Comments on: The Chaat Man

By: awadh_nawab

awadh_nawab — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 20:51:05 +0000

Nice writeup. Chaat in Lucknow is simply to die for. There are quite a few ‘Shukla Chaat Corner’ types chatwallahs all around the town, and one can never go wrong with aloo tikki or golgappa :)

By: Ramki

Ramki — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 23:26:01 +0000

Aaah… chaats ! I could live on them for ever. Here are a couple of One page cookbooks with never ending chaat ideas.

http://ramkicooks.blogspot.com/2009/03/1001-simple-chaats-north-indian-street.html

http://ramkicooks.blogspot.com/2009/08/pani-poori-variations-north-indian.html

By: James

James — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 05:21:21 +0000

Hi Jamie,

I’m glad you enjoyed this story! It seems like it’s impossible for American travelers to not get sick when eating in India, even when they’re being cautious. We made sure to ask if the water in our food had been filtered/purified whenever we ate out. Street food is a common source of food fear (and rightly so), but in the end I think it was a sauce in a sit-down restaurant that turned my stomach against me :-/

By: Jamie

Jamie — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 18:56:35 +0000

Its my first time at your site and I enjoyed reading your post. I am a huge roadside food fan when we go to India. Just like you, I got sick once, but if we let that stop us from eating all that wonderful food, we would really be missing out!

By: James

James — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 00:35:55 +0000

Damn, Joon. You had to go and remind me about my favorite X/Y/Z shop back in Rowland Heights, didn’t you?

By: Joon S.

Joon S. — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 04:29:39 +0000

Great post–Indian food is so awesome. I miss it, even though I’m sure the varieties I’ve had–even in Berkeley–are but mere reflections of the greatness that was the Shuklaji chaatwala.

Everyone has their story of lost love. Similarly, everyone has their story of that one roadside diner or snack cart or hole-in-the-wall that made the best X, Y, or Z but is now long gone. Mine is Lolita’s, a small dingy Mexican restaurant near my old elementary school. In its heydey an old Mexican grandmother made her own refried beans and hot chili sauce which went into her simple bean and cheese burritos. For some reason, the tortillas, the queso, the sauce, the beans were all the best I’ve ever had. The special–the bean, cheese, and rice burrito–was a mere $2.50 (back in the day). My family and I would go and buy burritos 10 at a time. They were as good cold as they were hot.

But it’s gone now. It’s gone. And every hole-in-the-wall and stand and cart I go to now for Mexican food has as its impossible standard the simple bean and cheese burrito made by that old grandmother in her small restaurant near Fremont Elementary.

Joon S.
http://vinicultured.com