Chaiwallahs

thinking, dreaming , eating and living street food, we are on a mission to bring you inspiration from the deepest , darkest corners of the worlds culinary underbelly please visit our site - http://www.chai-wallahs.com

[chaiwallah1]

Back in Berlin

had a cheeky tasting with the guys from bite club last night , we will be seeing you there from august ^^

[chaiwallah1]

The golden temple.

we had the pleasure of finally experiencing the golden temple in amritsar , home of the sikh religion , and famous for the hospitality that the the rilgion claims to be central to its core beliefs.  i must say that as a westerner its quite hard to spend time in this city, being such a touristic attraction for domestic tourists , one feels that most indians come here to gorp at white people and tke "snaps" to show there friends back home - rather than see the main attraction itself.

that being said once inside the temple it is a different environment altogether. we were also lucky enough to find a space in the niwas within the temple complex- a pilgrim house that opens its door to everyone , on a donation basis. the hostel is again for a white person a strange experience , given that they stick you in a complexity different room away from everyone else , with 2 guards on the door , which very much takes away from the experience as you cannot mix with the other pilgrims. who knows why this is the case although one can only assume that there negative results from intermixing?

once you have done a round of the temple you are invited to have lunch in the dinning hall, again all on donation basis or volunteering contributions such as washing dish's etc. This kitchen feeds over 60.000 people on a busy day , all with out a bead of sweat being broken. the food of coarse is not amazing but the touching thing is truly sitting with people from all walks of life and and eating together with out class differences getting in the way . in a country where the caste system is still central to the culture , such a thing is very unheard of .

[chaiwallah1]

tandoori goodness in Delhi

when in india it is HIGHLY recommended not to eat , but to be bluntly honest i love tandoori , and for the right tandoori joint and the right piece of succulent crispy char grilled chicken thigh ....i would happily spend an eternity dealing with the consequences .

tandoori as most people know is actually an oven , however it does translate over to a special type of masala marinade , which is just awesome , tonnes of yoghurt, cayenne , paprika , chilli , gara-masala  and other things go into this mix which is then generously basted on to meats , vegetables cheeses and whatever else before being grilled over an open flame .

in this case i ordered 1/2 a chicken with some taws roti and lashings of green chilli yoghurt sauce . fuckin ' eh ^^

[chaiwallah1]

home at last

after 6 long months of travelling we've finally made it back to india, the birth place of chaiwallahs , the inspiration , and were loving it !  to be surrounded again by such vibrant , aromatic, rich exciting food is a breath of fresh air , and over the next 2 months we will be bringing you plenty of new recipes and inspiration for your kitchen at home. were in the hot season right now which means 48 degrees most day , so while were trying to force down all the delicious food in this heat , our main staple diet is the lassi , as shown above in the earthen clay bowls....lassi... in all its awesomeness is the indian version of a milk shake, however they are made from unpasterised yoghurt derived from buffalos . depending on the lassi wallah , they are usually quickly whipped up with some crushed ice and water then dumped into the bowl which keeps it nice and cool.

i always go for lemon as opposed to mango or apple so as to not mask the flavour of the amazing yoghurt.  to top it off it is finished with a big scoop of cream from the top of the bowl.....amazing ^^

[chaiwallah1]

breakfast to go nepali style

i find that in life most of the time its the simple things that are the most gratifying, and that certainly rings true with food , what we have here is an "egg roll" or "omelette roti" , it takes around 30 seconds for the vendor to make , the omelette is quickly whipped with tonnes of masala, green chilli , onions and garlic, the bread is made freshly to order at the same time and it gets rolled with loads of rest cabbage, carrot and generous squeeze of ketchup, accompanied by a big glass of chai tea....you can't go wrong . enjoy ^^

[chaiwallah1]

Samosa Chaat

chaat in hindi literally means tasting , or delicacy . in hindu country's people are obsessed with "chatting" and spend whole afternoons munching there way through tiny plates like these. samosa chaat is one of my top 5 favourite dish's over here, it consists of one smashed samosa, covered in spicy chick peas, yoghurt, Dahl sauce, carrots, onions coriander and then a generous smothering of cinnamon .

