Indian fast food
Encyclopedia
The fast food
industry in India
has evolved with the changing lifestyles of the young Indian population. The sheer variety of gastronomic preferences across the regions, hereditary or acquired, has brought about different modules across the country. It may take some time for the local enterprise to mature to the level of international players in the field.
Many of the traditional dishes have been adapted to suit the emerging fast food outlets. The basic adaptation is to decrease the processing and serving time. For example, the typical meal which called for being served by an ever alert attendant is now offered as a Mini-Meal across the counter. In its traditional version, a plate or a banana leaf was first laid down on the floor or table. Several helpers then waited on the diner, doling out different dishes and refilling as they got over in the plate.
In the fast food version, a plate already arranged with a variety of cooked vegetables and curries along with a fixed quantity of rice and Indian flatbreads is handed out across the counter against a prepaid coupon. The curries and breads vary depending on the region and local preferences. The higher priced ones may add a sweet to the combination. Refills are generally not offered.
The diversity of Indian cuisine poses logistical problems when it comes to handling. Hence it is common to serve different cuisines at different counters within the same premises. Presence of a large vegetarian population, who eschew non-vegetarian food, has given rise to outlets which exclusively serve vegetarian fast food. Also, different variety of food may be served depending on the times of the day. Beverages such coffee, tea, soft drinks and fruit juices may also be served in such outlets. Some outlets may additionally have specially designed counters for ice-cream, chaat
s etc.
Popular formats of fast food business in India have the following features in common:
Most of the fast food outlets in India are stand alone establishment, few of them having more than one branch.
's restaurateurs, Mr Prabhakar, opened an outlet called Upahara Darshini in mid-1980s. The novelty was that the food is cooked just behind the serving counter, visible to the customers, and one has to eat while standing by placing the food on tall tables. It is a self service place where one has to buy a coupon before eating. It offered typical south Indian snacks at highly affordable prices resulting in an instant hit with the office goers as well as students. The size and the enclosed design of the eating space and consequent spilling over of the eaters onto the footpath during the busy hours indicates that he did not anticipate the level of success. This issue is addressed by those who copied the module by keeping the entire face of the outlet open to the road. It would not be wrong to say that this was a trend setter and its format, described earlier, is even to this day replicated by other across south India. The popularity of this business module can be gauged from the fact that many restaurants which adopt this format have "Darshini" as suffix in their names.
Several international fast food chains like Kentucky Fried Chicken, McDonald's
and Barista Coffee
have their outlets in major cities. Café Coffee Day
, again a brainchild of Bangalore based businessman, is the only Indian chain which boasts of hundreds of outlets and is present across India. But then it is classified more as a coffee shop than a fast food place.
Fast food
Fast food is the term given to food that can be prepared and served very quickly. While any meal with low preparation time can be considered to be fast food, typically the term refers to food sold in a restaurant or store with preheated or precooked ingredients, and served to the customer in a...
industry in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
has evolved with the changing lifestyles of the young Indian population. The sheer variety of gastronomic preferences across the regions, hereditary or acquired, has brought about different modules across the country. It may take some time for the local enterprise to mature to the level of international players in the field.
Many of the traditional dishes have been adapted to suit the emerging fast food outlets. The basic adaptation is to decrease the processing and serving time. For example, the typical meal which called for being served by an ever alert attendant is now offered as a Mini-Meal across the counter. In its traditional version, a plate or a banana leaf was first laid down on the floor or table. Several helpers then waited on the diner, doling out different dishes and refilling as they got over in the plate.
In the fast food version, a plate already arranged with a variety of cooked vegetables and curries along with a fixed quantity of rice and Indian flatbreads is handed out across the counter against a prepaid coupon. The curries and breads vary depending on the region and local preferences. The higher priced ones may add a sweet to the combination. Refills are generally not offered.
The diversity of Indian cuisine poses logistical problems when it comes to handling. Hence it is common to serve different cuisines at different counters within the same premises. Presence of a large vegetarian population, who eschew non-vegetarian food, has given rise to outlets which exclusively serve vegetarian fast food. Also, different variety of food may be served depending on the times of the day. Beverages such coffee, tea, soft drinks and fruit juices may also be served in such outlets. Some outlets may additionally have specially designed counters for ice-cream, chaat
Chaat
Chaat is a term describing savoury snacks, typically served at road-side tracks from stalls or carts in India. With its origins in east India, chaat has become immensely popular in the rest of India and the rest of South Asia...
s etc.
Popular formats of fast food business in India have the following features in common:
- Wide opening on the road side
- Easy to maintain and durable décor
- A cash counter where food coupons are sold
- A food delivery counter which invariably is granite topped
- Additional counters for Ice Creams, Chaats, Beverages etc.
- A well fitted kitchen located so as to be visible to the customers
- Tall tables, usually of stainless steel, where one can eat while standing
- A drinking water fountain adorned with a water filter
- Rust-proof and non-breakable crockery
Most of the fast food outlets in India are stand alone establishment, few of them having more than one branch.
Darshini
One of BangaloreBangalore
Bengaluru , formerly called Bengaluru is the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. Bangalore is nicknamed the Garden City and was once called a pensioner's paradise. Located on the Deccan Plateau in the south-eastern part of Karnataka, Bangalore is India's third most populous city and...
's restaurateurs, Mr Prabhakar, opened an outlet called Upahara Darshini in mid-1980s. The novelty was that the food is cooked just behind the serving counter, visible to the customers, and one has to eat while standing by placing the food on tall tables. It is a self service place where one has to buy a coupon before eating. It offered typical south Indian snacks at highly affordable prices resulting in an instant hit with the office goers as well as students. The size and the enclosed design of the eating space and consequent spilling over of the eaters onto the footpath during the busy hours indicates that he did not anticipate the level of success. This issue is addressed by those who copied the module by keeping the entire face of the outlet open to the road. It would not be wrong to say that this was a trend setter and its format, described earlier, is even to this day replicated by other across south India. The popularity of this business module can be gauged from the fact that many restaurants which adopt this format have "Darshini" as suffix in their names.
Food courts
Another concept of fast food that is becoming popular is that of Food Courts. It is like putting together a number of Darshinis serving different cuisines under one roof. Here also one has to purchase coupons and collect the food from one of the several counters. Each one of these counters serves specific variety of food and may be owned by different individuals or caterers. Food Courts are normally located on much bigger premises and may provide seating facility in addition to the stand and eat arrangement. Typically one entrepreneur owns or takes on lease the entire premises and promotes the place under one name. He then lets out individual counters to different independent operators to offer different menu. Internal competition is avoided by not allowing more than one counter to offer similar food.Several international fast food chains like Kentucky Fried Chicken, McDonald's
McDonald's
McDonald's Corporation is the world's largest chain of hamburger fast food restaurants, serving around 64 million customers daily in 119 countries. Headquartered in the United States, the company began in 1940 as a barbecue restaurant operated by the eponymous Richard and Maurice McDonald; in 1948...
and Barista Coffee
Barista Coffee
Barista Lavazza is a chain of espresso bars in India. Headquartered in Noida, Barista currently has espresso bars across India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and the Middle East. It was founded in 1997 by Amit Judge and was part of his group of companies. He sold part of the equity to first Tata Coffee....
have their outlets in major cities. Café Coffee Day
Cafe Coffee Day
Café Coffee Day is a division of India's largest coffee conglomerate, Amalgamated Bean Coffee Trading Company Ltd. . ABCTCL grows coffee in its own estates of 10,000 acres . The land value of the plantations is US$250–300 million. It is the largest producer of Arabica beans in Asia...
, again a brainchild of Bangalore based businessman, is the only Indian chain which boasts of hundreds of outlets and is present across India. But then it is classified more as a coffee shop than a fast food place.
Varieties of food offered
The kind of fare they offer as of date could be just anything and everything. Preference of the local population and the location of the outlet influence the menu more than anything else. Some of the popular dishes offered at Indian fast food outlets are:South Indian
- Idlis – Rice Idli, Rava Idli
- VadaVadaVada ; also known as wada or vade or vadai , is a savoury fritter-type snack from South India.-Description:Vada can vary in shape and size, but are usually either doughnut- or disc-shaped and are about between 5 and 8 cm across. They are made from dal, lentil, gram flour or potato.Vada is a...
s – Uddina Vada, Rava Vada, Masala Vada, Maddur Vada - DosaDosaDosa or Dhosai is a fermented crepe or pancake made from rice batter and black lentils. It is indigenous to and is a staple dish in the southern Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu, as well as being popular in Sri Lanka...
s - Masala Dosas, Set Dosa, Rava Dosa - UpmaUpmaUpma is a popular Indian breakfast dish originating in South India.-Etymology:The general name of the dish in most languages is formed from two words : salt and flour...
