Ten of my favourite food songs

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This blog has been in existence for nearly ten years now, and every now and then, someone suggests a theme for a song list. Some theme requests keep cropping up repeatedly (lullabies and bhajans being popular ones), because these are topics people know would have a large number of songs to choose from.

One topic which has cropped up perhaps only once or twice is that of food songs. Not even songs in praise of food, but which just mention food, in some context or the other. I remember friend and erstwhile fellow blogger Harvey remarking that while there are several songs that do mention food, the food mentioned is rarely the type that makes you salivate at the very thought of it (that’s probably changed somewhat in more recent films—chicken fry appeals to me, as do potato-filled samosas, though the songs in which they feature are appalling).

With Food and Food Movie Month on at Dustedoff, it seemed an appropriate time to finally compile a list of ten food (and drink) songs that I like. Besides my usual criteria—that the song should be from a pre-70s film that I’ve seen—I imposed another restriction on myself: the food or drink should be mentioned in the first two lines of the song and/or in the refrain. Plus, the drink in question should not be liquor (that is a separate post, the daaru songs list).

Here goes then, in no particular order:

1. Ek roz hamaari bhi daal galegi (Bandi, 1957): Ever since a blog reader introduced this song to me, it’s been one of my favourites: Kishore Kumar, as actor and singer, is an utter delight, and his antics here are a joy to both watch and listen to. In Ek roz hamaari bhi daal galegi, he doesn’t just fantasize about the daal which he hopes will cook soon—that is, the success that certainly lies in wait for his ‘MA-BA Pass’ older brother—but talks of other joys to come. This dry roti and this prosaic lime pickle will give way to ‘garam-garam kachori -puri’ (piping hot kachoris and puris, which sounds pretty good to me, though I’m not averse to lime pickle, to be honest).

 

2. Suraj zara paas aa (Ujala, 1959): A theme very similar to that of the preceding song, but approached in a different style. A bunch of poor children, with not even dry rotis to eat, are led by an equally impoverished Shammi Kapoor in a song that invites the sun itself to come down to a feast with them—where the star will be the rotis of their dreams. While the roti is the main motif of the song, there’s more to this dream meal: there will be ‘aloo-tamatar ka saag’ (a dish of tomatoes and potatoes), and ‘imli ki chutney’ (tamarind chutney). And, to crown it all, ‘Roti karaari sike, ghee uspe desi lage’ (the roti will be cooked to a delicious crisp, and pure ghee will be brushed all over it’). Yummy!

(Incidentally, it’s worth noting that the playback singer here is Manna Dey, who sang the song Ami sri sri Bhojohori Manna in the Bengali film Pratham Kadam Phool—a song all about food, with Bhojohori Manna being the name of a mythical chef).

3. Tu mera jo nahin (Bheegi Raat, 1965): (With Pee cola pee cola being the refrain). Bheegi Raat was best known as being a remake of Love Affair/An Affair to Remember, and for Dil jo na keh saka. This song, picturized on Shashikala and Pradeep Kumar, along with a bunch of Coca Cola-guzzling extras (and Rajendranath, inexplicably clad in a woman’s swimsuit), is however also a good one, with a nice infectious beat to it. And what an advertisement for Coca Cola! She tells him that even if he will not be hers, she will not stand him being another’s. So, even if he goes off—let him drink Cola! (Okay, I don’t see the connection, but I suppose he will need something to drown his sorrows in, if he cannot be with the woman he loves, and a woman he doesn’t want is clamouring for attention).

4. Mera naam Abdul Rehman pistawallah main hoon Pathan (Bhai-Bhai, 1956): Kishore Kumar again, and this time selling something to eat, instead of hoping for something to eat. His Abdul Rehman is a pistawallah, selling pistachios (and almonds, as he mentions in passing). Nimmi’s Abdul Rehmaniya doesn’t have anything to say about the pistachios or the almonds, but her man takes care of the sales pitch: everybody, whether Hindu or Muslim or Sikh or Christian, eats his pistas. His pistas are good, they gladden the heart.

5. Paan khaaye saiyyaan hamaaro (Teesri Kasam, 1966): I am not a huge fan of paan myself, but I am not unaware of the immense significance of paan in India: as a mouth freshener, of course, but also as a symbol. For instance, in my very first book, The Englishman’s Cameo, a courtesan’s skill at creating a paan is a symbol of her desirability and her skill at all that she does—her paan is even a tool in a seduction.

