Culinary Heaven – The Street Food Of Mauritius

It’s spicy, colourful, and varied –  the street food of Mauritius would put most countries to shame.  

The colourful mix of ethnicities – Indian, French, Creole, African, and Chinese – lends unique bursts of flavours that are hard to come by. Add to this a mélange of tropical fruits, exotic vegetables, and fresh seafood and you get cuisine that is hard to resist.

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Here a list of street food we sampled from street vendors and beach shacks in Mauritius

1) Dhal Puri/Dholl Puri

Individually wrapped Mauritian flatbreads filled with curried yellow split-peas. Served with atchars (pickles) and chutney.

Street Vendors galore

Dhol Puri

Fritters and Chana Puri at a shack in Mauritius

3) Mazavaroo Paste

A paste made from green chillies, Mazavaroo Paste is served with EVERYTHING from creole curries to Chinese noodles in Mauritius – perfect if you like your food with a bit of zing.

Pimento Paste

4) Pineapples

Try tiny Victorian Pineapples sprinkled with a colourful mix of coarse sea salt and red chilli flakes. The savoury notes of the salt and the spiciness of the chilli lends the sweet pineapples a complexity of flavour.

Street Vendor selling coconuts and pineapples

Tiny pineapple sprinkled with chilli flakes and salt – scrumptious!

5) Samosas

Crunchy, deep-fried cones made with filo pastry housing spicy curried potatoes – not much could possibly go wrong, could it?

Samosas

6) Sugarcane Juice

There is no dearth of vans selling glasses of freshly-squeezed sugarcane juice in Mauritius. We’ve raved about it before, but nothing we say could possibly articulate its ambrosial taste – you need to try it for yourself.

Sugarcane Juice

7) Creole Curries

Mauritius is famous for its flavourful sea-food curries and they live up to the hype. The smooth curries still smell of the sea. Perfect with a mound of long-grained rice.

Creole Curries

8) Roti Chaud

Warm Indian flatbreads stuffed with  Grois Pois  (butter bean curry), fresh pickles, &  Rougialle  (tomato-based sauce), Roti Chaud is the perfect snack for people on the go.

Roti Chaud in the making

Roti Chaud

9) Aubergine Pakoras

Fritters made from thin slices of aubergine coated with all-purpose flour. Perfect when served hot on a rainy Mauritian afternoon.

Aubergine and potato pakoras

10) Atchars 

Atchars (spicy pickled vegetables) are served with rotis, rice, and curries. They are the soul of Mauritian street food and lend it a zesty flavour that is hard to resist. Hit the supermarkets if you want to carry a bottle or two back home.

Mauritian pickles served with curry and rice

Shaved Ice (The Mauritian Way)

Now, this isn’t strictly street food, but it deserves an honorary mention for being the world’s most refreshing dessert. Mauritians love serving a variety of fresh fruit of a bed of shaved ice and sugar syrup. Nom nom nom!

Shaved Ice, the Mauritian way

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