The Indian Street- Everyman’s kitchen

The streets of India have long been a melting pot, where the spices of the East have blended with essentially foreign ingredients and cuisines, creating an eclectic mix that we know today as Indian street food.

Most famous street foods followed the simple logic of demand and supply, coupled with ground realities. Timurid cuisine followed the path of great conquerors but became utterly domesticated and Indianized in the grand bazaars of Delhi, catering to the commoners outside the Delhi royal court- the lascars and the merchants. And when the Portuguese chilli met with Indian ghee (Indian clarified butter), the humble lamb suddenly became a popular cuisine, something that melted in your mouth and kept you warm during punishing Delhi winters. Thus was born the Nihari.

When Chinese migrants were attracted to and settled in erstwhile Calcutta, the Empire’s Eastern jewel, they did so around a place called Tangra, an area which had plenty of tanneries. Someone quickly realized that there was a demand for cheap food among these labourers, who would often be too tired to cook after a hard day’s labour. However traditional Chinese cuisine was too bland for the East Indian palate, so used to zing that only Indian spices could provide. The result- An entirely new cuisine was born by fusing Chinese ingredients with Indian spices. Indo-Chinese or Tangra Chinese cuisine was born.

From the Butter Chicken to Biriyani to Tunde Kebabs to Momos, every Indian gully food item have their own intriguing stories, stories you won’t read anywhere, won’t hear in any documentary. You can only taste them, and that’s what Gully Food does. We promise you a story, with every bite.