 2016. But, 2017 seems the year of litti chokha, a most traditional and popular dish in the Indian states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.

Litti Chokha is all set to represent India at the Manila International Food Festival 2017 in the Philippines. With its upcoming debut in the Manila food fest, Litti Chokha proved to be a dark horse outsmarting other popular Indian dishes. This street food of India will compete with food items from 16 other countries including China, Thailand, Mexico and USA.

In recent times, litti chokha came into limelight on the culinary landscape of India. Even it clicked with celebrities like Amir Khan. Amir Khan of Dangal fame had a pleasant tryst with this North Indian dish on his visit to Bihar. Moreover, not many people that litti chokha made its way to Times Square in New York City during the 2014 elections in India. The New York Indians held a critical discussion on the socio-economic scenario of Bihar over platefuls of litti chokha at Times Square then.

Often referred to as a rustic cousin of dal baati from Rajasthan, litti owes its origin to the Magadha Kingdom in ancient India. Once a staple food in the court of Magadha and a Bihari specialty today; litti chokha has the rare distinction of having played an important role in the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857, the first War of Independence. It was the main travel meal for Rani Lakshmi Bai, Tantia Tope and other leaders of the 1857 Rebellion simply because it could be made with fewer ingredients and baked without utensils. Moreover, it remains edible for two to three days.

A favorite of Rani Lakshmi Bai and many in the Mughal Empire, litti has undergone an evolution of taste from shorba and paya to smoky curry over ages.

Dinesh Kumar, a litti chokha expert from Patna, the capital of Bihar, will attend the Manila International Food Festival 2017 as culinary representative of India under the banner of National Association of Streetfood Vendors of India. Let’s keep our fingers crossed for success of litti chokha in this international culinary competition.

Travel Beats, a dedicated Indian Diaspora portal by Indian Eagle, publishes the latest news and interesting stories from India and USA. Subscribe to Travel Beats’ free newsletter for the latest updates on Indian community worldwide.

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What to eat in Lucknow is one of the most important things to know about Lucknow. The City of Nawabs is known for the centuries-old Awadhi cuisine, which is mostly influenced by the culinary culture of the Mughal era because the Mughal Emperors hired officials for administration of the Awadhi Province. The traditional Indian food menu has incorporated Lucknow food from the Awadhi cuisine over years. A paradise for foodies in India, Lucknow City is a labyrinthine trail of food from biryanis to kebabs, chaats and paans. Indian Eagle explores the Lucknow food trail and dares to cut the long list of dishes short so that you don’t feel spoilt for choice.

Biryani is one of the unique things to eat in Lucknow. It is one of the must-have dishes on the traditional Indian food menu. Influenced by the Awadhi cuisine during the era of Nawabs, Lucknow Biryani is unlike the Dum Biryani of Hyderabad in cooking style and flavor. Rice and meat are cooked separately. Both are mixed later and flavored with garden-fresh spices.

Lalla Biryani and Wahid Biryani are the places to eat in Lucknow. The former is famous for mutton biryani and the latter is known for chicken biryani. Among other dishes served at Lalla Biryani, mutton korma and mutton kebab are simply irresistible. Since 1955, Wahid Biryani has been a favorite of foodies. It is a must stop during food tours in Lucknow City. Wahid Biryani has been featured in many newspapers, food shows and travel videos for its USP that is the rare blend of 56 difference spices. Even they serve visitors at the Taj Mahotsav in Agra. You can visit the by-lanes of Aminabad in  the old city for vegetarian versions of Lucknow Biryani.

Galawati Kebab or Galauti Kebab is what to eat in Lucknow during a trip or food tour. It is said that the recipe was invented for a change of taste when a Nawab wished to eat something new that would melt in his mouth. Galawati Kebab does really melt in the mouth as it is made from ground meat. Add Tunday Kababi near Akbari Gate to your list of best places to eat in Lucknow City as it serves authentic Galauti Kebab with paratha. Chicken Korma is another must have at this food joint.

Galauti Kebab is also known as Tunday Kebab (Tunday means handicapped). It is called so because the person who invented the recipe was handicapped. This Lucknow food owes its unique flavor to the blend of 100 spices.

Of the Lucknow Kebabs, Boti Kebab is served as a starter. It is made with tender pieces of meat under intense heat. It is a Mughlai dish from the Awadhi cuisine.

You should add Tokri Chaat to your list of never-tasted-before things to eat in Lucknow. Generally, chaat is an Indian street food and a popular monotony-breaking snack. Tokri Chaat is a Lucknow-special dish of deep-fried basket-shaped dough filled with a mix of boiled peas and potato mash. Unique to the City of Nawabs, it is unlike the varieties of chaat that Delhi, Agra, Nagpur and Indore fare famous for. Royal Café in Hazrat Ganj Market serves the best of Tokri Chaat.

