Mauritius
Dholl puri from a street cart, tomato rougaille and octopus curry — Creole, Indian and Chinese island kitchens.
Join the queue at a Mauritian street cart for dholl puri — a soft flatbread stuffed with ground split peas, folded around bean curry, tomato rougaille and fierce chilli — and you're eating the island's true national dish, the thing locals call their fish and chips. On one small island in the Indian Ocean, Indian, Chinese, French and African kitchens sit side by side, and the street food is where they meet.
From the Indian side come gateaux piments, crunchy split-pea and chilli fritters, and biryani heavy with saffron and potato; from the Chinese, mine frite stir-fried noodles and steamed boulettes in broth; from the Creole kitchen, tomato-braised octopus and vindaye in tangy mustard. The lagoon supplies the seafood, and the cane fields supply the drink — cheap, good rum, poured over ice or with coconut water. Cool off with an alouda, a milky basil-seed cooler from the market.
- Dholl puri (split-pea flatbread)
- Gateaux piments (chilli fritters)
- Rougaille (tomato-braised stew)
- Mine frite (fried noodles)
- Vindaye (mustard-marinated fish)
- Boulettes (steamed dumplings)
- Alouda (basil-seed milk drink)
