Savoury
Pure ‘street food’ combined with a great, easy-to-make chutney. The first time I was in India was at the age of twenty-one. I used to eat this delicious snack in every new place I visited. Sometimes it would be fiery hot, other times made with more flavour than heat. I substitute sweet potatoes for white potatoes. These are oven-roasted for a healthier option, but if you deep-fry or air-fry, make sure you seal the outer layer with a paste made from flour and water.
Chickpea flour is the essential base of pakora, making it a naturally gluten-free snack; cornflour adds extra crispness. This popular monsoon snack is traditionally served with hot chai during the wet season. Pakora are found across the Indian subcontinent, with variations made using paneer, chicken and even haggis.
Pork
The origin of the Scotch egg is disputed. Fortnum & Mason claims it invented the portable snack for well-heeled travellers in 1738. Other accounts point to a 19th-century J. Scott & Son version covered in fish paste, or to a spiced Indian dish from the same period.
You can make Scotch eggs with your favourite sausage meat and use quail, hen or duck eggs. I use a Wiltshire sausage-meat recipe that I have adapted.