[chaiwallah1]

check out our new official website ^^

culture cuisine influenced by India and Asia for every occasion and event

[chaiwallah1]

I see you had the noodles with the blood cake in Laos. Nice! Not to everyone's taste but a classic in that part of the works.

uh yeah...thats what it was , it defiantly had an interesting glibbery texture and tasted like metal , which makes sense if it is indeed a "blood cake"try everything once ^^

[chaiwallah1]

a bit more of Nepal ^^

[chaiwallah1]

Boots down in Hindusthan

The Chaiwallahs are finally home , we touched down in Kathmandu a couple of says ago, capital city to Nepal - roof top of the world , and so far we are loving it , not only the delicious chai tea that we are so partial to , but also all of the other yummy indian/ nepali treats that we have been missing, samosa's, Mo mo"s , day fry's and other things .

discovering Kathmandu has been amazing , emersing ourselves in the rich history that weaves through the city- once the very start of the famous silk route that spans around most of the world, one can not stand in awe at the 1000+ old temples and shrines in old courtyards , that are being used as a washing line, or a seat for the barbar shop . 

we will be reporting plenty from nell in the next coming weeks , so pleased stay tuned for more ^^

[chaiwallah1]

Oishi grand buffet, siam centre, Bangkok

if you have some time to kill on your next visit in Bangkok , were really recommend the Oishi grand buffet , voted Bangkoks best sushi place , we can see why , when entering through the main lobby you find yourself shown to your table admits the chaos that is one of the biggest buffet restaurants  i ever saw, ducking and diving past bus boys and Tepanyaki chefs hurriedly working away , you catch yourself salivating over the unbelievable array of Japanese food in front of you . Once sat a payed up your free to do as much damage to this dense forest of deliciousness as you can , for as long as you want .

while i must say the sushi isn't the best i ever had the rest of it more than makes up , with a high grade grill bar  knocking out small wagyu steaks , tuna steaks, scallops and mussels to order , a whole section devoted to dim sum , a steamed fish section serving the crumbliest , whitest snow fish i ever set eyes on and every kind of hägen das ice cream (yes including strawberry cheesecake) known to man , you can't walk away being displeased , and all this can be had for the unbelievable value of around 750 THB or around €15.

get some in your face

[chaiwallah1]

Northern Laos

were up in Northern Laos right now near the Chinese border , and we managed to get hold of a couple of decent off road bikes and so went even further north to visit a couple of villages in the hills .

the locals specialise in weaving and thread making and if your keen you can pick up a beautiful scarf or 2 , however we were more interested in the encounters and we certainly came across a couple of characters while we were there , we also had a great noodle soup and learnt a lot about village life !

[chaiwallah1]

Buffet in Luang Prabang 

one of the most popular travel destinations in Laos, Luang Prabang has no shortage of good food , and no shortage of tourists to indulge in it either , but if you take a left down a small side street and follow your nose you will wind up on a cute little street with dozens of vendors who specialise in "buffets" . 

they churn out tonnes of authentic Laos and thai style dishes and you can devour as much food as you can hold , for the ridiculous price of 10,000 kip -the equivalent of $1 U.S. team this up with the also insanely cheap and ice cold Laos beer and you can understand why this humble street becomes dinner mecca every night for hungry backpackers . on the plus side it is also a great place to meet and chat with fellow travellers . another slice of food awesome....enjoy ^^

[chaiwallah1]

NOODLE SOUP

The staple dish of south east asia, i couldnt not mention the mighty noodle soup . I , like the locals – start every morning with a noodle soup for breakfast from one of the thousands of street vendors that set up there stalls at the crack of dawn, you cant walk down the street without being enticed by the thick wafts of chicken or pork broth that are being boiled down to the perfect consistency for the day.

