Few things are as heavenly as gobbling down steaming hot food from a street vendor. Indians love their food and anywhere you go, rest assured that you are never far away from great street food. Just follow the aroma of freshly fried samosas wafting in the air and let it guide you to your food destination. Here are five top picks for street food in India.

Kebabs – Lucknow

If you want a taste of authentic kebabs, head straight to the capital city of Uttar Pradesh, Lucknow. The area is known for its Awadhi cuisine, a heady mix of Mughal flavours, Indian spices and Central Asian techniques. The city has several restaurants that are over a hundred years old, the most popular among them being Tunday Kababi, which serves a variety of kebabs and biryanis. Made of minced meat, kebabs are of different kinds – seekh, tunde, shami, reshmi, kakori, and so on. Mutton (lamb/goat meat) is the main ingredient and this is then mixed with a number of spices, grilled in skewers and served piping hot.

Vada Pav – Mumbai

A Mumbai invention, the ubiquitous vada pav is, not surprisingly, the city’s favourite snack. Of course, it is now available across the country and is something of a national food phenomenon. It’s a simple dish comprising a spiced potato fritter and a bun (pav). A couple of chillies and chutneys are tossed in for extra flavor and it can be relished on the go. It’s kind of like a burger with a batata vada (potato fritter) in place of a patty. It was introduced in the 1970s in this area called Dadar in Mumbai. So make sure to head there for your vada pav fix.

Chole Bhature – Delhi

Delhi is food central. Period. There’s something here for every kind of foodie. But if we have to pick one street food from the national capital, it has to be Chole Bhature. What is it, you ask? Chole is chickpeas and Bhature is a deep fried puffed bread made of refined wheat flour (or cake flour). The chole is cooked in spices and served as a gravy with some pickles. This is finished off with a glass of lassi (a yoghurt-based drink). And we’d suggest you hit the gym right after.

Kathi Roll – Kolkata

The kathi rolls in Kolkata are legendary. It is believed to have its humble origins in the very popular Nizam’s restaurant in Kolkata sometime in the 1930s. Someone came up with this genius idea of wrapping a kebab with spices into a paratha (a layered Indian flatbread). The result was mouth-watering and the kathi roll travelled across the country and continues to be devoured diligently by foodies everywhere in India.

Idli-Vadai – Chennai

As far as street food in Tamil Nadu goes, there’s plenty to choose from – piping hot bajjis (a flour-dipped deep fried snack) by the beaches to crispy dosas (rice pancakes) served with chutney and sambhar – the list goes on. But the idli-vadai combination is among the most popular. Idli is made of steamed mildly fermented rice flour batter, and vadai is essentially a deep fried fritter containing rice flour, lentils, onions, chillies and spices. A versatile dish that can be had any time of the day, idli and vadai can be had with coconut chutney, onion tomato chutney, coriander chutney, dal chutney or sambhar. Don’t forget to wash it all down with a cup of hot filter coffee.

Surprise your family and friends with an Indian street food themed dinner and set up your Satara dining table already!