New York Street Food

We first heard about the Desi Truck in the summer of 2010, and have enjoyed several lunches from there including kati rolls, curry chicken and chicken tikka masala.  For this visit, we wanted to try something new – and wouldn’t you know it, they had a new dish called puri bhaji.

For puri bhaji, you start with puffed-up Indian bread (mine was shaped like a flying saucer), then you tear the bread in half and fill it with chopped potatoes that come in a light, mildly spicy curry sauce.  Viola!

Two pieces of bread and potatoes are $4 and 4 pieces of bread and (presumably more) potatoes are $6.  The bread was a little oily, but this was still a very enjoyable, vegetarian dish that was fairly light.

On the other hand, haleem is a thick, slow-cooked Indian stew with meat, wheat, barley and lentils – not light at all.  It is garnished with ginger, coriander, lemon juice and fried onions. This version had shredded chicken as the meat.

The owner Al asked if I wanted it spicy, and when I said yes, he tossed in a handful of fresh, fragrant chopped chili peppers.  That really kicked the heat quotient into high gear.

If you don’t want it spicy, that’s fine too.  There’s a huge amount of flavor in the haleem without the chili peppers.  It’s quite an aromatic dish from all the Indian spices, so expect your co-workers to ask what that great smell is.

The haleem had a moderate amount of spiciness without the chili peppers, and with the wheat and lentils, it was a hearty stew for a cold winter day.

A large haleem from the Desi Food Truck is $6 and I got the small size for $4.  Between the puri bhaji and the haleem, this was a delicious, filling Indian lunch for $8.

You can find the Desi Truck on twitter here or on our Mobile Munchies twitter feed.  Their general schedule is 49th or 50th St between 6th & 7th Ave several days a week for lunch, and they have recently started going to Amsterdam & 81st on weekends.  They are also around NYU sometimes for dinner.

Pondicherry Dosa from NY Dosas

Who makes the best dosa in New York City?  We have our opinion, but a bunch of rockers from different groups (who are all of Indian  descent) are on a Dosa Hunt, which we read about on Gothamist.

Readers of NYSF should know what a dosa is, but if you don’t, listen up.  A dosa is a South Indian dish made with lentil batter that is cooked into a thin wrapper.  Various fillings are put into it crepe-style, and its usually a vegetarian dish – but that doesn’t mean it still can’t take off the top layer of your tongue!

So who makes the best dosa in town?  Click through for our opinion and a trailer from the upcoming short film Dosa Hunt.

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West 46th St between 5th & 6th Ave regularly has one or two food trucks parked towards the 6th Ave end.  Today Korilla is there, and I passed the Aamir cart on the way to Korilla.  It smelled so good, I changed my plans in mid-block, and I’ve had Korilla plenty of times.  Always looking for something new to try.

Even though the sign says Aamir Halal Food, the menu is much more Indian, which is where the fragrant aromas came from.  Indian food is always so aromatic.

Aamir has regular halal fare (falafel, chicken and/or lamb over rice), but there is also Indian food like chicken or veggie biryani, sweet chili chicken, samosas and Today’s Lunch – chicken tikka over basmati rice ($6).

There were a couple of things that happened on line that I want to share with you, so click through for that, as well as a review of Aamir’s chicken tikka over basmati rice.

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I happened to be near Washington Square Park around lunch today, which is always a good excuse to visit Thiru at NY Dosas.

Most people familiar with street food in New York are at least aware of NY Dosas, even if they haven’t tried them yet.  Thiru won the Vendy Cup in 2007, and his cart is on Washington Square South near Sullivan St from Mon through Sat (11am-4pm).

NY Dosas is totally vegetarian and vegan, which is not usually my cup of tea, but Thiru’s food is so spicy and full of flavor, I don’t even notice the absence of meat.

I’ve had several lunches from here and wanted to try something new, so I asked for a Jaffna Lunch ($6) for Today’s Lunch.

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Although the Kati Kart is a new Indian food cart, it won’t be getting a NYSF First Look because we are already pretty familiar with the menu.

Similar to Eddie’s Pizza Truck, who got a new cart last month, the Desi Food Truck now has a brand-spanking new food cart on 50th St between 6th & 7th Ave.  The Desi Food Truck parked in this spot before the police crackdown, but with a cart, there are no worries about police harassment.

The menu is pretty similar to the Desi Food Truck, with biryani, daal, chicken tikka masala and 5 different kati rolls ranging from $4-$5.50, with reduced prices for buying 2 kati rolls.

For Today’s Lunch, I ordered a chicken anda and a paneer masala roll, which were 2 for $10.

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