I was surfing the net and came across this piece that claimed to be able to tell a person’s personality type by the food they liked. Mine would have been ‘Blubber Queen’ but then I didn’t take the test. I mean, what is the point? Right? Right. It got me thinking though. What are my all time favourites and why?

Though wada-pav and pani puri are well loved, they somehow didn’t appear in my list of top 10 all time any time foods. Will wonders never cease?

The top of the chart is taken by:

  1. Pav- Bhaji – Can and have eaten it for breakfast, lunch and dinner, over and over again. Must be an innate Mumbaiyya thing. Some pav bhaji and a glass of lassi to top it off. Bliss.
  2. Pizza – Thin crust, thick crust, stuffed crust … anything goes. Extra cheese, vegetarian, no mayonnaise, no mushroom, everything else is just fine. Yum.
  3. Dahi-puri – I prefer this to sev-puri and bhel-puri. No suji wala puri though ok? I didn’t even know there were two kinds of puris before I came to Delhi. Nonsense people complicating simple things.
  4. Thayir Sadam – This IS the baap of all comfort foods. Curd, rice, a little salt and taalichikottufied/ tadka-lagaofied with mustard seeds and green chillies and curry leaves and ginger. Thank you God.
  5. Blueberry cheesecake – Big Chill. For me, blueberry cheesecake and Big Chill have become one. It is so beautiful and perfectly made. The first bite makes me want to whimper. I would miss it should I ever leave Delhi. Nothing else from here has made its mark on my taste buds. I like the aloo tikkis and aloo chaat, but once in a blue moon. And, I cannot understand the obsession over momos. Why fill kozhakattais with anything other than poornam? Full, full crazy people. AND that root beer thing is HORRID… like benadryl mixed with phuska soda.
  6. Dal-Chawal with pickles and papad – After three days of being stuck (ok, so we were on a vacation, but hello, place had no vegetarian options, so bleh) on an island in Thailand, the husband and I were going stark raving mad. I will never, ever forget the taste of the dal and chawal we ate at the first Indian restaurant we sighted once we were back on the mainland.
  7. Sabudana wada – My amma makes the bestest sabudana wadas in the entire world. All the restaurants can go take a third place. The second place will remain empty because hey, my amma makes the bestest sabudana wadas in the whole world and nobody can come close to it.
  8. Maskha Khari biscuit – Chai and maskha khari. Is there a better combination? I mean, really? Melt in your mouth maskha khari fresh out of the bakery and adrak chai is a brilliant combination. They should both be compulsorily sold as a combination.
  9. Vegetable Sandwich – If you have not eaten a vegetable sandwich from the Mumbai thelawala, then you have missed out on a very important experience in life. Quickly catch train/ flight to Mumbai and ensure such deprivation is not continued.
  10. Chutney Pav – This is a weird thing. I don’t know how it snuck in. Way back, when I was in the 5th-6th standard, a woman used to come to our school and set up something akin to a mobile canteen. She used to sell the regular wada-pavs and toasts and samosas etc., but she also used to have this special thing called Chutney Pav for those kids who were not carrying enough money. It was just freshly baked pav with a coating of teekha green chutney and a hint of meetha chutney. It cost us 50 paise each and tasted like heaven. We used to eat it almost daily and never got bored of it. After almost 20 years, I still remember how it used to taste and the face of the woman who used to sell them.

Now, I am sure I am going to remember something the minute I hit post and regret not adding it. But then, such is life and you guys will be stuck with reading part two. Such joyous lives we lead.

Uma Iyer is a writer, a mother and a freelance consultant for marketing communication to several organisations. She was raised in Mumbai and currently lives in Delhi. Her retirement plan includes two dogs, many books and a shack by the sea.