Fusion foods are foods formed by a combination of contrasting cookings or traditions. They have gained lots of popularity over the last few years. People are interested to try various cuisines and cooking techniques in a single dish. Ahmedabad has become one of the most important hubs of such fusion foods. Here, we talk about various fusion foods to try in Manek Chowk Road, Ahmedabad:
1. Ghotala Dosa
The name itself suggests that this dosa is very different from the regular one. Various spices and veggies are used to make it. A bhaji of onions, green peas, tomatoes, palak leaves, paneer and cheese cubes is prepared. Several types of spices such as cumin seeds, ginger-garlic paste, green chillies, red chilli powder, turmeric, garam masala, chaat masala and coriander leaves are used. This bhaji is prepared over a thin layer of crispy dosa. This tastes amazing.
2. Ghughra Sandwich
It is a delicious sandwich with a mix of capsicum, onions and cheese as the filling. A special sandwich chutney using coriander leaves, mint leaves, curry leaves, peanuts and sev is prepared. All of these are assembled and grilled until crisp. The result is a nicely grilled, crispy, cheesy sandwich, which, you can have with ketchup.
3. Paan shots
Paan shot is a refreshing drink made with betel leaves, paan masala, gulkand, fennel seeds and ice-cream. All of these are blended together and refrigerated until cool. They are garnished with pistachio and almonds and served cool. Whenever you want to grab a tasty drink, this is the one you should try!
4. Mexican Samosa
This is a great twist to the usual samosa. The stuffing consists of red bell peppers, yellow bell peppers, sweetcorn kernels, rajma etc.They are seasoned with fresh coriander leaves, oregano and Mexican sauce. This is stuffed into samosas and then they are deep-fried. These samosas are served hot with green chutney. This is a must-try dish for all samosa lovers.
5. Cheesy Chicken Half Moons
It is a yummy and tummy-filling recipe. A mixture of chicken, potato, onion, capsicum, carrot, peas is prepared with spices like salt and black pepper powder. This mixture is then stuffed into the dough balls along with cheese. Then, the balls are shaped like half-moons. Then, they are dipped in maida batter and deep=fried. This is a really delicious food item served with ketchup.
6. Vermicelli Custard
First, the vermicelli is fried in ghee. Then, milk, saffron, sugar and cardamom are added to it. Then, a custard-milk slurry is added to it and allowed to cook. Once cooked, it is allowed to cool. Then, it is garnished with chopped fruits and dry fruits and served. It is a amazing dessert to try.
7. Chocolate Cheese Sandwich
These are everyone’s favorite. A mixture of grated dark chocolate, butter and cheese is stuffed into white bread and grilled. These are ready in a minute or two. They are served with sprinkles and grated chocolate. Melted chocolate with gooey cheese and the crisp bread-just taste heavenly.
8. Palak Paneer Cheese Dosa
This is another form of fusion dosa you can find in the streets of Ahmedabad. This has a different taste from the original dosa. This has a yummy palak paneer sabzi filling. The sabzi is prepared separately. Then, the dosa batter is put on the tawa. Palak paneer is added to the dosa layer and it is topped with grated cheese. This tastes amazing and can be eaten as it is- without any chutney or ketchup.
9. Roti Vegetable Lasagna
This is an easy and go-to dish for every mum. It is prepared from scratch, just using wheat-flour rotis as the base. Lasagna sheets are not used. Lots of vegetables like peas, carrot, beans, cabbage, capsicum, potatoes and spinach are used. Addition of cheddar cheese to these lasagnas elevates it to another level.
10. Cadbury Pizza
If you really want to have a crazy fusion food, you should try this! It is not made with the usual pizza ingredients. Nutella is spread on a pizza base. Then, chocolate bars, chocolate biscuits, choco-chips, bananas, marshmallows, peanut butter and chopped dry fruits are added to it. It is then baked until the ‘toppings’ melt. It is served hot, garnished with chocolate vermicelli or sprinkles.