, Kesaribhath - Puliyogere
- PongalPongalThai Ponggal is a harvest festival celebrated by Tamils in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, Indian Union Territory of Pondicherry and in Sri Lanka. Pongal coincides with the festival Makara Sankranthi celebrated throughout India. Pongal in Tamil means "boiling over" or "spill over". The boiling...
- Vangibhath
- Vegetable BondaBondaBonda is a typical South Indian snack that has various sweet and spicy versions of it at different regions.-Preparation:The process of making a spicy bonda involves deep-frying potato filling dipped in gram flour batter.Bonda has a sweet and a spicy variant...
Others
- Bonda Soup
- Bajjis – Banana Bajji, Green Chili Bajji
- PakoraPakoraPakora is a fried snack found across South Asia. Pakoras are created by taking one or two ingredients such as onion, eggplant, potato, spinach, plantain, cauliflower, tomato, chilli, or occasionally bread or chicken and dipping them in a batter of gram flour and then deep-frying them...
s – Onion Pakora, Vegetable Pakora - thaliThaliThali is a Western, Central, and North-Western Indian meal with contents varying from one region to another. More usual and famous thalis are Maharashtrian, Gujarati and Rajasthani. A thali is a selection of different dishes, usually served in small bowls on a round tray. The round tray is...
s - vegetable, Chicken, Mutton - RajmaRajmaRājmā or Rāzmā is a popular North Indian vegetarian dish consisting of red kidney beans in a thick gravy with lots of Indian whole spices and usually served with rice and roti. Although, kidney bean is not of Indian origin, it is a part of regular diet in northern regions Punjab, Kashmir, Delhi,...
rice - Omelette bread
- Chinese food
- Pasta
- Burgers(chicken, mutton, veg)
- Wraps & rolls
- Grilled chicken
- SamosaSamosaA samosa is a stuffed, deep fried,snack that is very popular in the Indian Subcontinent, Southeast Asia, Central Asia and Southwest Asia, the Arabian Peninsula, the Mediterranean, the Horn of Africa, North Africa and South Africa...
, patties, bread pakoda - MilkshakeMilkshakeA milkshake is a sweet, cold beverage which is made from milk, ice cream or iced milk, and flavorings or sweeteners such as fruit syrup or chocolate sauce....
s - Dabeli
- Doner kebabDoner kebabDoner kebab is a dish made of roasted meat cooked on a vertical spit. It is also known regionally as gyro , shawarma, and al pastor . It consists of shaved lamb, goat, chicken, turkey, beef, or mixed meats roasted on a spit. Less common alternatives include fish and sausage...
- Dum biryaniBiryaniBiryani, biriani, or beriani is a set of rice-based foods made with spices, rice and meat, fish, eggs or vegetables. The name is derived from the Persian word beryā which means "fried" or "roasted"....
- Fish & chips
- Salads
- MomoMomo (food)Momo is a type of pastry native to Nepal as well as among the Tibetans. It is similar to the Mongolian buuz or the Chinese jiaozi.The Tibetan word momo is a loanword from the Chinese mómo .-Production:...
s - Fruit beer
- Chicken wings
- Grilled Sandwich
- Mutar kulcha
- Pao bhaji
- Stuffed parathaParathaA paratha/parantha/parauntha is an Indian flat-bread that originated in the Indian subcontinent. Paratha is an amalgamation of the words parat and atta which literally means layers of cooked dough...
- Fruit salad
- Idli sambar
- VadaVadaVada ; also known as wada or vade or vadai , is a savoury fritter-type snack from South India.-Description:Vada can vary in shape and size, but are usually either doughnut- or disc-shaped and are about between 5 and 8 cm across. They are made from dal, lentil, gram flour or potato.Vada is a...
sambar - Dahi wada
- Fried Rice
- Noodles
- Mini Meals
- Pizzas
Beverages
- Coffee
- Tea
- LassiLassiLassi is a popular and traditional yogurt-based drink of the Indian Subcontinent. It is made by blending yogurt with water and Indian spices...
- Aerated Drinks
- Fresh fruit juice
- Milk Shakes
- Mock tails
- Soups(Hot Beverage)
Indian Associations related to food
- INCATA - Indian Caterers Association