Railway On My Template

Food on trains from and to Surat


In the absence of air connectivity, its train tracks that link Surat and Surtis to various cities around India.

While the chugging experience tends to last from anything between a couple of hours to an overnight journey, Surtis who are foodies by nature find it hard not to munch away in between stations. Mice and roach infested coaches do not deter the determined diners at nights neither does the hustle bustle of day time duress within over packed compartments hamper taste buds .

A lot of locals and migrants carry disposable boxes from home, armed with comfort food for cravings, but with their entire hygienic home made theplas, puri bhajis and moong bhakri tiffins, they still find it hard to resist railway food.

Unlike reheated cold food which tastes like cardboard which is available on most domestic flights (barring a rare few), train food is a rung above in the case of hot service. Attendants smoothly saunter in and out of bogies, perfectly balancing tea trays, lazy lunches and dinner treats.

While luxury express trains like the Rajdhani and Shatabdi put up showy trays, teacups, flasks and plates; cattle class compartments have their own exclusive specials which the A C coach riders have no access to.

A brekkar enroute to Mumbai in your first class coupe will comprise of seasonal fruit, fruit juice, service tea, cornflakes with hot/cold milk option, eggs made to order or cheesy omlettes, cutlets with boiled veggies, all served in style on a flexi table .If you are Goa bound, there are direct trains that serve South Indian fare like upma (served steaming hot in a casserole) Idlis and Medu vadas with Sambar and coconut chutney accompaniments.

Meanwhile, the jam packed regular coaches has vendors tempting the travelers with their hot pokoras, dal samosas, batata wadas, poha and masala chai.Aluminium kettles with their spouts clogged with a wad of newspaper offer instant rejuvenation to the tired tourist scrambling for space.

Lunch on the Amritsar-Mumbai Deluxe has its Indian masala chicken curry as the most popular item on track. Commuters enjoy it along with a runny mutter paneer gravy, glutenous yellow dal tadka and thick rotis tightly wrapped in foil. With papad and achar to tickle the taste buds.

Tea time treats on trains that come in from the North have samosas and sweetsmeat while Mumbai bound ones have Kachoris. Dipped tea bags brings little relief to masala chai lovers, often attendants give in to request and provide a ginger-mint special.

Evenings on trains to and from Surat can be spent sipping on tomato soup which is generously accompanied with bread sticks and a cube of butter. The August Kranti is reputed for its special dinner that consists of continental grilled chicken with mashed potatoes and boiled vegetables on the side. The egg curry on Jaipur Express is amazing, though little can be said about the cuisine on other Rajasthan bound trains.

Often, one can hop off to catch a special local treat at station stops like Dahanu has fresh white jamuns and masala chana dal mixed with uniformly chopped onions, chillies and a sprinkle of lime juice, Vadodra has hot dal wadas with killer fried green chillies, Abu road is popular for freshly sliced cucumber, carrots and earthen kullads filled to the brim with rabdi, Chittorgarh has spicy poha topped with crunchy Ratlami sev, Ajmer has hot mirchi bhajiyas stuffed with a tangy hot potato filling.

Being Mumbai born, I am quite snooty about my Vada Pav treat. The heavenly taste of spiced potato nestled in crunchy gram batter, teased with ginger and chillies, sandwiched between buttery bread that has been layered with tear jerking red chilly garlic paste is not surpassed in any other town. I tried the Surat station version yesterday, it looked decent enough and just as I bit in, I noticed the newspaper it was wrapped in.There, drenched with oil was the column I wrote last week .Needless to say, it was difficult to swallow the first morsel eaten from my own words.