#365PerfectFoodles - 49 The Mumbai / Bombay sandwich in all its glory! With step by step foodles this time.

 

Last week I had the priviledge of showcasing Mumbai streetfood to KF Seetoh an authority on Singaporean food who is famous for his documentation of Singaporean street food through books, TV shows and the website Makansutra through a street food tour of Mumbai. An while on it I rediscovered favourite streetfoods and the generosity of my city. My top three Street foods are the Mumbai Sandwich, the Mysore Masalla Dosa and the Frankie so i thought I would feature them in my foodles. Here is a foodle and a recipe for the Mumbai Sandwich. 

The iconic Bombay / Mumbai Sandwich available with sandwichwallas on just about every street and street corner is in my opinion one of Mumbai's most delicious street foods. Everytime I watch it's assembly, I'm amazed at the colours in the many layers that make it up!  I love getting my fingers into the sandwich and purposly get clumsy so bits of vegetables will fall out and collect in the paper receptacle. These, vegetable bits marinated in their own juices, the masala and drips of sauce are just delicious and I will lick my fingers every time!

I have been wanting to do a foodle of the Mumbai Sandwich for a while now, but it took me a while to figure out how to do it. After a few foiled attempts at getting it all done on one page and deleting everything one time, I finally drew each layer seperately in detail and assembled them, just like a sandwichwalla would! Which allowed me to do the first step by step foodle recipe today :). Personally I think this is my most JHAKKAAAS one yet LOL. 

 

First the Sandwichwallah will trim the bread of its brown sides and lay upto 8 slices of bread out before him in two rows, lined up so that the top and bottom slices are matched. These will be generously buttered with Amul butter and spread with his spicy coriander chutney over (each has his own 'signature' recipe for the chutney and the best ones are defined by their chutney.

Once his canvas is laid he will dextrously shave thin slices of vegetables onto the bread in layers with a sharp knife capable of slicing through fingers; boiled potatoes, tomatoes, onions cucumber, beetroot and place the other slice of bread on top. Pressing the whole sandwich down he will cut the whole into 6 bitesized pices. One can pick the vegetables one prefers, to be included but I like mine

with the works, topped with the traditional pumpkin sauce (a cheaper alternative to ketchup) although most sandwichwallas now use ketchup. Once the sandwich is ready it will then be wrapped in newspaper for easy takeway and handed over to eager takers.

Trim the edges of the bread slices and discard crust (optional). Generously butter the bread slices. And then spread with chutney.

Add a layer of cooked potatoes

Add a layer of tomato slices and a sprinkle of Sandwich Masala.

Add a layer of sliced onion.

Add a layer of sliced raw beetroot

Add a layer of sliced cucumber.

Top with slice of buttered shutneyed bread.

Add a squiggle of sauce.

Cut into 6 retangles.

Mumbai veg sandwich (Time 10 minutes, aserves 2-4)

8 slices of white bread preferably Wibbs for authenticity

Amul Butter to spread generously

8 large tbsp spicy green mint coriander chutney (recipe below)

1 large potato, boiled and thinly sliced into rounds

1 beetroot, thinly sliced

1 cucumber thinly sliced

1 onion thinly sliced

1 tomato, thinly sliced

Sandwich Masala to sprinkle

Black salt to taste

Pumpkin sauce to top (or tomato ketchup)

Method

Trim the edges of the bread slices and discard crust (optional). Generously butter the bread slices. And then spread with chutney. Starting with the Potato layer each sliced vegetable onto the breads slices sprinkling with sandwich masala as you go. Cover the sandwich with a slice of bread press down tight and cut into 6 rectangles. Serve immediately with pumpkin sauce / tomato ketchup.

For the chutney:

1 cup mint leaves

1 cup coriander leaves

4-5 spicy green chillies

1/2 inch ginger

1 tsp cumin powder - optional

juice of 1/2 lemon - optional

1/3 tsp sugar

salt to taste

Grind all the above ingredients to a smooth paste using little water. Mix in the salt. Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator.