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What is Kachri Bateta/ Kachri Babu?

Kachri Bateta, also known as Kachri Babu is a famous street food from Mombasa. In fact, it’s believed that this dish is influenced both by the Swahili and Indian Cuisine. Probably, the potato stew is of Indian origin but addition of grated or minced raw mango to the stew is from the Swahili cuisine. Specifically, the topping of ganthia or thick sev and potato crisps is Indian. The chutney is very coastal. Before we go into my early memories of Kachri Bateta/ Babu Kachri, its imperative to explain some of the terms I’ve used in the description.

Explanation of some of the terms:

Kachri Kachri is the Gujarati word for crisps or chips. Lot of confusion there right? Well, what the British and many of its former colonies call crisp is Chips to the Americans. In regard to this street food, mostly potato crisps or potato chips is used. Actually, Kachri Bateta/ Babu Kachri is incomplete without a generous topping of potato crisps or chips.

Bateta Bateta is the Gujarati name for potatoes.

Ganthia Ganthia, Tikhi Sev, is a famous Indian snack which looks like noodles but the similarity stops there. Generally, salt, spices like red chilli powder, turmeric powder, ajwain and oil are added to chickpea flour. Also water is added to make it into a paste like consistency. Then, this paste is pressed through a sev sancha or machine into hot oil for deep frying. After frying, the noodle shaped ganthia is then broken up into smaller pieces.

Kachri Bateta/ Babu Kachri – Famous Street Food From Mombasa Especially in the old parts of Mombasa and at Lighthouse (which is now called Mama Ngina Waterfront Park) are filled with vendors selling different types of street food. Kachri Bateta/ Babu Kachri is one of them. Look out for little glass covered carts if you ever want to taste kachri bateta.

In fact my in laws and their friends always mentioned kachri bateta with nostalgia. According to them there use to be a man with his cart selling kachri bateta outside the famous Naaz Cinema. Interval time every one would buy the hot and fresh tangy stew.

On the whole, there is not much information available on the internet as to how this famous street food began in Mombasa. Therefore I felt the best place to ask was on the Facebook Group Friends of Mombasa. Well, from the response by a few members I gathered that Kachri Bateta was started by a man named Huseinbhai Visram. How it got the name Babu Kachri, is perhaps as a reference to the man who made it. Babu in Kiswahili means grandfather but also is a respectful way of addressing a man. Nowadays it common to find so many people making it and selling on the street from their doorsteps.

From https://mayuris-jikoni.com/2021/03/14/58-kachri-bateta/