Street Foods, Snacks & Drinks

In the Subcontinent, life itself, it sometimes seems, unfolds endlessly out on the street. In many areas of larger towns and cities, people work on the sidewalks, they sleep and cook on the sidewalks, they sell produce on the sidewalks. For anyone who loves traveling in the Subcontinent, it’s this life on the street that’s so stimulating, and food is a big part of it. But street food here isn’t the same as in neighboring Southeast Asia, where the street food vendors are legendary. In the Subcontinent, though restaurants often spill out onto the street, especially around bus stands and train stations, few exist entirely in the street. There are exceptions: A vendor may fry fresh hot pakoras (deep-fried vegetable fritters) on a Jaipur street corner, or roast papads (crispy crackers) over a small coal fire in Kathmandu, but generally between-meal eats and street food revolve more around chai shops, casual places where people drop in throughout the day for a snack and a cup of tea.