11. Teriyaki Chicken
It is an amazing Indo-Japanese fusion food. Indian-style teriyaki sauce is prepared from soy sauce, black pepper, red chilli flakes, salt, sugar and vinegar. First, the chicken is marinated with ginger-garlic paste, green chilly paste and salt. Then, it is coated with maida and deep-fried until crisp. Then, these chicken pieces are added to thick teriyaki sauce and tossed a little. They are garnished with sesame seeds and served hot.
12. Paneer Ravioli
This is a healthy version of ravioli where the ravioli is made with whole-wheat flour and stuffed with paneer. Paneer is crumbled and seasoned with salt, black pepper, haldi, mirch, garam masala and onions. Then, it is cooked for a few minutes. It is filled into the ravioli pockets and allowed to boil. Once boiled, they are taken out and a mix of soy sauce, red chilly sauce and ketchup is poured over it. Garnished with chilly flakes, delicious raviolis are ready to be eaten!
13. Carrot Halwa Ice-Cream
It is a simple fusion of gajar ka halwa and ice-cream but tastes fantastic. Gajar ka halwa is prepared in the usual way with ghee, milk, saffron and dry fruits. Then, it is allowed to cool and give the shape of cups. Then, they are refrigerated to harden. Once they harden, they are taken out and served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream (which is inside ka carrot halwa cup). It is an eye-grabbing tasty dessert.
14. Rasmalai Tres Leches Cake
It is a fabulous fusion of the Indian Rasmalai and Mexican Tres Leches cake. The cake is made in the regular way. Then, it is dipped in the ‘ras’ of rasmalai, which is saffron and cardamom flavored milk. It is allowed to soak for a whole day. The ricotta cream is prepared by mixing ricotta cheese, heavy cream, sugar and cardamom powder. Once the cake is soaked, it is taken out and topped with a fluffy layer of ricotta cream.
15. Manchurian
It is a well-known Indo-Chinese dish. It can be made with potatoes, mixed vegetables, chicken, gobi, paneer etc. A dough is prepared out of any of these ingredients, corn flour and maida. These are shaped into small balls and deep-fried. Then, these Manchurian balls are dipped in a sauce, made from garlic, ginger, onions, green chilly, soy sauce and vinegar.
16. Pav Bhaji
It is a combination of the English buns and the Indian sabzi or bhaji. The bhaji is made using lots of butter and vegetables like potatoes, tomatoes, beet, capsicum, green peas and carrots. The bun or pav is tossed in butter with a dash of red chilly powder and coriander leaves. It is then served with hot bhaji, garnished with more butter, onions and lemon juice.
17. Methi Gota
This Gujarati snack is a fusion of pakoda or fritters and fenugreek leaves. A batter is made of besan or gram flour. Methi leaves and other spices like salt, red chilly powder, turmeric, ajwain, green chillies and onions are added to it. It is then poured randomly into hot oil. And the beautiful methi gota are prepared. These are served with green chutney or tomato ketchup.
18. Malai Sandwich
This is a famous fusion dish made by stuffing khoya in between two chenna squares. Chenna is made from milk and vinegar. It is then kneaded with maida and made into small rasgullas. These are then soaked in sugar syrup. Once they are done, two such rasgullas are taken and mava or khoya is stuffed inside them. It is then garnished with pistachios and edible silver.
19. Tandoori Tikka Naan Pizza
This is a pizza which uses naan as the base. Paneer is coated with the tikka masala and cooked. Instead of the pizza sauce, tandoori gravy is used. All of these are assembled and baked together. This naan-pizza or ‘nanizza’ is a great fusion food.
20. Fafda Jalebi
It is a combination of two simple dishes- fafda and jalebi. Fafda is a spicy Gujarati snack made from besan, turmeric, salt and carom seeds. Jalebi is a sweet prepared from maida or mava and dipped in sugar syrup. Jalebi and fafda are eaten together with fried green chillies and papaya sambharo (papaya chutney). It is a common breakfast for the Gujaratis.
