Vada Pav vs Burger! 10 Desi Dishes That Are Way Better Than Their International Versions!

1. Malpua Over Pancakes

Malpuas are Indian pancakes make of made with khoya and all purpose flour. They are dipped in sugar syrup. Pancakes are flat cakes, often thin, and round, prepared from a starch-based batter that may also contain eggs, milk and butter and cooked on a hot surface such as a griddle or frying pan, often with oil or butter. "Do not miss to have the scrumptious sweets like balusai and rubdi malpua at Pushkar Bazar", says HolidayIQ Traveller Thakur. Malpua is one of the special festival sweet dishes that is best served with rabri or rabdi.

2. Vada Pav Over Burgers

Vada Pav is often likened to an Indian-style burger. While a vada pav does resemble a burger in the way it's assembled, a well-made vada pav couldn't be more different in taste to a burger. Burgers are sandwiches that consist of one or more cooked patties of ground meat, usually beef, placed inside a sliced bun. HolidayIQ Traveller Mahi Gulat says, “One of my favourites in Mumbai is vada pav! Whenever I am there, I always make sure of having 3-4 vada pavs each day. Recently Mumbai celebrated World Vada Pav Day - Aamchi Mumbai's Best Gift to Foodies!”

3. Shavige Bath Over Noodles

This is a very famous and traditional dish of Karnataka, especially Udupi. This dish is usually made out of rice vermicelli(thin noodles). HolidayIQ Traveller Rashesh bhagwati  shares, “Parathas, shavige bath (vermicelli upma), khara bath (plain upma), kesari bath (pineapple sheera), medu vadas, idlis, were lip smacking.”

4. Masala Papad Over Nachos

Papad is a thin, crisp disc-shaped Indian food typically based on a seasoned dough made from black gram, fried or cooked with dry heat. Nachos are a Tex-Mex dish from northern Mexico. The dish is composed of tortilla chips covered with cheese or cheese-based sauce, and is often served as a snack. HolidayIQ Traveller Tapan Paul shares, “You must visit Junagarh Fort and old city of Bikaner. Bhujia and Papad are famous food products of Bikaner. You must also visit the camel farm where you can see cute baby camels.”

5. Jhuri Aloo Bhaja Over French Fries

Jhuri Aloo bhaja is the traditional recipe from the heart of Bengal. It is also known as Bengali potato fry. They are thin grated crispy fried potato. French fries are deep-fried potatoes in thin strips. HolidayIQ Traveller KK shares, “The jhuri aloo bhaja that you get in Mandarmani is excellent.”

6. Kati Rolls Over Buritto

Kati roll is a street-food dish originating from Kolkata. In its original form, it is a skewer-roasted kebab wrapped in a paratha bread, although over the years many variants have evolved all of which now go under the generic name of kati roll. A burrito is a type of Mexican and Tex-Mex food, consisting of a wheat flour tortilla wrapped or folded into a cylindrical shape to completely enclose the filling. HolidayIQ Traveller AS shares , “This is my favourite city for many reasons - the best street food and the best sweets. Real food of Kolkata is all street food and the list ranges from mughlai parathas to noodles to various rolls and the best of the all chai served in mud cups called 'bhad' in Bengali.” HolidayIQ Traveller Sanadhya Joseph says, “If you have a taste for the local cuisine and the stomach to handle it, then one has to try the rolls at Zaika. A must have, is at rolls at Park street.”

7. Mangalore Buns Over Donut

Mangalore bun is a popular breakfast and tea time snack in Udupi-Mangalore region. They are sweet and fluffy banana puris. A donut is a small fried cake of sweetened dough, typically in the shape of a ball or ring. HolidayIQ Traveller Saranya Devanathan shares, “Mangalore bun is made out of banana, tastes good. Can buy few and use for next 2 days of travel. Mangalore gooli bajji is a little sweet - may be a bonda, there is no potato or banana inside!”

8. Shikanji Over Pina Colada

Shikanji is a spiced lemonade or nimbu pani with a twist. Pina colada is a cocktail made with rum, pineapple juice, and coconut. HolidayIQ Traveller Visvanathan Iyer says, “Chappan dukan is a good food and shopping center in Indore. The name itself says that there are 56 shops. You get all essentials here. Madhuram Sweets is a shop that stands out here with lot of variety. The shahi shikanji from this shop is very famous and a must-have.”

9. Stuffed Paratha Over Pizza

Paratha is an Indian flatbread made usually with wheat flour with vegetable stuffing inside and pan fried with little ghee/oil. Pizza is a flat bread generally topped with tomato sauce and cheese and baked in an oven. HolidayIQ Traveller Babita Goyal says, “Delhi is known for its street food. It is famous for the chaats, kulfis, pani puri and the famous Chandni Chowk and it's parathe wali gali. I would share some secret paratha places that I discovered in Delhi. You get parathas almost everywhere in Delhi and at all times. The best places to have paratha are Green Park, Moolchand, AIIMS, Sector 58."

10. Kulfi Over Popsicle

Kulfi is a traditional Indian ice cream made with full fat milk. Reduced milk or malai gives a rich flavour. Popsicles are made by freezing flavored liquid around a stick. Often, the juice is colored artificially. “Relish the faaluda kulfis at Prakash stall in Aminabad,” says HolidayIQ Traveller Shalini Tiwari.