A truck full of momos

If one were to stroll down the streets of metropolitan cities like Kolkata or Delhi, one would find a momo stall around many a corner. However, Mumbai, with its vada pavs and chaat places, momos are usually served in brick-and-mortar restaurants.

That’s why Apurva Bandiwdekar’s food truck comes as a breath of fresh air. The co-owner of Dumpling Delight, which is the latest food truck to join the four-wheeled mini-restaurants, gets up each morning to cook up a variety of momos.

“The younger crowd is more into fast food. They don’t want to waste time in sitting and eating,” smiles Apurva, explaining the reasoning behind a momo food truck. “They have a fast lifestyle where they can gulp down food and get going. They don’t want to spend time in restaurants, where people have to wait for their turn, unlike here.”

Since their target is the younger crowd, one can find this bright yellow truck parked some 10 minutes away from Ruia College in Matunga. “There was no one selling momos in this area. There is Chinese servered but no momos, which is very popular with the younger generation,” explains Apurva.

Offering around 10 varieties of vegetarian and non-vegetarian momos, this five-month-old truck sets to work after 4 pm and continues to be on the spot till 8.30 pm.

The trucChocolate dumplingk, which started off with 500 gm of chicken momos, now makes at least four to five kilogram of vegetarian and non-vegetarian momos. Having created every dish herself, Apurva elaborates on the menu. “Chilly chicken in semi gravy, fried dumplings mixed with gravy and tandoori momos are just some of our more popular options,” she says. Another speciality is the chocolate dumpling, filled with choco chips and Nutella.

The truck, in a short span of time, has attracted momo lovers from as far as Dombivali, Vashi and Navi Mumbai.

However, a food truck-owner’s job is not without its challenges. “There are no guidelines for food trucks from the authorities. Even if we get official permissions, it is only for a day, that too during a festival. On a daily basis, we have to be careful,” she says. With a food license already in place, the owners have made sure to keep the truck fire compliant, by using induction plates instead of gas stoves.

Despite the daily hassles, the popularity of Dumpling Delight has encouraged Apurva to come up with a new truck by the end of this month. “We plan to have new varieties of momos there with different fillings and add rice and gravy momo combo,” she smiles.

The future, for Apurva, and other food truck entrepreneurs, however, remains uncertain in the absence of BMC guidelines. Still, the dumpling chef is hopeful. “If BMC has to give permission to food trucks, the officials have to allot specific locations for food trucks. Thsi is difficult because of space constraints in the city. I am sure even the officials are facing difficulty in providing permissions. I hope they will do so soon,” she concludes.