READ MORE Interesting Facts about Lucknow

Sheermal is a sweet version of naan (baked flat bread) savored with anything spicy in contrast to it. Sheermals are made of refined flour mixed with sweetened, warm milk and flavored with saffron. Don’t forget to get your taste buds blessed with contrasting flavors of sheermal and a spicy curry.

Lucknow and Varanasi (or Banaras) are the ultimate stops for paan lovers and paan eaters in India. No meal is complete without a Lucknowi paan, which is not just another experience. Stuffed with several different tongue-teasing ingredients including mango pulp in summer, paan is omnipresent in this Indian heritage city. Mango Paan at Mehrotra Paan Corner is a unique bliss of Lucknow.

The list of things to eat in Lucknow does also have Malai Ki Gilori for those having a sweet tooth. Soft in make, this sweetmeat melts in the mouth within seconds. Pista Barfi is another famous sweet treatment for the taste buds in the city.

Your tour of the best places to eat in Lucknow would remain incomplete without an experience of Prakash ki Kulfi and Chanakya ki Kulfi. These two varieties of kulfi in different flavors including malai, rose, elaichi and kesar-pista will leave an indelible impact on the foodie in you. Parkash ki Kulfi with sweet noodles is a must try in Aminabad, and the place offering Chanakya ki Kufli exhibits food related poems on the walls.

If you happen to visit Lucknow during winter, don’t give a miss to Makhkhan Malai. Known as Lab-e-Mashook in Urdu, the delicacy is sold near Kali Temple at Chowk in the old city.

With Paya ki Nihari, we at Travel Beats are back to the non-vegetarian menu that Lucknow City is famous for. It is a spicy broth of lamb trotters, cooked slowly for 6-7 hours. Lucknow owes this dish to Haji Abdul Rahim Sahib who started serving it with kulche for morning breakfast in the year 1890. Since then, the city has been breaking its fast with a bowl of Paya ki Nihari and a plate of kulche in the morning.

Lucknow Travel Tips

October to March is the best time to visit Lucknow, one of the weekend getaways from New Delhi. The Double-decker AC Train is the best of all Delhi to Lucknow trains. It covers the distance between Delhi and Lucknow in 7 hours. If travel by train is not your cup of tea, book a domestic flight to Lucknow from Delhi.

Cheap Flights on Indian Eagle

Indian Eagle offers the best itinerary to Lucknow including the cheapest flight tickets to New Delhi and the best domestic flight to Lucknow from Delhi. The lowest airfare and the best service are guaranteed!

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Food travel across India is a sinful indulgence in winters. Winter is no exception to the seasonal varieties of Indian food. Indian winter delicacies including sweets and snacks are sure to leave your taste buds restless if you don’t try them out. We at Indian Eagle leafed through the pages of Indian city food guides and handpicked the best delicacies that you must have in India this winter.

Gajar Ka Halwa with Dried Fruits 

Rajasthan is known for not only the best winter holiday tourist destinations but also the best winter delicacies. Gajar Ka Halwa is the most popular sweetmeat that most of the cities in the state of Rajasthan including Jaipur, Udaipur, Bikaner, Mewar, Jaisalmer and Jodhpur offer during winter. Gajar Ka Halwa is a must on the menu of wedding feats in Rajasthan.

Udaipur Food Travel Guide

Nolen Gurer Sandesh & Rosogolla  

Image Credit: flickr.com/photos/micromitra

Traveling to Kolkata in winter? Brush your sweet tooth for platefuls of Nolen Gurer Sandesh and Rosogolla. Kolkata treats the guests to Rosogolla and Sandesh throughout the year. But, the Bengali sweets of nolen gurer flavour (date palm jiggery) are winter specials in Kolkata. Hope, you can’t afford to miss it.

Kolkata Street Food Guide

Stuffed Parathas with Curd  

Be it morning or evening, Delhi is fond of smoking hot Parathas in winter. Delhi specializes in serving Parathas stuffed with filling of different ingredients including spinach, cauliflower, carrot, peas, mashed potato, fenugreek leaves and reddish. Parathas with some pickle, butter and a bowl of curd give the best taste of Delhi that is unique to the North Indian food culture in winter.

Delhi Street Food Guide

Makki Ki Roti & Sarson Ka Saag 

Punjab will treat you to its warm hospitality over a meal of Sarson Ka Saag and Makki Ki Roti during winter. Though this meal is cooked in the Punjabi kitchens round the year, it keeps the body warm and helps to brave the cold in Punjab during winters. The meal of Sarson Ka Saag and Makki Ki Roti is served with butter, jaggery and onion slices.

Mumbai Street Food Guide

Hot Gulab Jamun with Ice-cream 

Whether you are on diet or a diabetic patient, you cannot resist the temptation of hot Gulab Jamun on wintry nights. Gulab Jamun is a favourite of Indians all over the country. Many people top Gulab Jamuns with vanilla-flavored ice-cream in winter.