Here, Waheeda Rehman’s nautanki dancer is no courtesan (she’s too pedestrian for that), but there is a definite indication that the paan her lover eats heightens his attractiveness (hmm. Not a man for me, at any rate). There’s not very much in the song about paan, but there is all that the paan does to him: it tints his lips red, it leaves streaks of red on his muslin kurta (Ugh).

6. Chana jor garam main laaya (Naya Andaaz, 1956): An interesting battle between sellers of food stuff. Kishore Kumar and Meena Kumari here play two stars in a theatre company, and the song follows them as they go on tour. She begins the song by selling chana jor garam, spiced with garam masala; he counters by offering delicious peanuts. In the next round of their battle, she’s selling cool, refreshing ganderiyaan (pieces of sugarcane); he offers passersby his hot and fresh jalebis instead, all beautifully soaking in syrup. They go on to professions of love and the more usual ‘hum toh taarein tod laayein’ (I will fetch the stars down for you) lyrics, but the bulk of the song is all about food.

7. Maine kaha thha aana Sunday ko (Ustaadon ke Ustaad, 1963): This is a fairly obvious rip-off of Never on a Sunday and though the ‘main’ song somewhat follows the original English lyrics, technically speaking, the song begins with the names of four fruits. Helen’s coconut-selling girl appears on the scene only after various other fruit sellers have shouted out their wares: “Pineapple! Papaya! Banana!” Then Helen shimmies on and trills, “Coconut!” She even slices off the top of a couple of coconuts for a few obviously besotted admirers, before collaring her boyfriend (played by Johnny Walker) and admonishing him for having turned up on Monday after having been specifically told to come on Sunday.

8. Ichak daana bichak daana (Shree 420, 1955): Another song which begins with fruit. But this one couldn’t be further in theme and picturization than Helen’s cute shimmy in Maine kaha thha. In what is one of the classic children’s songs from Hindi cinema, Nargis—as teacher to a bunch of poor children—conducts an outdoor class, and does so by putting questions in the form of riddles to her pupils. One grain above another; one grain here, one grain there; atop the eaves, a girl dances. What’s that? A pomegranate! While the very last riddle she sets has, as its answer, a bird, the other three riddles are all about things to eat—a pomegranate, a red chilli, and an ear of corn.

9. Chanda mama door ke pooye pakaayein boor ke (Vachan, 1955): Another song being sung to children, and featuring food (some years ago, I would have said that was natural—after all, most children seem to be very fond of food. But since I’ve become mother to a very active child who thinks food is a waste of time unless she’s ravenously hungry, I’ve begun to think perhaps not).

Here, instead of a teacher setting riddles about food, there’s a nanny singing to her charge. Geeta Bali plays nanny to a little boy whose invalid mother looks fondly on as her child is entertained. The moon, up there, is making malpuas with boor (soft brown sugar). He’s eating his malpuas in a great big thali, but Munna has to make do with a bowl more suited to his relatively diminutive size. Cute, classic kiddie song, and Geeta Bali is so animated, her eyes so full of life.

10. Jaiyo jaiyo sipahiya bazaar daal meri chulhe chadhi (Nishaan, 1949): And to end, a song that ties in to the first song on this list, in having two dishes (daal and nimbu ka achaar) in common with that. Bhanumathi’s character, a wealthy girl named Ranjana, pretends to be a maidservant in an attempt to flee a lecherous zamindar. But the zamindar’s troops are in the way, and the only way Ranjana can flee is by diverting their attention. Which she does by singing a song, recruiting them, one by one, to help her with the cooking.

Bhanumathi’s acting is delightful, Shamshad Begum’s rendition is fabulous, the music is good—and there’s loads of food here. Before the song begins in earnest, a list of vegetables is rattled off, and then Ranjana begs a sipahiya (soldier) to go buy her some lime pickle; quick, because her daal is already on the fire. When other soldiers, from other parts of India, intervene, Ranjana is quick to sing in their languages, and to entice them with the names of foods they would love: for the Bengali, rasogolla; for the Punjabi, lassi; for the Gujarati, choora and bhel; and for the Madrasi, idli-dosa and sambaar.

Not just that: there’s more food here. She tells one man to attend to the tempering; another to peel cucumbers; yet another to get some turmeric… a song that’s great fun, and has loads of food running all through it.

Which other songs would you add to this list? Please share!

