Oreo fritters to teacup pizza: Indian street food gets trendy - BBC News

The need for viral food videos is driving some unusual experiments - but do they work?

1 day agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Street food is commonplace across India, serving full meals as well as delectable snacksIndian street food has always been known for its distinctive flavours. But recent years have seen food sellers experiment with more and more unusual combinations of ingredients as vloggers and social media influencers try to create moments that go viral. Freelance journalist Om Routray reports on this rather unusual trend.

At the Odeon Shukla Paan Palace in the heart of Delhi, customers line up with their mouths wide open, eyes closed in fear and anticipation as Vijay Shukla, the store owner, pushes a flaming paan into their mouths in one swift move.

Paan, a betel nut leaf with slaked lime, rose petal jam and mouth fresheners like cardamom and cloves, has fascinated South Asians for centuries.

Mr Shukla's store has been selling paan for 75 years in the Indian capital, but it shot to fame eight years ago when it began selling fire paan, a version with crushed ice and camphor that's served to customers after it's set on fire.

Mr Shukla, a fourth-generation heir to the business, deftly folds the ingredients into the leaf and places the flaming pile in the customers' mouth.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-67563837?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA

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