After living in Bombay for over 3 years, I finally tried one of its most popular restaurants Swati Snacks earlier this week. For those of you not aware of it, Swati serves traditional recipes from Indian homes with mouthwatering flavors of street foods (taken from its site).  Although the place is far from fancy, its food seems to more than make up for that.
I have never had much of a taste for Indian food and still don’t. However considering I seem to be the only person in Bombay who doesn’t crave Swati or yearn to eat there, I figured I should at least try it. Taste buds evolve, right? After constant nudging from some friends who are Swati ‘connoisseurs’, I gave it a shot. I agreed to try everything so long as there wasn’t any ‘kothmir’ (=coriander) involved. Although the pictures aren’t the greatest, here’s a glimpse of some of the dishes we ordered
- Idlis (savory cakes made from fermented black lentils & rice) with sambar (broth/stew made from dal & mixed vegetables) & Coconut Chutney
- Panki (savory rice pancakes steamed in a banana leaf)
- Moong Dal Chilla (split green gram pancakes) with Green Chutney
- Sada Dosa (fermented crepe made fom rice batter & black lentils)
I wouldn’t say I loved the food BUT I did like it enough to go back. On a separate note, I couldn’t help but laugh while browsing the menu.  Several of the dishes served are naturally “vegan“, “wheat-free” and “gluten-free”, and I’m pretty sure those buzzwords would have been plastered all over the menu if we were in the West. Although Swati is already always packed, perhaps they need a menu revamp to attract a different niche market. Anyone know how to get in touch with their marketing department ;)?
What’s your favorite Indian dish? Tandoori anything or chaana masala
What’s your favorite cuisine? It’s a toss-up between Japanese & Italian
I’ve never had rice/legume pancakes like these before! I’m really curious to try them. I’d actually never had Indian food before this week, when I made myself a lentil dal. It was so good!
My favourite cuisine is a tie between Italian, Japanese and Mexican! Oh, and Mediterranean. 😀
Wow I’m impressed you made lentil dal on your own- I am still yet to try making it myself!
May I add that ‘lentil dal’ is analogous to:
– chai tea
– biscotti biscuits
And other such gaffes 🙂
Fav food: Mexican, Indian, Georgian
Next time try the “full on” oily Chana bhatoora at the food court. Punjab’s guilty pleasure!!
Haha Kandy- never gonna happen ;)!
I have to admit that I don’t think I’ve ever had any authentic Indian food, but I’m really liking the sound of all those “gluten-free” pancakes and crepes. As for favorite cuisine, I’d have to say Mexican. I’m on a serious salsa kick right now, and when you add guacamole, chips, and cheese to the mix? Ohhhh heaven.
How could I forget Mexican- cheese+salsa+guac+carbs = winning combo 🙂
I’m intrigued by those Panki! I’ve never seen it around here. I love Indian food once in a while – favourites are anything vindaloo (usually chicken) or mattar pancer. And naan basically goes without saying. Now I’m thinking I need to go to the Indian buffet down the street soon…
Favourite cuisines are Japanese and Mexican. Although Italian is up there too!
Although I’m not the biggest fan of Indian, I do love garlic butter naans….mmm :)!
LOVE dosa – one of my favorite Indian dishes. Vishnu’s family is South Indian and his mom makes the BEST dosa and coconut chutney. I go all out when we’re at his house and dosas are on the menu! I also love Punjabi food – makhani is probably my favorite when it comes to that region. And of course, I love (most) Gujarati food – a good khichidi is my favorite (usually my mom’s or grandma’s). 🙂
Clearly you need to make a trip back to India asap 😉
I love tandoori chicken. My fav cuisine would be Italian.
Looks like we’re on the same page food-wise 🙂
I really love Indian food so it is really hard to me to choose my favorite dish… probably red lentil dal, saag, vegetable korma, or chaana masala. That is as far as I could narrow it down ;).
Perhaps you and me should switch nationalities 😉
OMG how do you not like Indian food?!? I love it but Rob doesn’t so I rarely get to have it. Our favourite is Thai though – SO good! Oh and I don’t get how people don’t like coriander either….. you weirdo 😉
Hahhaah just the word coriander makes me squirm. It drives me nuts when it sneaks into Thai food (why kill an otherwise amazing dish)!
I love any and ALL Indian food! Oh my gosh, I’ll come eat it for you 🙂 That restaurant sounds fab! Indian and Thai are my favorite cuisines! I just love all the spice and flavor.
Although I’m not a fan myself, I’ll be happy to indulge your love for Indian food when you make it to Mumbai…some day 🙂
i want to try all of it!!!
🙂
you have no idea how jealous I am right now – I LOVE Indian food! And we can get it pretty tasty in NYC, but a lot of the food at the cheaper restaurants is too greasy for me. My favorites are the same as yours though! Love channa masala and anything from the tandoori. Also can’t forget a good tandoori roti or dosa 🙂
It’s nearly impossible for me to pick a favorite cuisine, but I love all food NOT from America, ha. My top three are probably Japanese, Mediterranean, and Indian.
Your love for Indian food makes me smile :)! We need to swap ethnicities, given out food preferences…love American food!
i prefer channa masala over tandoori stuff, anyday! favorite cuisine, you know this – MEXICAN!!! love it. i like Indian food, but I think because I’m Indian and I’m used to Indian food, its not my first choice. Have a great weekend.
I’m with you about Mexican food- I don’t know how I forgot to mention that as a favorite!