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130 thoughts on “Ten of my favourite food songs”

  1. While not in Hindi, I am guessing all of Tamil/Telugu folks reading your blog thought of this song first: Kalyaana Samayal Saadham / Vivaha Bhojanambu from Maya Bazaar – this is the quintessential food song – literally just a list of all the food items in the room.

    The one line summary of the situation for the song is: Balarama’s daughter is being forced to marry Duryodhana’s son while she is actually in love with Abhimanyu, so Krishna substitutes her with Gatochkatha in disguise. I can say that this is probably one of the best mythological movies ever made.

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    • Wow! Thank you so much for this. This has to be the food song. I couldn’t understand much except the names of some of the dishes, but even seeing that array of goodies – yum. Thank you.

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          • Mayabazaar was made simultaneously in Tamil and Telugu but with different actors in some of the roles . The movie was in black and white but there was a post processed color version released recently. I wouldnt risk calling it the ‘most’ popular in India, but the previous commentor is definitely right in spirit, It was super popular and the movie really holds up when you watch it now in spite of the barrage of mythological serials post Ramayana/Mahabharatha of the 90s. I hope there is a subtitled version you could see, Madhuji – it is a very fun movie with awesome songs. Savitri absolutely kills it in her role.

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            • Thank you so much for telling me about this. I will admit that I’m not too keen on mythologicals, but of the ones I’ve seen, my favourite was the Tamil film, Karnan, which I loved. So if this comes so highly recommended, I shall certainly look out for it. I do hope there’s a subtitled version somewhere!

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        • “Maya Bazaar has to be the most popular feature film ever made in India. Sholay comes after that.”

          I don’t wish to sound disparaging here, but I think it is highly unlikely that a south Indian film and also one whose Hindi dubbed version isn’t widely known (thus keeping Bahubali out of the discussion) could possibly be more “popular” than Sholay. I won’t comment on quality since I haven’t seen Maya Bazaar and it’s all subjective anyway.

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  2. The one song that I instantly remember is main to raste se jate raha tha, main to bhel puri Khayyam raha tha.
    Though it’s not fitting the time line.

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  3. A few more songs…..
    All crossing the timeline

    Chocolate lime juice ice cream from Hum aapke hai kaun

    Ek garam chai ki pyali ho from Har dil ko pyar karega

    Batata wada from hifazat

    Aap sikhaun Tumhe ande ka funda from Jodi no 1

    Cheeni kum hai from Cheeni kum
    And Chanda chamke cham cham from fanna
    Also mentions Cheeni
    But would you allow it as a food item?

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  4. Hi Madhu, what a lovely post! Sets up your taste buds and thinking cap. Some songs came ro my mind.
    1. Hum bhi agar bachche hote…has laddoo mentioned.
    2. Aahe na bhar thandi thandi from Banphool is all about “chai”
    3. How about Yeh reshmi zulfein from Do Raaste, mentions sharbat and not liquor?
    4. Meri beri ke ber mat todo
    5. Lastly..the Pyar Mohabbat song Dekho…mentions lollipop!

    There are many post 70s songs like Daal roti khao from Jwar Bhata, chana jor garam from Kranti, Cheeni kum title song, Imli ka boota beri ka ped from Saudagar, Chocolate lime juice from Hum Aapke Hain Kaun, Khaike paan banaras wala from Don and so on….

    Regards GG.

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    • Thanks! Glad you liked the post, and thanks for the songs you suggested. I had thought of Hum bhi agar bachche hote, but dropped it, because (as I mentioned in the introduction to the post), the mention of the food should come in the first two lines of the song or in the refrain… and laddoo appears a little too late in the song, for me. But yes, if that criterion is removed, it fits well. The post-70s songs are of course well-known; most of them occurred to me fairly early on.

      Aahein na bhar thandi-thandi and Meri ber ke ber mat todo. fit perfectly! Good songs. :-)

      I wouldn't include Yeh reshmi zulfein because the sharbat referred to is not literally sharbat.

      And, a special thank you for Dekho dekho madam. How did I forget that one? This deserves to be embedded too!

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  6. Enjoy this peppy bollywood song “Chocolate Limejuice Icecream” starring Salman Khan & Madhuri Dixit from Sooraj Barjatya’s superhit film “Hum Aapke Hain Koun.”

