The South Bay, specifically Santa Clara and Sunnyvale, are home to many great Indian food trucks. There’s something special going on in the East Bay and South Bay with Indian food trucks. We want to highlight some of our favorites from Pleasanton, Sunnyvale, and Cupertino we think are worth exploring. Whether you’re looking for dosas, chaat, or curry, you’re sure to find plenty of options. In case you’re unfamiliar with Indian cuisine, we’ll go over a few of our favorite dishes to get you started. Dosas are large, thin crispy crepes made from a fermented batter of lentil and rice. They can be enjoyed as is or filled with saucy meat or vegetables along with a dry spice powder. Chaat encompasses many different street food style snacks. A popular chaat offering, pani puri, are semolina puffs that are cracked open and have their hollow interior filled with chutney, mint-infused water, crispy stuff, and sometimes yogurt. Most of these trucks listed are open late, so they’re perfect for a nighttime food truck crawl through the South Bay.
1. Delhi Chaat
A bright, vibrant food truck with dozens of chaat options. We love their samosa chaat where potato- and pea-filled samosas are topped with chickpea curry, onion, tamarind, and mint sauce. The pani puri here are excellent as they contrast the crispy semolina shell with boiled potato, tamarind sauce, and spicy water. Wash it all down with a mango lassi, a drink made with yogurt, mango pulp, and cream.
2. Chatori Chaat
This spot serves up an excelled chicken biryani tossed with a spicy powder mixture to give it an amber glow. It’s topped with onions, cashews, and yogurt. The paneer tikka skewers are blocks of cheese marinated in a cumin-based sauce and charred over an open flame. They also serve a great pav bhaji — potato, cauliflower, bell pepper, onion, tomato, and sauce — served with bread to soak up the sauce.
3. Flying Idlis
They’re known for their large selection of dosas. Here you’ll find dosas filled with shredded carrots, paneer, tomato, beetroot, chocolate, corn, or jam. The dosas here are large, crisp and hearty enough to hold up a generous amount of filling. If you’re not feeling dosas, try their poori channa masala, a dish featuring chickpea in an aromatic sauce.
4. Pav Bhaji and More
This truck specializes in pav bhaji, a vegetable curry served with a soft bread roll. Their classic pav bhaji is available in regular or spicy with a side salad of onion, lime, and cilantro. The masala pav is toasted in Amul butter. They also use their soft bread rolls to make sandwiches filled with mayo, Schezwan sauce, or tandoori sauce.
5. Swaraj
This food truck specializes in Mumbai chaat. We love their pani puri filled with spicy, tangy water and white beans. The dahi-puri is also hit with the addition of yogurt, cilantro, mint, sev, and tamarind sauce. The must try dish here is the vada-pav — a spiced potato patty flavored with ginger, garlic, and curry leaves before being battered and fried.
6. Delhiwala
A very popular spot for chaat and parathas, but we recommend you don’t sleep on the pakoras. Pakoras are typically made by frying vegetables or cheese. Our favorite is their chili pakora made by deep frying a green chili in a crispy, lacy batter. The aloo paratha is also great, it’s a flat bread stuffed with spiced potatoes and herbs. They also have a restaurant location.
7. Curry Up Now
This spot started as a popular food truck serving fusion Indian dishes like tikka masala burritos, but now they have several locations across the Bay. You can still find their truck at Off the Grid events.
Need more food truck suggestions? Check out Our 15 Favorite Vegetarian-Friendly Food Truck Dishes from 2024.