Hi Khusboo,
I’ve been reading your blog for a while, found it through Parita’s. Just never commented, but since you posted about Swati’s couldnt resist. We go to Swati 1-2/ week everytime we visit India. Since we pretty much eat out on a daily basis while we are there, this is the closest thing to home food. My family is upsessed with its Dal Dhokli (gujrati) ! Wasnt aware it was so big in India, thought it was only in Ahmdemad. I am sure my family will be thrilled to know its also in Bombay 🙂
Also love all your posts on healthy food and fitness. You definately give a great view of a different India, than what we are used to.
Komal
Hi Komal, thanks for your comment and glad to hear you are enjoying my blog :)! Where about do you live i.e. which country/city?
im glad you had a nice experience there. Im a big fan of Dosa and my boyfriend just introduced me to idli which I never cared for in the past. I am not a big Indian food person but there is always some sort of comfort I associate it with because Nepali food is very similar to it. I like chana masala, dosa, chaat stuff over curries on most days. I like Pakistani/Afghan tandoori stuff though 🙂
It’s funny because dosas & idlis are amongst the few dishes which I actually enjoy :)!
Chaana masala is my go-to Indian dish of choice as well. I love naan with a bunch of different chutneys, too. That restaurant looks like it has some fab options!
Naan is amazing right….especially the garlic butter varieties freshly made!
I’m almost ashamed to say the only Indian style cuisine I’ve had lately has been from Trader Joe’s which TOTALLY doesn’t count. I have only been to an Indian restaurant I think once, but I did really enjoy it!! I must try it again!
Hahah from what I’ve heard, Trader Joe’s is pretty legit ;)!
This reminds me of when my fam and I used to eat at Saravanaa Bhavan and Sangeetha’s when we visited relatives. We also always used to stop at Krishna’s Sweets before our flight home! 😛
Do you visit India often?
Our routine was that we’d visit every two years, but we haven’t been back since the end of 2008…we are due for a trip :P!
Looks like you’re due for more than one trip now 🙂
I only recently discovered Indian food, but I really like it. What’s not to like? So many delicious veggies and fabulous seasoning. Yum.
I think the spices kill it for me….there’s too much going on in each dish ;)!
I like a lot of spices, well except too much cumin, but I really love how veggie friendly they are. For many American restaurants, your choices as a vegetarian are a) a salad with the meat removed, b) pasta with the meat removed, or c) some kind of fried appetizer. I was always scared to try new cuisines, but then I saw how veggie-tastic Indian, Ethiopian, and Asian foods were, and I was head over heels. I bet my Indian food is vastly different than yours. It’s probably been all Americanized, and I would love to try yours.
You raised a great point, Meghan! I think India is one of the few countries where menus tend to have more veg options than non-veg!
I love Indian food – I’ve been on a roll lately. Even had it last night! I prefer the food from the kerla regions more… it’s so different than the “typical” Indian foods we see around here.
But my favorite cuisine? Italian. It warms my soul.
You and me both…I could live off Italian food. Annnd I’m suddenly craving authentic marinara sauce!
I love Indian food!!! It is amazing how much of their food is vegan or gluten free! Would be everywhere here! 🙂
It definitely appeals to a variety of dietary preferences!
I say I love Indian food but I always get the same thing… Chicken Tandoori lol. So perhaps trying other dishes would help me to decide if I actually do like it? You are right about the gluten-free and vegan labels… and it’s such a growing thing here in the states. Restaurants claiming that they offer such choices. Which is good because there are more and more people that need these other options!
As chicken tandoori is one of the few Indian foods I enjoy, I’d say you are spot on with your choice of dish ;)!
Its so funny you should say that! I discovered the joys of GF Indian food a couple years ago and was beyond psyched when dishes were made with chickpea flour and other grains besides wheat. I quickly learned that ethnic foods are my friend (Chinese, Japanese, Indian, Mexican). Really just American and Italian foods need to be avoided!
Nothing like an intolerance to make you more open to different cuisines right ;)!
I LOVE idli, sambar, dosa…the whole nine yards. I really do like Indian food but it’s not easy to find good stuff here in LA, plus I am terrible at cooking it.
So envious it’s at your fingertips!
Ohh what I’d do to have the number of sushi options available to me as you have in New York!
I’ve never been a fan of idlis and dosas – I prefer north indian dishes to south. But that’d be limited to their vegetarian fare only, because I don’t exactly enjoy tandoori/butter chicken or fish curries. Mmm hot chapatis with channa or dal!
If you ever visit Goa, I recommend giving fish curries another shot…trust me on this :)!
As I was scrolling past your pictures of the different varieties of rice and legume cakes, my first thoughts were, these are all gluten free items! I could eat everything here! Thus, I couldn’t help but laugh when I read your marketing comment; it’s so true! “Gluten free” would definitely be plastered all over the Swati Snacks menu if it were a Western restaurant. 😉 However, gluten free or not, I’m intrigued by the use of so many different ingredients and flavors in these cakes. While they’re flavors I’m certainly not familiar with, I’d LOVE to try them!
I think my favorite Indian dish is chicken tikka or chicken tandoori. I also love the flavor of curry, although I find it to be too rich for an entree.
Favorite cuisines: Mexican, Thai, and Japanese!
Agreed about curries- they tend to be quite heavy especially if they contain a coconut milk base. I think that’s one of the reasons why most Indians (including myself) tend to prefer ordering family style- it allows you to try a number of dishes without having to commit to any single one! 🙂
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