Agra Food Travel Guide

Masala Khichdi with Pickle

Masala Khichdi (spicy porridge) is one of the best winter delicacies in India. It is yummy in taste and light on stomach. In winters, this traditional Indian meal is cooked with seasonal vegetables like carrots, beans, peas and cauliflower. A spoonful of ghee is the best add-on to enhance the taste.

Indore Food Travel Guide

Litti with Potato Mash or Brinjal Bharta   

Winter travel to Bihar, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh is an incomplete experience without bites of Litti Chokha. Unique to the traditional food culture of these Indian states, Littis are stuffed balls and served hot with spicy potato mash or brinjal bharta. This snacky delicacy is sure to be found on the Indian street food guide.

Mysore Food Travel Guide

Samosa & Pakora with Chai

In North India, the evenings of winter are warm with platefuls of Samosa and Pakora. Stuffed with the filling of seasonal ingredients, these popular snacks are best served with cups of smoking hot tea. Samaso and Pakora with Chai are part of get-togethers and soirees in North India during winters.

Best Indian Monsoon Delicacies

Mirchi Bajji & Ragda Pattice 

The spicy affair of Hyderabad begins with a plateful of Mirchi Bajji in winters. It is one of the best winter snacks and street foods in South Indian cities including Hyderabad, Chennai, Bengaluru and Mysore. It is served hot with white coconut chutney. Hyderabadis are fond of Ragda Pattice too, in the winter season.

Indian Eagle books the cheapest flights to India from USA for Indian Americans, food travelers, and American tourists, no matter whatever is the season!

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Mumbai’s street food culture is as varied and cosmopolitan as its population. Having an affair with the street food is one of the things to do in Mumbai City. The Mumbai street food guide is as chock-a-block with food items of multiple flavors as the cityscape is dotted with the things to see. The multi-spice flavors of Mumbai street foods like Pav bhaji, Vada pav, Kheema pav and Bhel puri reflect the city’s multiple facets. A must mention is that most of the street-side food stalls serve gastronomes from morning or noon till wee hours. At Indian Eagle, we recommend five of the best Mumbai street foods to our customers who have flown to Mumbai this Ganesh Puja festival.

Pav Bhaji

Pav bhaji is the first pick from a Mumbai street food guide. With soaring popularity among the locals and tourists, it has become an icon of Mumbai City. It is tangy, sour and spicy with lemon extract. Pav bhaji is a dish of fluffy bread slices smeared with butter and mixed vegetable gravy. It is a must taste for those on a culinary tour of Mumbai. Sardar’s at a stone’s throw from Mumbai Central Station is one of the best places to have finger-licking pav bhaji.

Vada Pav

Vada Pav is another must-have street food in Mumbai. It defines the native taste of Mumbaikars. A delicious grab-and-go snack for the locals, vada pav is a mashed potato patty sandwiched between two slices of fluffy bread. What makes this snack a luscious twist for taste buds is the potato mash spiced with a mix of garlic, chilies and coriander. Vada pav is served with coriander chutney. Anand near Mithibai College on Gulmohar Road is one of the best destinations for vada pav lovers.

Chicken Tikka Roll

Chicken tikka roll, a famous member of the Mumbai street food family, stands higher on the taste quotient. Chicken tikka roll is so popular with Mumbaikars that they swear by its relish to pride themselves on being foodies. It is a roll of thin and soft roomali roti (flat bread made from refined flour), wrapped with meat inside and stuffed with a mix of ingredients. Mumbai’s favorite destination for the best chicken tikka roll is Bademiya, an open-air kitchen on wheels behind the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel.

Bhel Puri

Bhel puri is the best flavor of beachside evenings in Mumbai City. Though a common anytime snack, bhel puri makes an evening walk with friends a pleasant experience. It is a crunchy, spicy tongue-teasing item mixed with fried lentils, onion slices, tomato slices, boiled potato slices, sev, tamarind chutney and coriander leaves. Most street food vendors in Mumbai sell their own variations of bhel puri in different flavors. Chowpatty Beach is the ultimate bhel puri destination in the city.

Kheema Pav

Mumbai has a sweet tooth for pav. Kheema pav is a rich, spicy pav dish again. Colaba is more famous for kheema pav than its tourist spots in the city. The locals, tourists, foodies and travelers mop up plates of kheema (fried minced meat) with slices of fluffy bread. It is a favorite of Mumbaikars for breakfast. A visit to Colaba is best complemented by gastronomic experience of kheema pav near Olympia Coffee House in Rahim Mansion.

