Bombay Sandwich

This is one of my favorite street foods from Mumbai. Almost every intersection in the city has a "sandwich-walla" serving the Bombay Sandwich. The most important component in this is the chutney. Chutney is a thick sauce made by blending cilantro leaves with various aromatics. This chutney has a really nice spicy-sour-salty flavor. This is a vegetable sandwich and you can add different kinds of vegetables to it. I have kept is simple with just a few basic components. The chutney can also be used as a dipping sauce for other Indian snacks like samosas and fritters.

Serves: 2, Prep time: 15 minutes, Cook time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

- For the chutney:

• 1 cup cilantro leaves (packed)

• 10-12 mint leaves

• 1/2 inch piece of ginger

• 2-3 cloves of garlic

• 1 inch piece of Serrano pepper (or any other kind of green pepper)

• 1.5 tsp salt

• 1/2 tsp crushed black pepper

• Juice of 1 lime (about 2 tbsp)

• 8-10 roasted peanuts (optional)

• Splash of water

- Vegetables:

• 1 medium potato

• 1/2 cucumber, sliced

• 1 tomato, sliced

• 1/2 shallot or red onion, sliced

• 1/2 green bell pepper, sliced or cut in long pieces

-Other ingredients:

• Butter

• Bread slices

• Bombay Sandwich masala (or Dry mango powder)

• Salt

• Crushed black pepper

Directions:

1. Boil the potato in salted water until just cooked. Remove from water and cut into slices.

2. Add all the ingredients to make the chutney into a blender and blend until smooth. Chutney should have a spreadable consistency but should not be too watery.

3. Place the bread slices on a flat surface. Traditionally, white bread is used to make an authentic Bombay Sandwich but any kind of bread will do. I used whole wheat and nut bread.

4. Spread 1 tsp butter on each slice of bread.

5. Spread a generous layer of chutney over the butter (Taste the chutney before spreading. If it is too spicy, use less).

6. Start layering the vegetables - add sliced cucumbers and tomatoes first. Sprinkle some of the sandwich masala, salt and pepper over them. Then add a layer of the bell peppers and shallots/onions. Finally, add a layer of the sliced boiled potatoes. Once again, sprinkle some of the sandwich masala, salt and pepper.

7. Put the other slice of bread over the layered vegetables (chutney facing down, towards the veggies).

8. Cut the sandwich into bite sized pieces.

Serving suggestion: Spread more chutney over the sandwich and sprinkle some sev (crunchy chickpea flour snack) over it. Serve with some more chutney and ketchup on the side (as you can tell, you can't have enough of the chutney!) along with some potato chips. Enjoy!

Optional: Once the sandwich is assembled, it can be grilled to make this a hot sandwich. Spread some butter over the sandwich after grilling.