Bengaluru boasts of a lane dedicated to street food that can bowl you over with its variety and taste.   

VV Puram Street food in Bangalore

Must be wondering what an unusual title for a food section? The title resonates with my pang for street food and its discovery in the southern state of India. My previous statement is anything but racist – it just means to highlight the fact that if you have tasted food in Delhi, street food in particular, you go about looking for that taste in every corner of the earth. Call it the ‘Dilli syndrome’ because you will never seem to find that gourmet bliss anywhere else earth.

However, my visit to south Bangaluru’s VV Puram introduced me to a lane that faintly looks like a long-lost cousin of Delhi’s Chandni Chowk and the food “somewhat” brought back memories of Delhi.

We entered through the VV Bakery side, waded our car through a swarm of people who looked as if ready to attack any fresh plate of food. The aroma was already a gastronomical treat as we headed towards the end of the “Khao Galli” in search of parking. We decided to start tasting food from the corner most shop.

The options available left us totally confused! There was sweet roti on offer, Chilli bajji (pakoras), capsicum bonda, mouth-watering dosas, paddus or the round non-fried pakoras, akki roti, bread pakoras, soft idlis etc. However, it was the sight of pav bhaji that just got me excited! And it was a treat in itself! I would have indulged in a second serving but for the want of space in my stomach to taste other delicacies as well!

This place offers scrumptious food at a decent price and a group of four can stuff themselves to the brim in just about rs 500! Almost every dish is in the range of Rs 15-35. You can enjoy Indianised Chinese food for a little more than Rs 50 but we never got to that! China can wait, who cares for it when your fingers are deep immersed in the butter and sweetness of your own indigenous dishes? We did not give much footage to the hawkers selling American corn either – just to be just!

To satisfy our sweet tooth, we indulged in multiple servings of small round ras malai. It would be an understatement to say that it was out of the world! For a few moments, Khao Galli does transport you to the by-lanes of Old Delhi just to be brought back when you yearn for more and start missing hot jalebi dipped in milk, the gol gappe of Delhi, the deep fried gobhi paranthas, chole bathure and what not!

But as they say, never complain! We did get the best out of the evening and discovered the best place in Bangalore to have street food. A word of caution – make sure you reach the place by 6:30 or latest by 7:00, else the lip-smacking dishes are just washed off the stalls! You can stay there till 10:300-11:00 or till stocks last! Of course, as much as humans, even animals are attracted to the aroma, just watch out for them.