Street Snacks

🇳🇪Niger

Masa

Waina

Fermented rice cakes from Niger, small and spherical with a crisp outer crust and a soft, spongy, slightly sour interior; made from rice batter, yeast, sugar, and salt, served with honey, miyan taushe, or suya.

🇮🇳India

Masala Puri

ಮಸಾಲೆ ಪುರಿ

A Karnataka chaat of crispy puris crushed and topped with peas, spices, and chutneys. It is spicy and filling.

🇮🇳India

Masala Vada

मसाला वड़ा

A South Indian fritter made from chana dal and whole spices, shaped flat and deep-fried until crisp. It is a tea-time snack

🇲🇺Mauritius

Mauritian Spring Roll

Spring roll

Thin wheat wrappers rolled around cabbage, carrot, glass noodle and minced chicken, fried and cut in halves.

🇿🇼Zimbabwe

Mbambaira

Sweet potatoes boiled or roasted whole and sold hot at roadsides and bus ranks, eaten plain with tea.

🇮🇳India

Medu Vada

मेदू वड़ा

A savory, donut-shaped fritter made from urad dal batter, deep-fried until golden. It is crisp outside, soft inside, and served with sambar and chutney

🇧🇬Bulgaria

Mekitsi

Мекици

Yogurt-slackened dough torn by hand and deep-fried into irregular puffed discs, eaten hot with icing sugar, jam or white cheese crumbled over.

🇬🇷Rhodes, Greece

Melekouni

Μελεκούμι

A Rhodian bar of honey, toasted sesame and pistachio set between lemon leaves, handed at weddings and eaten at Easter — chewy, dense and intensely floral.

🇮🇳Rajasthan, India

Mirchi Bada

मिर्ची बड़ा

A Rajasthani snack of large green chilies stuffed with potato filling, coated in gram flour, and deep-fried.

🇲🇬Madagascar

Mofo Bajeda

A Malagasy fried snack of seasoned batter, crisp outside and soft inside.

🇲🇬Madagascar

Mofo Sakay

The same rice batter as mofo gasy made savoury with onion, tomato, greens and chilli, and fried in deeper oil.

🇲🇽Mexico

Mollete (Mexico)

An open-faced bolillo topped with beans, melted cheese, and salsa, broiled until bubbling.

🇲🇽Mexico

Molote

A fried masa pastry stuffed with a savory or sweet filling.

🇯🇵Tokyo, Japan

Monjayaki

もんじゃ焼き

Tokyo's runnier, crispier cousin of okonomiyaki, scraped directly off the griddle with a spatula.

🇲🇸Montserrat

Montserrat Pumpkin Fritters

Pumpkin Fritters

Crisp and light fritters made with pumpkin; served at St. Patrick's Day Festival breakfast in Montserrat; a traditional island snack; a festive Montserrat treat.

🇮🇹Naples, Italy

Mozzarella milanese

Mozzarella milanese is Naples' fried, breaded mozzarella: slices or pieces are coated in crumbs and fried until the shell is crisp while the cheese melts inside.

🇲🇼Malawi

Mtedza Puffs

Small Malawian fried groundnut pastries sold as a sweet or savoury snack.

🇲🇾Malaysia

Muar Chee

Chewy glutinous rice dough coated with peanut and sesame, soft chewy texture with generous coating and not too sweet, a Malaysian Chinese snack.

🇪🇨Ecuador

Muchín

An Ecuadorian snack of green plantain dough stuffed with cheese, fried until golden, a coastal and street classic.

🇺🇬Jinja, Uganda

Mugaati na Maggi

Mugaati n'amaggi

Wheat dough spread thin on a hot plate, an egg cracked and spread over it with minced meat, then folded into a square parcel.

🇲🇽Mexico

Mulita

A grilled tortilla sandwich of meat and melted cheese, like a quesadilla on steroids.

🇮🇳India

Murukku

Savory spiral-shaped snacks made from rice flour and urad dal, crispy with not hard and well-seasoned, a Malaysian Indian festive snack, and crunchy

🇮🇳Mysuru, India

Mysore Bonda

ಮೈಸೂರು ಬೋಂಡಾ

A South Indian deep-fried snack made from flour, yogurt, and spices. It is soft, fluffy, and served with chutney.

🇪🇸Andalusia, Spain

Málaga Fish Fry

Fritura malagueña

Fritura Malagueña is a Málaga tapa of small fish and seafood coated in batter and fried until crisp.

🇰🇼Kuwait

Nakhi

نخي

Chickpeas boiled with cumin and salt and sold hot in paper cups from carts, eaten with a squeeze of lemon.

🇮🇳India

Namak Para

नमक पारे

A North Indian savory fried pastry made from flour and carom seeds. It is a Diwali snack.

🇳🇷Nauru

Nauru Banana Fritters

Ripe bananas coated in batter and deep-fried until golden brown and crispy on the outside, soft and sweet inside; found at local gatherings and as everyday snacks; a simple, popular snack that uses one of the few fruits grown on Nauru; similar to banana fritters across the Pacific.

🇹🇿Tanzania

Ndizi Kaanga

Ripe or half-ripe bananas sliced and fried until the edges caramelise, eaten as a side or a snack.

🇻🇳Hue, Vietnam

Nem Lui

Nem lụi

Hue's grilled lemongrass pork skewers served with rice paper, herbs, and a rich dipping sauce.

🇳🇨New Caledonia

Nems

Rouleaux de Printemps

Nems are crisp rice-paper rolls filled with seasoned meat or vegetables, a familiar Vietnamese-Caledonian snack sold in markets and restaurants.

🇺🇸Newark, United States

New Jersey Sloppy Joe

A Newark deli invention: a triple-decker of coleslaw, Russian dressing, and sliced meats — not the loose-meat kind.

🇨🇲Cameroon

Nnam Owondo

Ground peanuts seasoned and steamed in banana leaf into a firm savoury cake, sometimes with fish inside.

🇳🇴Bergen, Norway

Norwegian Reindeer Hot Dog

Reinsdyrpølse i brød

Norwegian Reindeer Hot Dog is a street food from Bergen, rooted in local cooking tradition.

🇺🇬Uganda

Nsenene

Bush grasshoppers caught in their two annual swarms, de-winged, fried with onion and salt and sold hot in paper cones.

🇺🇬Uganda

Nswaa

Winged termites collected at the start of the rains as they leave the mound, then fried dry or sun-dried and eaten by the handful.

🇰🇭Cambodia

Num Chek Chien

នំចេកចៀន

Banana slices dipped in a rice flour and sesame batter, deep-fried until golden and crisp.