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  7. Madhu,
    Who could have thought that there could be list of songs on food. Nice idea and excellent post. Song no. 3 was new to me. Now I, too, can remember many songs, such as ‘Daal roti khao Prabhu ke gun gaao’.
    AK

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  8. Chaat should count as food, right? Here’s Mohammed Rafi and Chitalkar selling it on Chowpatty beach. From Karigar – Baman ho yaa jaat

    Mumu is busy selling nariyal paani – Le lo re le lo babu nariyal paani

    While this young boy is selling vegetables. From Aaaya re aaya baajiwaala Toofan aur Diya.

    I was going to add Chocolate Lime Juice even though it isn’t a particular favourite, but I see it’s already been mentioned. I’m surprised that Chicken kukdukoo from Bajrangi Bhaijaan hasn’t been posted already.

    The 80s and 90s had plenty of food songs, though they weren’t all that great musically. I don’t know if you remember Shaayad meri shaadi ka khayal where the man is being invited home for tea.

    And since you did put Paan khao saiyyan hamaro, I’m adding Khaike paan Banaraswala. :)

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    • Oh, nice, Anu! There are a couple of songs there (the ones from Toofan aur Diya and Karigar) that were new to me. Most of the others had occurred to me – except the Bajrangi Bhaijaan one, which I should’ve remembered, even if I couldn’t have used it.

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    • Thank you so much! I’m so happy to see songs from languages other than Hindi which fit the theme. :-) As you’d expect, I had never heard Asa kie khaiba ho ama raja babura khana. I wish I could understand which foods he’s singing about…

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  11. Food and music sound even better than food and movie to me..

    Though this ice cream song doesn’t fit your criteria but it doesn’t stop me from mentioning it.. lol..

    Zindagi hai Kya sun meri jaan.. dev selling ice cream and not obvious from first two lines of course..

    Also 1973 samadhi song that was severely remixed.. kaanta laga mentions ber..if you count that as a fruit..

    Btw I didn’t know about the aek roz hamari big daal galegi song until a year ago. What a riot!

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    • I had been thinking about putting Zindagi hai kya on my list, but gave it up because the mention of the ice cream comes (as far as I was concerned) too far into the song. But very happy to see you add it here – as also Kaanta laga! And yes, what an absolute riot Ek roz hamaari bhi daal galegi is. Kishore is simply hilarious, and the lyrics are so much fun too (I love the fact that that “Main banke sahib khitpit English boloon re” is a parody of Ashok Kumar’s very famous song from yesteryears). :-)

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  14. Fun post, Madhu. “Ek roz hamari bhi daal” and “suraj zara aa paas aa” where the first two songs that popped into my head when I saw the title of the post and I’m delighted to see them included in your list.

    Here’s a silly, cute number from Love in Simla that has Sadhana offering “jalebi” and “kalegi” to Joy Mukherjee.

    Ae Baby, ae jee – Love in Simla/Iqbal Qureshi/Asha-Rafi

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    • Thank you, Shalini! Ek roz hamaari bhi daal galegi is such a hoot, isn’t it? :-)

      I had thought of adding Ae baby to my list, since I remembered the kaleji and jalebi – but the mention of these comes too far down in the song for it to qualify. But happy to see you adding it here!

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  15. What about this one .. Chun Chun karti aayi chidiya , Daal ka daana laayi chidiya…from Ab Dilli Door Nahin. Later in the song , chidiya rani makes moong ki daal also.

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  19. Hi,
    Nice compilation. Does this one qualify:
    Johnny Walker is singing and selling kakdi’s (though is not a vendor) and at the same time telling everyone to eat kakdi’s as they are good for health and according to him Shirin-Farhad could nto get engaged as they didn’t eat these kakdi’s. The song is:-
    “Laila ki ungliyan bechun”, (Rafi, Rajinder Krishna, Ravi, movie-Ghar Ki Laaj).

    Secondly, once on Vividh Bharti’s Chhaya Geet I heard a song in Rafi’s voice selling Ice Cream and it is not the one from “Maya”. At the end of mukhda and each antara he finishes something like “lelo thandi-2 meri ice-cream”. And the way it was sung, it sounded sooo nice. I am still looking for that song and I do not remember the beginning. Can I get some help?

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    • Thank you so much for Laila ki ungliyaan bechoon! Absolutely bang on, and a song I don’t think I’d heard before. You know, I remember reading in a Madhur Jaffrey book long back about how she recalled that when she was a girl, the vegetable sellers used to go around shouting “Laila ko ungliyaan, Majnun ki pasliyaan” when they were selling kakdiyaan. That same practice seems to have inspired this song. Great one, can’t thank you enough for this. Such a paean to a food. :-)

      I cannot figure out which ice cream song that might be… if you are able to remember, please leave a comment here!

