Rocky Singh - Highway on My Plate-II: The Indian Guide to Roadside Eating

Based on the television show Highway on my Plate, researched and directed by Small Screen for NDTV Good Times

ROCKY SINGH

&

MAYUR SHARMA

RANDOM HOUSE INDIA

Published by Random House India in 2010

Copyright NDTV Lifestyle 2010

Text photos by Rocky Singh

Random House Publishers India Private Limited

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Random House Group Limited

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EPUB ISBN 9788184002195

Contents

To the people of India we have met on our travels. Thank you all for sharing yourselves so generously and welcoming rather intimidating looking strangers with so much warmth and such awesome food. To the songs we have sung together, the dances we have danced and to the conversations on the street corner over a cup of chai. Above all, thank you for all the love. Theres no place like India in the world, where strangers become family with just one smile.

Acknowledgements

No life is complete without the people we hold close. No task can be done without the support of family and friends. This show could not have been made and consequently this book could not have been written without some such people. Without them the status the show enjoys would have been diminished, or perhaps never attained. We start with our parents.

To our parents who made sure we feasted well through the real journey, the journey of life! In their homes, food is love made visible. And now the ladies. Thank you Rupali Singh and Michelle Sharma. The women behind the men. Thank you for being supportive over those long distance calls month after month. Thank you for holding fort, for running the homes, for filing the tax returns, for getting school admissions for the kids, and for all those things you have had to do on our behalf. Above all thank you for the love. Were lucky and words will never be enough.

At NDTV Good Times, Monica Narula, thank you for taking a chance with us and believing that we could do it. Youre our star and may you always shine; and the smile really helps. Stop bullying us now. Thanks to Tanu Ganguly for hanging in there through the hard times, Shibani Khanna for the advice, inputs, always pleasant disposition and encouragement and, last but not the least, Smeeta Chakrabarti for the support and faith. Angels do exist.

The longest journeys begin with just one step. We had been travelling and eating on the highways of this country since the mid-eighties and it was because of this expertise that Abhinandan Sekhri (Niku), our producer/director called us to screen test for this show. It felt right the very first time we did it. We were in and Highway On My Plate began.

Niku, you are crazy (you part Surd and part Tam-Bram maniac)!! Dont let the world fix that. We have had a lot of fun running down the path you showed us. You broke the ground when we needed a trail, youre a star! The show is a testament to the craziness that the three of us create when we are together. Thanks Niku, it cannot be done without you and may the madness prevail.

Prashant Sareen (producer) sat stoically through it all and drove across the country just for the hell of it. Thank you for all the arguments Prashant. Life and the show would have been a little dull without them. Thanks for putting your money where our mouth was and driving while we all slept. Weve come a long way together and youre the man, so what if your name is Happy!

We started with some weird angles and shots that people felt were not going to work. We did not address the camera, we ran all over the place, we switched frames constantly and Ajay Arya (Ajju on the camera) followed the action and even led it. His pure Hindi and impure sense of humour has remained a constant source of enlightenment for us.

Giri Raj (GJ, camera) solidly followed us through thick and thin, downhill and across dale, never complaining even if his angle required him to lie down in fine sand or stand up to his neck in fast flowing water, thank you for always getting the shot.

Vaidyanathan (Vaidehi, audio) put up with some of the most insane sounds ever recorded as we sang, screamed, and hammed our way through the series. LONG LIVE TAMIL NADU Vaidehi, and may you never have to climb another snow covered mountain. Thank you for teaching us how to curse in Tamil and for all those screams of Kunnu Pudavai (I will kill you).

Deep Sir, our wise camera assistant, may you continue to write those (terrible) poems, that we are too polite to tell you, are horrible. And stop calling Vaidehi BEDI even though your strong Himachali accent will not allow it. Thank you for always, uncomplainingly staying with the task at hand no matter how hard.

Stish (driver, Satish) who has been our stout and strong driver taking us through the whole country complaining constantly about what the roads are doing to his beloved car. Hariyana mein kehte hain unpad jaat pade likhe barabar (it is said in Haryana that an un-educated Jaat is as capable as a well educated man). Youre that man. Thank you for the safe driving that allowed us to sleep in peace between gruelling shoots on tight schedules.

Subodh Gupta (production controller), who has come a long way himself, has handled things immaculately and done a great job, always. Even when no one has appreciated it. Well done Mr Gupta and all that at the ripe age of 23. Wish you many good things.

It takes a special kind of madness to edit a crazy show like this one, Thank you Vishal Verma, Bishwajeet Singh, and Mehraj Ali for making us look normal! Alls good.

To those who came and went and contributed immensely, Sunil Khanna (audio, Season 1), Hitesh Chauhan (camera, Season 1), Shiv Das (audio, Seasons 3, 6, and 8).

Thank you all, many times over.

To Priyanka Sarkar, our able editor, for her untiring work and endless patience, Rachel Tanzer who always goes the extra mile and always with a smile, and Chiki Sarkar for the idea in the first place, thank you all at Random House.

How to use the book

Travelling in India? Want to eat fresh, hot, and delicious food? Then read on.

This book is for times when youre on the open road, highway, or in another city/town, or state and you suffer sudden hunger pangs. Need to grab a bite? Then open the book, and:

1. Pick a state. All states have been organized alphabetically.