By Niveditha Kalyanaraman
November 10th, 2023
Image Credit: Unsplash
Push carts, sidewalk vendors, food trucks—even in rich metro cities, some of the best meals are found on their streets. Just like most of the cities in India, Chennai too boasts a vibrant street food culture. Its incredible culture reflects in its food palate too. Here are 8 street foods of Chennai that you must try.
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Atho Man is a plain orange colored noodles dish mixed and served with fresh raw vegetables. You can see small stalls in almost every corner of the streets of Chennai selling Atho Man, and people lined up to buy a plate.
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A simple street dish made using coconut, raw mango, dried peas, with a dash of asafoetida. You can find them mostly near the beach area and it is best eaten while enjoying the cool ocean air.
Image Credit: Chitra's Food Book
Once poor man’s dish, Boli is among the most delicious street foods in Chennai. The aroma of hot-hot boli will surely draw you to a nearby stall. It is basically a sweet refined flour paratha stuffed with masded toor dal, jaggery, charoli, cardamom, nuts, and raisins.
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Podi dosai is Chennai’s best kept secret. Made fresh and given to customers within minutes, this one is probably the spiciest and most delicious dosai you’ll ever eat.
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Bhajji is a well-liked food that can be seen in street-side stalls of Chennai. Available in abundant vegetable flavors, the tangy chutney and crispy and soft bhajjis are the best things to eat on a rainy day.
Wada, vade, vadai, wadeh and bara, you can call it anything, but it will remain the best street food in Chennai. This snack can be seen in almost every nook and cranny of the city. Made of spices and Bengal Gram, these deep fried donuts are a delicious delicacy.
Parotta is made of refined flour, it’s a flatbread served on the streets of Chennai. Kothu Parotta is prepared using shredded parotta, mixed with meat, egg, and vegetables.
A Chennai special drink, Jigarthanda, which literally means ‘cool heart,’ is a cold and refreshing drink quite popular in Chennai during summer. The drink originated in Madurai and gradually became popular.