I've been to India a couple of times. Stayed in Hyderabad, a large South Indian city. Like in most places in Asia, people in India like buying food on the street a lot. And trust me, it's really hard to sustain its smell and delicious look.
Lovely Indian Sweets
There were different categories of street food there:
- Fresh fruits and vegetables like coconuts, bananas etcл
- Fried rice - all kinds of it: egg fried rice, chicken fried rice, veg fried rice, jeera rice, just anything you could think about. They sell it in plastic dishes to eat right away or in bags (parcels) to take home.
- Sweets and Chaat - while these were often closed shops like confectioneries, many of them had kiosks or stands right on the street and cooking and selling the food right there. Indian sweets are lovely, and "chaats" are amazing. I love "ragda patties" so much that I occasionally cook it at home.
- Various rolls - some of them were called "Bombay frankies". Inside there are vegetables, cheese, sometimes meat, veg pakora, whatever you like. Spicy!
- Strange things like some sort of pancakes, puddings, tea - I never tried from these as I wasn't sure how clean those stands were. But they looked amazing! I almost forgot: these were parts of the South Indian breakfast. I have actually tried idly and few others in a cleaner place. Very good too! They call them "tiffins".
What Could Be Applied Elsewhere (In the "Western" World)
So, here are few specific ideas I can see working very well in USA, Australia, Canada, or Europe:
- Sweets and chaat shop. You can make this as is. There are plenty of Indian Sweets and Chaat recipes online. You only need to be a skillful chef or hire one. I guess the large cities have some of these but there are so many places in the world that don't. And I can imagine very few people not liking this food.
- Rolls. You know how popular Turkish and Lebanese "donner kebaps" are all over the world. Well, this is a great alternative. Indian rolls ("frankies") are usually in thinier bread called roomali roti (video) and contain more vegetables and spicies than kebaps. They have much higher variety as well - can contain all kinds of veg or non-veg fillings.
- Tiffins. This can be combined with some of the other of go by its own. Don't forget to offer tea and coffee.
These are the three ideas I think are most promising. Fried rice maybe won't swuit that much to Western people's taste, neither the traditional South Indian "meal" they eat there (it's just rice with chutney).
Selling raw fruits isn't much of Chef's business and if you sell the same ones that they sell there in India yours won't be fresh or cheap. So I'd pass this type of business along with the fried rice. All the kinds of sweets and chaats, tiffins, and rolls are best.
Panipuri, one of the strange Hyderabadi street dishes
How To Go About It
First and most important, I wouldn't really care about using 100% the same ingredients they use there. Leave that to high-class restaurants. Street food should be cheap and easy to do. Get the taste as close as you could, but don't get obsessed. Most people won't care. And even in India there are no two places making the food exactly the same way. So focus on balance of price, easiness and good taste. Not so much on "authenticy".
Starting street food business is specific to you locality so I can't help with details yet (but plan to research and publish info about various places soon). But no matter where you live you need to plan the usual things:
- To find a place with good number of people leaving or working around. Preferably to have some young people as they are usually the first to try different kind of fast food.
- It might be good to have Indian community around. People may be interested. Of course you may have complains that the food is not the same as at their home. Some of the complainers may become your cook. So it opens good opportunity.
- If you live in place with four seasons you won't be able to base the business entirely on the street. Not to mention the regulations in most Western countries. You may have to make it like a small restaurant with kiosk.
- Get to know something about South India so you can market your business well. For example printing posters or small info-sheets with interesting facts and info about the food you offer may attract many people.
These are the most important things I see that have to be planned. I think this has great potential. It's one of my top priority ideas for making here in Bulgaria. Maybe I'd call the chain "Namaste" I don't care if someone steals the idea, I can always come with better name.
Any questions about the ideas? Any ideas you can add? Have you seen such fast food in your city?
See also:
- List of Indian snacks (to get many ideas)
- Here's how they do it in India. If similar setup is allowed in your area it may catch a lot of attention and customers.
- Here's a good list with some of the best street food in India.
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