 Noodle soup is to south east asia what ramen is to japan , and what i really love about it is that there is NO right way to have or make it , and it is different every time, some vendors make there own noodles, some like chicken , some like pork , some vegie (!!!). Some times you'l get the luxury of a poached or boiled qual's egg and sometimes people really push the boat out and chuck in some jellied liver or kidney. My favourite way has to be the laos style , which comes with a spicy Bolognese pork , homemade noodles and tonnes of fresh mint and letttuce on the side to add accordingly , but whatever your vibe is everyone loves noodle soup , and unlike most things asian style you can always have it your way!

[chaiwallah1]

Touch down in Asia

The chaiwallahs touched down in Asia this week , and we started off in the classic portal of Bangkok, which has been luring in bright eyed and bushy tailed travelers for centuries , infamous now with lady boys , brothels , ping pong shows , knock off fakes , Chang beer , crusty old sex tourists , koh san road and tuc tucs, it does also offer something to the culinary traveller.

We have had a long relationship with the city of Bangkok over the years , with multiple visits , including long hospital stays and bankruptcy , so we know the well trodden streets and have many good spots to chow down , however highlights include the southern end of koh san road , where one can pick up the best chicken noodle soup in the world, and the trademark Pad Thai, little china town for your fix of hoisin duck on rice noodles , little india , and other spots that may or may not be divulged in the next days ^^

 In my opinion the thai style of food in Bangkok is nowhere near as defined as in other regions of the country , however it is an amazing place to eat around if you have a couple of days here to kill and a good place to try all the highlights of south east asian food , from Vietnam, Laos , Cambodia , Burma and india. This being due to the centrality and the immigration hotpot that it has become , so for now I'm just gonna leave you with some pictures to wet your taste buds :)

[chaiwallah1]

San francisco Farmers Market

Located at the end of Market street is the ferry terminal which provides boats to hop over the bay in San Fran, erected in the late 1800's this Art deco Goliath of a building provides an almost temple like structure for the sacred site housed inside....the awesome San Francisco Farmers Market . For any foodie, or anybody who likes food at all this is a once in a life time experience, and although it has defiantly lost its way from what i am sure where humble beginnings; the quality of produce is incredible . One can literally wander for hours slathering over artisan crafted produce, and i can tell you that every producer we met here had great pride over there product.

In particular i have to give a shout out to the boys down at Far West Fungi – California Mushrooms , who are doing things i cant even explain , such as creating grow your own mushroom kits , growing mushrooms on site in giant bell jars and nurturing fungi , the likes of which i have never encountered in my life .

Also a big mention to the guys at Bocatone – who specialize in “tasty salty pork Bits” , with an epic show fridge showing some of there produce we were thoroughly impressed, i had a hot proscutto sandwich with whole grain mustard , and it was the bomb.

I could go on and on but the bottom line is get yourself down there!

[chaiwallah1]

San Fran Diners

San Fran was on our radars for a couple days...and we really wanted to get a fix of proper “American” food so we dropped into a couple of Diners to see whats proper. I have to admit that I'm still pretty confused about actual American food , especially breakfast. While i am open to trying new things I'm still not sure how well maple syrup and “sunny side up eggs” go together, it still seems a little perverted. None the less we enjoyed Pinecrest Diner the most, while San Fran has a lot of them to offer we felt most at home in this one, most diners here look like they've jumped out of the 50's with girls rolling round in roller skates and giant coke signs glowing on every wall, Pine crest just seemed more concerned with supplying a good feed and cheering up the lonely and the lost with that classic coffee refill.It was just round the corner from our place and know matter what time we passed it was always packed happy customers and had hungry people waiting for tables.

We went for the Pinecrest special , with eggs done your way crispy bacon and sausages then your choice of french toast or pancakes, i went for the toast and it was literally an inch thick and came with a complimentary litre of maple syrup , i have to say that i thoroughly enjoyed it, but the moment that ketchup and maple syrup becomes convoluted...i must back away from the table....cant we just have it on seperate plates ?

The service staff here were some of the hardest working I've seen in along time , most of them vibrating with the buzz of two much coffee and a busy nightshift that i and so many other chefs shudder to think about; so a shout out to you guys and keep up the good work!