When asked if the jokes emulate his real-life experiences, Dua agrees, "Pani puri's thanda paani and garam chole just don't go along well. How can you eat a vada or bhajiya pav cold? It would take my mind four cuttings to feel like I've had some tea. Don't even get me started on the ragada pattice and frankie. Food-wise, sorry to say but Mumbai doesn't stand a chance against North India. But one snack which they have which has salvaged it for them is sev puri. That beauty is amazing!"
Inspired by Dua's snack struggles, we got in touch with folks who moved from other cities to make Mumbai home. Their experiences with a few oddball street fare have left them scarred.

Chinese bhel

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"Even though it's pretty high on the street food totem pole, I've never been able to enjoy a dabeli," says media-professional Anvisha Manral, who moved from Delhi to Mumbai, four years ago. "I had one for the first time at an eatery next to the Jehangir Art Gallery expecting a snazzier cousin of the vada pav. Let's just say potatoes and pomegranate belong in different food categories and don't necessarily compliment each other. Moreover, the sev on top does nothing to redeem the ungodly mixture inside. I gave the dabeli another chance at my office canteen — which turned out to be worse. I'm leading a dabeli-less life and I'm quite satisfied with how it's going," confesses Manral.

Suryasarathi Bhattacharya

For Kolkata's Suryasarathi Bhattacharya who only associated the crowd-pleaser vada pav with Mumbai's street snacks, the much-loved Chinese bhel was the ultimate shocker. "It was only after I started living here that I got to know of the gastronomical oddities the city offers. When I first heard of Chinese bhel, I thought it was a joke. How could bhel be Chinese? Maybe instead of chutneys, this bhel had sauces and schezwan spices, I imagined," he shares. When he was presented with the meal, he tells us he was shocked and disgusted in equal measures. "After that meal, I couldn't eat Chinese food for a long time. Every time I craved for noodles, the image of the funny red noodle strands from the bhel would numb my taste buds. It has taken me years to get over the scarring experience that Chinese bhel had on me," the media professional adds.

Dabeli

Hailing from Dhanbad, Vishal Kumar Gupta deems pani puri a turn-off. "First of all, it's gol gappe," he corrects us. "Also, why add sugary water to gol gappe?" he asks. For someone who grew up devouring gol gappas with extra sour and spicy paani in his hometown, the taste of the meetha chutney to his puri, was an abomination, he admits. "When I first told the vendor to make the spiciest pani puri he could, it still did nothing to redeem the flavour. I felt conned. Even now, when a friend ever asks if I'd like to step out for pani puri, I tell them to spare me. Instead, every time I go to Dhanbad, I eat extra plates of gol gappe and cherish those memories until I can return home again."

Anvisha Manral

Pani puri

Vishal Kumar Gupta

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