Locals of Mumbai, India’s financial capital, line up for their unique local dish, a buttery crispy grilled sandwich with vegetables and a spicy chutney.
One thing people never tire of debating in India is whether Mumbai is better or Delhi is better. And at the heart of it is often debated whether Delhi’s food is better or Mumbai’s. Delhi usually gets the upper hand when it comes to street food diversity, but when it comes to sandwiches, Mumbai beats the competition.
The sandwich may have been brought to India by the British, but the people of Mumbai (as Bombay was earlier) have added their own fillings and spices to make it their own.
Bombay Sandwich (it is never called by the new name of Mumbai) is a fairly simple recipe. To make it, raw vegetables along with boiled potatoes, onions, cucumbers, tomatoes and peppers are placed between large buttered slices of bread.
These breads are always plain white bread with no fancy brown or multi-grain breads and are accompanied by a rich and generous sauce. Made with fresh herbs and spices, this tangy green chutney infuses the flavor while it is grilled over an open flame with the help of tongs. This makes the bread soft in the middle and crispy on the edges. In recent times, cheese is also openly sprinkled on this mixture.
This popular dish reflects the city’s ethos of welcoming outsiders and making them its own.
However, it should be noted here that before the British brought sandwiches to India, the Portuguese had introduced both potatoes and bread to the country. They used local toddy (palm juice made into a liquor) to boil and cook pav. It is the soft pao that forms the basis of Vada Pao, another famous street dish of Mumbai.
Sonal Ved, author of Tabakhi’s cookbook, cites historians’ claims that the Bombay sandwich was probably developed as a meal for migrant workers from different parts of India who came to work in Mumbai. The textile mills in Mumbai were at their peak in the 1960s. Workers needed cheap food options and that’s when the sandwich started.
Textiles may have closed decades ago, but the sandwich still lives on, providing a cheap and convenient meal for office-goers and college students alike. Even today you will find a sandwich vendor on every street corner in Mumbai but the best one will be the most crowded. These sandwich men do brisk business, serving their sandwiches on paper plates with thick ketchup.
In Ved’s first cookery books ‘Tiffin’ and ‘Whose Samosa Is It Anyway?’, he focused on Indian cuisine. They include recipes for cooking along with original stories of its origin. However, his latest book ‘India Local: Classic Street Food Recipes’ (published in August 2023) sheds light on the wide variety of food available in markets across the country.
In addition to the Bombay sandwich, recipes include classics such as pani puri, doulat ki chaat and mutton momos (dumplings filled with minced mutton and mixed vegetables) as well as Ved’s own creations such as barley and couscous (an African dish consisting of meat and grains). (cooked) includes tikki and guacamole glauti (avocado kebab).
“Most of the chants are based on family recipes, which I learned from my mother, my sisters, aunts, Indian wedding caterers and family cooks,” says Ved, who has been collecting these recipes for some time. are also incorporating their discoveries into traditional dishes. For example, their version of the Bombay sandwich includes blanched and pureed spinach and chickpea flour in the sauce to make it healthier. While chaat masala sprinkled on the vegetable filling provides a tangy taste. He said: ‘This recipe is my own – we’ve been making it this way at home for years.’
Although now street food stalls and upmarket restaurants are also offering different versions of the Bombay sandwich with beetroot, avocado, imported cheese, chunks of meat and even chocolate or Nutella spread and it’s electric. Cooked in toasters and fancy grills, but the classic desi-style sandwich is still quite popular. And that’s because nothing comes close to the perfect balance of flavors and textures.
Bombay Sandwich Recipe
First step
To make the chutney, grind the coriander leaves and spinach leaves in a food processor with ice cubes, green chillies, garlic, ginger, chaat masala and gram flour until a fine paste is formed. Add salt to taste.
Second step
To make a sandwich, butter both sides of each slice of bread and spread the sauce generously over it.
The third step
To make a sandwich, layer three slices of bread with onion, potato, tomato, cucumber and capsicum. Sprinkle the cheese over the vegetables, then sprinkle with chaat masala, salt and pepper. Cover each with another piece of bread.
Fourth step
Grill the sandwiches in a sandwich maker or panini maker. You can also toast the sandwiches on a grill pan, carefully turning them once to get even cooking on the bread. Cut into slices and serve hot with chili chutney, tomato ketchup and more chutney.
Note
To make spinach puree, blanch chopped spinach in a pot of boiling water for a minute and then strain.