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      • It is a delightful song. And so much hype for health these days, they were telling you from long back to eat kakdi’s. And I think it is the thin one’s that is referred to as “Laila ki ungliyan”, the name of it’s sister, the chubby green cucumber is- “Balam Kheera”.

        As for the ice-cream song. It’s so frustrating. I never heard that song again on Vividh Bharti. The only information I can give is- It was a Chhaya Geet program, presented by Yunus Khan and the theme was vendor songs in Hindi movies (here is another idea for you by the way), like nariyal panu, chana chor garam. So ice-cream vendor was included too. That’s all.

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        • I should remember to post that question about the ice cream song on Facebook – there are lots of people on my network there who know some very obscure songs.

          As for the vendor songs list, several years back Harvey had done a very good post on the theme, which (along with the comments that followed it) pretty much seemed to cover every good song there was. But I have a somewhat related post lined up, possibly for next month.

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          • Laila ki Ungliyaan feature in a nazm called Aagre ki Kakdi . This is a nazm written by the famous Poet Nazeer Akbarabadi (1735-1830) . He was contemporary of Mir , but a people’s poet, who chose to wrote classical as well as popular poems. According to Habib Tanveer’s Agra Bazar , this poem on kakdi and another one on Til Ka Ladoo were all written by Akbarabadi because he was democratic in spirit and of the belief that verse is something to be enjoyed / employed by all and not just the elite.
            I often jokingly call this the first commissioned Advertising Jingle :)
            Here is the full poem for you (from the rekhta website)

            पहुंचे न इसको हरगिज काबुल दरे की ककड़ी।
            ने पूरब और न पच्छिम, खू़बी भरे की ककड़ी।
            ने चीन के परे की और ने बरे की ककड़ी।
            दक्खिन की और न हरगिज, उससे परे की ककड़ी।
            क्या खू़ब नर्मो नाजुक, इस आगरे की ककड़ी।
            और जिसमें ख़ास काफ़िर, इस्कन्दरे की ककड़ी।

            क्या प्यारी-प्यारी मीठी और पतली पतलियां हैं।
            गन्ने की पोरियां हैं, रेशम की तकलियां हैं।
            फ़रहाद की निगाहें, शीरीं की हसलियां हैं।
            मजनूं की सर्द आहें, लैला की उंगलियां हैं।
            क्या खू़ब नर्मो नाजुक, इस आगरे की ककड़ी।
            और जिसमें ख़ास काफ़िर, इस्कन्दरे की ककड़ी।

            कोई है ज़र्दी मायल, कोई हरी भरी है।
            पुखराज मुनफ़अल[1] है, पन्ने को थरथरी है।
            टेढ़ी है सो तो चूड़ी वह हीर की हरी है।
            सीधी है सो वह यारो, रांझा की बांसुरी है।
            क्या खू़ब नर्मो नाजुक, इस आगरे की ककड़ी।
            और जिसमें ख़ास काफ़िर, इस्कन्दरे की ककड़ी।

            मीठी है जिसको बर्फ़ी कहिए गुलाबी कहिए।
            या हल्के़ देख उसको ताज़ी जलेबी कहिए।
            तिल शकरियों की फांके, अब या इमरती कहिए।
            सच पूछिये तो इसको दनदाने मिश्री कहिए।
            क्या खू़ब नर्मो नाजुक, इस आगरे की ककड़ी।
            और जिसमें ख़ास काफ़िर, इस्कन्दरे की ककड़ी।

            छूने में बर्गे गुल है, खाने में कुरकुरी है।
            गर्मी के मारने को एक तीर की सरी है।
            आंखों में सुख कलेजे, ठंडक हरी भरी है।
            ककड़ी न कहिये इसको, ककड़ी नहीं परी है।
            क्या खू़ब नर्मो नाजुक, इस आगरे की ककड़ी।
            और जिसमें ख़ास काफ़िर, इस्कन्दरे की ककड़ी।

            बेल उसकी ऐसी नाजुक, जूं जुल्फ़ पेच खाई।
            बीज ऐसे छोटे छोटे, ख़शख़ाश या कि राई।
            देख उसी ऐसी नरमी बारीकी और गुलाई।
            आती है याद हमको महबूब की कलाई।
            क्या खू़ब नर्मो नाजुक, इस आगरे की ककड़ी।
            और जिसमें ख़ास काफ़िर, इस्कन्दरे की ककड़ी।

