Kachi Dabeli

Dabheli! One of my most favorite street food. Living away from home during my student days I literally survived on Dabeli, Vada Pav, Ragda pattis and all sorts of (not so) junk food. There is a street in Nashik ( Sharanpur road ) which used to turn into an ultimate street side food bazaar after 6.00 in the evening. (Now they have stopped allowing vendors..:( ), bustling with activity with Carts selling everything from Bhurji pav to Indian Chinese and the oh so delicious Pista kulfi!

There were two carts which we frequented the most. A sandwich cart selling desi style grilled sandwich loaded with veggies (Boiled Potatoes, capsicum, cucumbers), Green chutney,cheese and topped with thin sev and cut onions. Ah! always so tasty and satisfying. The other was the Dabeli stall. Both these were owned by a group of Marwari brothers who knew us so well that many a times they allowed us to eat at their stalls on credit! An Amul Dabheli would cost 5 rupees. But whenever we had some extra money on hand, we loved indulging in the Rs. 7.5 Cheese Dabheli! And I remember always asking for more grated cheese on mine...

Those were the days..:)

So basically I had to had to make Dabeli to satisfy my street food cravings here in the US. And Here is the quick recipe I used:

Boil potatoes and mash them fine. Add Salt, red pepper ,finely cut cilantro and green chillies to the potatoes. Heat some oil in a kadhai and add the potato mixture and Kachi Dabeli masala to the potato mixture . I used "Rajesh Dabeli Masala" (available in larger Indian stores) . Set aside.

Cut Pavs (dinner rolls) in halves. On a girdle, heat some butter and heat the rolls till they turn brown on both sides. Apply Tamarind sauce (I used Maggi Tamarina) on one side of the pav. Fill in the potato mixture. Add some chopped onions, peanuts and pomegranate seeds. Top it all with a generous amount of grated cheese. Eat hot!

One bite, and everything came back to me- the glorious days of architecture school, the submission nightmares, late night movies, 2.00 AM bhurji pav, triples on Kinetic, chai ki tapri and yes! the twice a week Dabeli Dinners..

And the best part, I did not have to check my pockets to eat more than One.:)