Coffee Shops
It's true that when the first Cafe Coffee Day opened on Brigade Road in 1996, Bangalore already had plenty of good coffee. But anywhere further North, you were lucky to find a vendor who could sprinkle Nescafe into boiling milk. Today there's a coffee shop—or four—in every neighbourhood. Whether you're a mocha-sipping lovebird or an espresso-slamming CEO, they've really perked us up.
Karela, Jackfruit, Beetroot Chips
We'll concede that whoever first thought of deep-frying and seasoning thin slices of potato was a genius. But what happened after that? For decades, potatoes ruled the chip world, facing regional challenges only from bananas and tapioca. Diversity is finally appearing on our snackfood shelves as other fruits and veggies—the karela, jackfruit, beetroot—start to chip in.
Momos
If there is a testament to national integration, it is the steamed flour dumpling. Momos may have begun popping up in Tibetan enclaves across the country in the '60s, but it was the cycle-borne stacked aluminium steamers, which appeared in the late '90s, that spread the gospel of juicy, non-oily, veg-or-non-veg snacks to every corner of every city.
Coconut Water Tetrapacks
There's never a bad time for a sweet, recharging mouthful of tender coconut water. But when is there enough time to stop at the roadside? Besides, ever tried carrying a tender coconut and a machete in your pocket? Just pretend you're hacking off the shell when you pop your straw into a tender coconut tetrapack—and enjoy your ellneeru anytime.
UHT Milk
Pasteurisation was the first revolution in dairy storage. Ultra-high temperature (uht) processing is the new one, especially in India, where refrigeration is unreliable and milk goes bad in less time than it takes to say piyo glassful. But now that uht milk can sit contentedly in its box for months, there's no more crying over spoilt milk.
Corn in a Cup
Think about it as poor old bhutta's successful foreign-returned cousin. American sweet corn, steamed, buttered and handed over with a spoon by a man in a hat. Let's not forget the cosmopolitan choice of masalas—Chinese? Mexican? However you prefer to take your corn-in-a-cup, and wherever you take it, in the mall or the mandi, it's mouth-watering.