            लेते हैं मोल इसको गुल की तरह से खिल के।
            माशूक और आशिक़ खाते हैं दोनों मिलके।
            आशिक़ तो हैं बुझाते शोलों को अपने दिल के।
            माशूक़ हैं लगाते, माथे पै अपने छिलके।
            क्या खू़ब नर्मो नाजुक, इस आगरे की ककड़ी।
            और जिसमें ख़ास काफ़िर, इस्कन्दरे की ककड़ी।

            मशहूर जैसी हरजा, यां की जमालियां हैं।
            वैसी ही ककड़ी ने भी धूमें यह डालियां हैं।
            मीठी हैं सो तो गोया, शक्कर की थालियां हैं।
            कड़वी हैं सो भी गोया, खू़बां की गालियां हैं।
            क्या खू़ब नर्मो नाजुक, इस आगरे की ककड़ी।
            और जिसमें ख़ास काफ़िर, इस्कन्दरे की ककड़ी।

            जो एक बार यारो, इस जा की खाये ककड़ी।
            फिर जा कहीं की उसको हरगिज़ न भाए ककड़ी।
            दिल तो ”नज़ीर“ ग़श है यानी मंगाए ककड़ी।
            ककड़ी है या क़यामत, क्या कहिए हाय ककड़ी।
            क्या खू़ब नर्मो नाजुक, इस आगरे की ककड़ी।
            और जिसमें ख़ास काफ़िर, इस्कन्दरे की ककड़ी।

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  20. Since I am the only commenter here who bothers to bring up non-Indian songs, here are The Drifters with their original and much-covered recording of “Sweets for the Sweet, Sugar for My Honey”:

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    • Hmm. What an interesting question! I can’t really think of anything – except possibly Yeh tanhaayi haai re haai, which – for the oddest of reasons – always reminds me of Mughlai food. The reason is that the first time I remember hearing that song was when I was interning at the Aangan restaurant in Delhi’s Hyatt Regency. Aangaan served Mughlai food (and pretty good stuff, too), and they had live music in the evenings. One evening, the singer sang Yeh tanhaayi haai re haai, and surrounded by those smells of tandoori murgh, seekh kabab, biryani and whatnot, I wondered which film the song was from…

      What about you?

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  23. I remember this song from my childhood, Kabuliwala aaya, kabuliwala aaya, Kaabul Kandhaar se pista madam laya…
    When I searched for the video I discovered its part of a series of songs in a dream sequence medley , But perhaps it can still be considered a song in itself?

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  24. Great list as always! Also got to learn the word “boor” from the Chanda Mama song – always thought it was “gud” elongated to rhyme! Only song that I could remember was this one from Jwar Bhata, slightly beyond your timeline

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    • Daal-roti khaao prabhu ke gun gaao was one of the first songs that came to my mind, too, though even without looking it up I knew it was beyond my time line. :-) But still a fitting song for this post. Thanks for that, and glad you learnt something new because of this post! Boor (or boora as it’s also known) tastes fantastic with plain dahi.

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  25. in non-Hindi , there is of course Ruby Murray singing Miss O’Leary’s Irish Fruit Cake :)
    Just about makes the cut with a mention of Tea in line two…but lots of food post that :)

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  26. And Tea for Two and Two for Tea. from a movie of the same name (I think, not sure, having seen it so long ago) , by the inimitable Doris Day..

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      • I agree with you. And we’ve not even started on songs which may not be completely about food and drink, but have more than a passing mention of them. Like These are a few of my favourite things, which mentions apple strudel and schnitzel with noodles; or The Borning Day, which has a line about ‘only pigeon peas and rice, a little ginger tea’. Or That’s Amore, which mentions pizza and pasta.

        Oh, and Jambalaya (which also mentions cod fish pie and filet gumbo):

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  30. Love this post, even though the only songs I recognized were 5, 8 and 9. But the first song that came to my mind was Dal roti khaao prabhu ke gun gaao …, but I knew that it was from the 70s, and hence not likely to be in your post. I am a little late in reading your posts these days because of the upcoming wedding in my family (my second son is getting married this Sunday) but I sat down today while the food is cooking in the pressure cooker and read this post.

    As one of your readers mentioned, the Tamil song fits the bill perfectly and makes me drool while watching it! Do get the sub-titled version if you can, and watch. I have enjoyed it much more than any of the current mythological movies.