The Mumbai street food list is not limited to these five picks. It includes pani puri, kebab, channa bhatura, and milkshakes. Which foods would you like to tick on your list of things to eat in Mumbai? – Indian Eagle

Besides useful travel tips and ideas, Indian Eagle offers cheap flight tickets for Mumbai with Delta Airlines, United Airlines, British Airways, American Airlines, Air India and Etihad Airways from major US cities. You can check airfare deals for Mumbai on IndianEagle.com or call us at 1800-615-3969.

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Madhya Pradesh tourism is on high with an incredible increase in the number of domestic and foreign tourists by 620% in the last seven years. This central state of India received 5, 34, 13,039 footfalls in 2012-2013, according to the Madhya Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation. The temples of Khajuraho, the Raj Mahal of Orchha, the Bundela Rajput history of Chanderi, the Stupas of Sanchi, the palace of Gwalior, the Somnath Temple of Omkareshwar, the Ram Ghats of Chitrakoot, Tansen Music Festival, the hilly beauty of Pachmarhi, mountaineering in Amarkantak, and the food of Indore pull all the stops to make the state tourism touch the dizzying heights. In this context, IndianEagle explores how unique, rich and diverse the food culture of Indore is.

Poha

It is a plateful of Poha that the people of Indore start their day with. Poha is a dish of flattened or beaten rice fried with a mix of fine onion slices, chopped green chillies and fennel seeds in mustard or refined oil. Spiced with turmeric and salt, the dish is garnished with chopped coriander leaves and spicy snacks on top. Among the street foods of Indore, Poha is a must taste not just because it is the morning flavor of the city but also because it is unique to the local culture. The natives relish Poha with bites of hot jalebis in breakfast.

Chaat

Indore is no exception to the Chaat culture of India. This tongue-teasing food item is omnipresent from Delhi to Jaipur, Kolkata to Patna and Indore to Mumbai. Papdi chaat and Samosa chaat are the popular dishes that Indore offers to visitors. Samosas are triangular doughs made of refined floor, stuffed with spiced potato mash, and fried in oil or ghee. A plate of samosa chaat is served with chickpea gravy, onion slices, tomato slices and chopped coriander leaves spread on top. Papdi is a fried, flat, crispy item like potato chips. A plateful of papdis is served with chickpea curry or gravy. Adding to the snacky flavor of this Indore dish is a mix of onion slices, tomato slices, boiled potato slices, sev (a kind of snacks), and chutney or sauce.

Bhutte Ka Kees

Butte Ka Kees is a contribution by the Marwari and Maharashtrian communities to the diverse street food culture of Indore. The streets of the city teem with food vendors selling Bhutte Ka Kees in the season of corn. The dish is made of freshly ground corn and garnished with coconut gratings and chopped coriander leaves. Heeng and lemon juice make this seasonal flavor of Indore more tempting for the taste buds. It is an ideal evening snack to make the stomach feel full. Made of corn, it is nutritive too.

Sweets

Who is not fond of sweets in India? Indoreans are known for their sweet tooth, too. The part of the city which becomes a hotbed of gastronomic affairs in late evening is Sarafa Bazar, famous for various sweets. Sarafa Bazar is, in fact, a jewellery market. Once the jewellery shops are closed, it turns into a hangout for foodies. The legendary streets of this food hub in Indore can best be compared to Parathawali Gali in Old Delhi’s Chandichowk. The eateries serving jalebis, imartis, malpuas, rabdi, gulab jamuns, badam milk, kalakand and moong dal halwa remain at work from late evening till wee hours of the next morning.

Snacks

What to bring from Indore for your family? It is Indori namkeen (the crunchy & crispy snacks of Indore). What the namkeen of Indore is so famous for is the amazing taste and incredible variety. Namkeen is popularly called shev by the natives. Pudina shev, ratlami sev, achar sev, potato shev, tomato shev, garlic shev, spinach shev, mitha sev, and dhaniya sev are some of the most popular varieties which have put Indore on the map of food tourism in India.

Dal Kachori

If Jaipur, Jodhpur, Udaipur and Bikaner owe their culinary fame to dal-baat, and Kolkata claims to be distinguished for peas kachori, Indore does lag behind. Dal kachori is the most inviting taste of Indore. Dal kachoris are floor-made dough balls stuffed with moong dal (lentils) filling or masala. The filling is spiced with a mix of chopped onion, tomato, garlic and various other ingredients. Kachoris are eaten dry or with tongue-tantalizing chutneys.

Saboodana khichdi, Shreekhand, Chakki ki shaak, Shikanji, Khoprapak, and Coconut patties are the other must-taste gastronomic delights on the food guide of Indore. Evidently, Indore is not just the business capital but also the food capital of Madhya Pradesh.

Our online cheap flight booking is as unique as the food culture of Indore. IndianEagle.com offers cheap air tickets for trips to the major cities of India. Why not experience it if it sounds incredible?

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