Vijayawadites open their palette to foreign cuisine

Traditional delicacies such as ‘gongura’ pickle and ‘ulavacharu’, which were once the most sought after, have now become clichéd! Gone are those days when a meal was considered to be incomplete without a tinge of ‘gongura’ pickle. Vijayawadites of late have opened their palettes to taste different cuisines and street food has to be credited for this welcoming change.

• Indian street food is a new fad among youth
• Mexican and American cuisines are being served in restaurants

With denizens, youth in particular showing real affinity for diverse cuisines, which is available via street food, the city is fast transforming into a hub for food diversity. The variety of delicacies on offer is a reflection of the city’s evolution into a paradise for food lovers. Tantalizing Mumbai frankies to soothing Punjabi kulfis, gourmet dosas and more being talked about than Ulavacharu and Gongura.

Street food from up north has won the hearts of denizens. “When hunger pangs strike, a frankie comes to your rescue! It is quite filling and at the same time comes at an affordable price,” says P Arvind Kumar, a die-hard frankie lover. Punjabi kulfi, in all varieties such as badam, kaju, pista and malai, is calling out to the ice-cream fanatics. Rakesh Kumar Choudhary, a kulfi vendor, said, “Punjabi kulfi is an exquisite variety of traditional ice-cream. Kulfi is not whipped, unlike western ice-creams, which is why it is denser and creamier.”

Rakesh added that in spite of competition from international players in the ice-cream market such as Baskin Robbins, denizens are savouring kulfis as they have a distinct taste. Moreover, the new found food diversity has turned the city into a multi-lingual centre. The culinary diversity has drawn people from north Indian states like Madhya Pradesh, Punjab and Bihar for street vending and the denizens has to speak in Hindi to strike a conversation and to even place an order.

Arun, a frankie vendor outside Trendset Mall, has come all the way from Bihar for livelihood and he says, “It has been only one month since I came to the city. I was worried that I will have a difficulty in conversing with people here. I thought not many people would know Hindi. But surprisingly, all my customers talk to me in broken Hindi.”

Another innovative street food venture, D for Dosa which came up on the highway margin opposite LEPL Inox, is receiving wide appreciation for its unique dosas on social media sites. They offer dosas with a dash of Italian and Chinese flavouor like Pasta masala dosa and Schezwan dosa. They also have an exclusive dosa section dedicated for diabetics RK Vijay, a netizen, expressed his happiness over the innovative dosa experiment on a social media site. “I have never seen so many varieties of dosas ever before. D for dosas is a place for foodies like me.

My personal favourite is spicy mushroom masala dosa.” Denizens are even going gaga over American, Mexican and Chinese cuisines and to cater to their needs, restaurants in the city are serving Mexican and American cuisines. Dishes like Burritos and Chalupas are no longer names unheard. The mushrooming Dominos, KFC and other outlets also speak volumes about the love for western cuisine.