As a broke college student, your dining options were usually limited when you were out and about. So, one relied on the college canteen, which didn’t always serve the best or most economical meals. The other option was to explore the plethora of street food vendors lined up strategically outside the street leading up to your college, tempting you to indulge in some delicacy or another.
My regular haunt was the rickety stall where the sold many versions of the iconic Bombay sandwich. A basic vegetarian sandwich made with plain white bread, slathered with salted butter, spicy green coriander chutney, seasoned with salt, pepper and mango powder, it would be stuffed to the gills with thin slices of boiled potatoes, beetroot, tomatoes, cucumber and onions. It occupied a cult status on the streets of Mumbai.
There was a lot of theatre involved in the whole process of placing your order and tucking in. As usual, there would be no place to sit, and you would have to jostle for space with other hungry students after you'd placed your order. Then you'd wait impatiently, watching pieces of bread getting slathered and layered one after the other like a well-rehearsed orchestra till it was your turn to get the sandwich on a paper plate – before unceremoniously being asked to move, but not before you had paid for it.
The service was quick, and there were a few options one could choose from, including a toasted version , grilled over hot coals, loaded with highly processed cheese and served with good old tomato ketchup – which was the sandwich that I preferred.
The Bombay sandwich has a forgiving and flexible format. Source: Bhavna Kalra
Despite its cult status, this sandwich, or even bread for that matter, was never a part of the traditional Indian food scene. If one had to trace the history of this iconic sandwich, one would have to travel back to the time when the Portuguese introduced us to the joys of baked bread.
While there was always a prevalence of millet and lentil-based bread like chapatis, , and dosas, yeast-raised bread was traditionally unheard of. So, on the coast of Calicut, they brought with them chillies, tomatoes, and potatoes and the art of making bread. Initially, they produced their version of bread by using ingredients like toddy, an alcohol made from the sap of the palm tree, instead of yeast to ferment the dough. Over time a variety of European bread like sweet milk bread and crusty white dinner rolls were introduced to the Indian culinary repertoire. But it was indeed the British and their love of sandwiches that made plain white bread a staple in the Indian pantry.
It would be stuffed to the gills with thin slices of boiled potatoes, beetroot, tomatoes, cucumber and onions. It occupied a cult status on the streets of Mumbai.
It was only in the 1960s, when the textile mill industry of Mumbai came to a standstill, that variations of cheap but filling street food (such as ) were invented to feed hungry workers – this inspired former mill employees to to sell their own versions. There's speculation that the Bombay sandwich has , although this has been . Either way, the Bombay sandwich found its place in the world of street food and has held its ground. In my opinion, one of the reasons why it's so popular is that you can customise it: you can always request that extra blob of butter or make it spicier with the chutney; if you don't like a particular vegetable, it can be removed, and there's always the option of extra cheese.
The best thing? It's easy to replicate at home and all the ingredients can be prepped in advance. This no-frills, plain Jane sandwich manages to suit every pocket and occasion and has never failed to satiate hungry taste buds.
Bombay sandwich
Makes 4
Ingredients
- 8 slices fresh white bread
- Salted spreadable butter, extra for toasting
- 2-3 boiled potatoes, sliced
- 3 tomatoes, sliced into thin rounds
- 1 cucumber, sliced into thin rounds
- 1 large onion, sliced into thin rounds
- 2 roasted beetroots, peeled and sliced
- Salt and pepper
- Mango powder
Coriander chutney
- 1 cup fresh coriander
- 1 cup fresh mint (packed)
- 4-5 green chilies
- 1 lemon, juiced
- ¾ tsp salt, or to taste
Method
- To make the chutney, add the ingredients to a blender with 2 tbsp water.
- Blitz ingredients until you have a thick, spreadable consistency (you can add more water if needed). Set aside.
- To make the sandwiches, take each slice of bread and butter it generously. Spread green chutney on top.
- Divide the thinly sliced vegetables among four slices of bread.
- Season each sandwich with salt, pepper and mango powder. Top with one of the remaining slices of bread.
- You can toast the sandwich in a sandwich press with additional butter, or serve the sandwich untoasted with tomato ketchup.
Anyway you slice it
Veal sandwich (Pane ca meusa)