    My father used to sing a song Chana zor garam babu … but knowing him, I cannot be sure if it was really a song from a movie or something he came up with, and now he is not around for me to ask him that question. I wish I had thought of asking him this question when he used to sing it. Lesson – don’t put off asking your parents about their childhood and memories until it is too late.

    I am loving all these food posts.

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    • Thank you, Lalitha! I’m so glad you enjoyed this post. Yes, the songs you’ve mentioned are probably the most popular of the lot (though I think anyone who’s even slightly aware of American pop music from the 50s and 60s would instantly recognize Maine kaha thha aana Sunday ko). As for the song from Maya Bazaar, I’ve managed to find a copy of the film, as well as a set of English subtitles. Now to try and fit them together and see if they work… will do that one of these days!

      I wish I knew which Chana jor garam song your father used to sing. I assume it couldn’t have been the Naya Andaaz one from my list?

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  31. Really love this song from “Kali Topi Lal Rumal” a very meaningful and famous song of its era.
    These lines from the song were written in 1959 and man landed at moon in 1969.

    tujh ko patey ki baat bataaun main jaaneman
    kyun chaand par pahunchne ki insaan ko hai lagan
    kyun chaand par pahunchne ki insaan ko hai lagan
    insaan ko chaand mein
    insaan ko chaand mein nazar aati hain rotiyaan
    nazar aati hain rotiyaan
    deewaana aadmi ko banaati hain rotiyaan
    deewaana aadmi ko banaati hain rotiyaan
    khud naachti hain sab ko nachaati hain rotiyaan
    nachaati hain rotiyaan
    deewaana aadmi ko banaati hain rotiyaan

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    • Yes, Deewaana aadmi ko banaati hain rotiyaan is a great song, and it fits the theme perfectly. Thanks for this!

      On the theme of rotis, there’s also the title song from Roti (1942). I had this on the shortlist for my post, but didn’t use it since I don’t like the song much.

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      • I thought of this song when I saw your theme for this list (of course I did since this is one of my favorite movies of all time), but I thought, this song only uses roti as a symbol for sustenance to the many poor and starving people; it’s bleak social message seems to take it well out of the category of “food songs.”

        I love all the songs featuring Ashraf Khan. He was great in this film. (And how ironic that in real life, this man playing a mad Social Darwinist villain became a Sufi saint.) Musically, though, this one admittedly isn’t as good as some of the others that he sings.

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  33. A catchy fast food song “Kashiram Fast Food” from the Marathi film Aayatya Gharaat Gharoba:

    I know it is composed by Anil-Arun (Anil Mohile & Arun Paudwal – also famous singer Anuradha Paudwal’s husband) and as for the singers: I can make out Suresh Wadkar’s voice and Sachin always gave playback to himself, the third singer’s voice I cannot make out.

    The interludes between stanzas sung by Sachin take the tune from the “Mannu Tera Hua, Ab Mera Kya Hoga?” interludes in the “Hum Thhe Woh Thhi” song.

    By the way, one of the Cola-guzzling extras in the “Pee Cola” song sports a seriously dangerous-looking pinkeye infection. You can check it out at 02:25 mark. I can only hope he did not get into that pool.

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    • Oh, good. I like seeing songs from languages other than Hindi – especially since food songs, in Indian languages at least, seem to be so few and far between.

      I noticed that pinkeye too. Scary!

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  37. Now that Tom finally posted Naya Andaz, we have an actual clip for “Chana Zor [or Jor] Garam…” Actually, he put it into two clips. This song is a lot of fun! I was happy to see Anu’s subtitles for this one in the full film clip too, though Tom isn’t carrying subtitles to the individual song clips anymore.

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    • Okay, I must admit I’d forgotten Yeh moonh aur masoor ki daal, but then, I’d not (on purpose) included Yeh moonh aur daal masoor ki or Daane-daane pe likha hai, both from Baarish, because the mention of the food was only through the proverb or idiom – there was no other mention of food, and no food shown, either. So for me they weren’t really food songs, though I’ll admit that was me being picky.

      But thank you – you helped me with another post I was trying to compile. :-)

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  40. Came across this relatively recently Euro-Pop song and wanted to share. “Milk and Toast and Honey” by Swedish pop group Roxette (famous for their 80s hits “The Look”, “Joyride”, “Dressed for Success”, etc.)

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