# Dabbawalas \[Indian lunch delivery\]- how do they do it? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 28, 2014, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dabbawalas-indian-lunch-delivery-how-do-they-do-it/682555 "2014-02-28T23:15:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![bldysabba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecccb3/32.png) [@bldysabba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bldysabba)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2014, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dabbawalas-indian-lunch-delivery-how-do-they-do-it/682555/101 "2014-03-12T02:35:07Z")
> [@am77494](#): > > Many of those dabbas will not have any Chicken curry - since people shy away from sending meats in un-refrigerated containers - and India is a tropical country that gets hot. > > Moreover “the Indian Chicken Curry” Americans are used to is not the way the majority of Indians make Chicken curry or Chicken dishes. Its made very differently in different states of India. I actually don’t even think ‘curry’ is an Indian dish/word. I’ve certainly never come across it in any place in which I could rule out reverse borrowing from foreign usage. So posher restaurants may have such and such curry, but never a regular down to earth type place. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2014, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dabbawalas-indian-lunch-delivery-how-do-they-do-it/682555/102 "2014-03-12T03:46:57Z")
Yes, in India, “curry” is any saucy dish. You have to be more specific. ---
**Author:** ![am77494](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d2c977/32.png) [@am77494](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/am77494)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2014, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dabbawalas-indian-lunch-delivery-how-do-they-do-it/682555/103 "2014-03-12T05:45:25Z")
In fact I came to know that the Americans call it curry when I got here. Some South Indians use the word curry in India - and they use it differently, but otherwise its not a term much used in India. Most of the restaurants that serve Indian food in the US serve Punjabi (the state of Punjab) dishes. There are restaurants from other states - but they are typically vegetarian - like Udipi or Gujarati restaurants. Cuisines (especially meat and seafood) from many states like Bengal, Goa , Kerala etc. are extremely rare in the US. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2014, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dabbawalas-indian-lunch-delivery-how-do-they-do-it/682555/104 "2014-03-12T11:30:04Z")
> [@bldysabba](#): > > Wikipedia indicates that must have been it. And it was manufactured for only three years(which is really short by Indian standards at the time) and performed abysmally. That explains why I don’t know of it. I wonder where you can buy one of those stainless ones? They look like they could be great for camping. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2014, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dabbawalas-indian-lunch-delivery-how-do-they-do-it/682555/105 "2014-03-12T11:31:30Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > I wonder where you can buy one of those stainless ones? They look like they could be great for camping. [Amazon.](http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=tifin) Where else? ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2014, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dabbawalas-indian-lunch-delivery-how-do-they-do-it/682555/106 "2014-03-14T23:38:34Z")
I think the dabbawalla culture is terrific. I would love to have a fresh, home-cooked, unprocessed meal while on the job. This is far more nutritious than most of what we get for lunch. Even restaurants use prepared foods that have salt or other preservatives added. Heck, when was the last time you saw a bag of wheat flour that didn’t have nutrients added back into it (it’s called “enriched”)? ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2014, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dabbawalas-indian-lunch-delivery-how-do-they-do-it/682555/107 "2014-03-14T23:43:35Z")
> [@carnut](#): > > I think the dabbawalla culture is terrific. I would love to have a fresh, home-cooked, unprocessed meal while on the job. This is far more nutritious than most of what we get for lunch. Even restaurants use prepared foods that have salt or other preservatives added. Heck, when was the last time you saw a bag of wheat flour that didn’t have nutrients added back into it (it’s called “enriched”)? I would like that, too. Trouble is, I don’t have anyone at home to cook it. ☹ Or to cook it when I AM at home. That’s the one flaw in the system. ---
**Author:** ![bldysabba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecccb3/32.png) [@bldysabba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bldysabba)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2014, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dabbawalas-indian-lunch-delivery-how-do-they-do-it/682555/108 "2014-03-15T00:00:05Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > I would like that, too. Trouble is, I don’t have anyone at home to cook it. ☹ Or to cook it when I AM at home. That’s the one flaw in the system. In most Indian cities, there are also tiffin businesses that make and deliver food. These are separate from the dabbawalas who are a uniquely Bombay phenomenon. It’s usually a home business(es) in the neighbourhood trying to provide economical packed dinners to single working people. The quality varies widely of course. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2014, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dabbawalas-indian-lunch-delivery-how-do-they-do-it/682555/109 "2014-03-15T00:23:14Z")
> [@bldysabba](#): > > In most Indian cities, there are also tiffin businesses that make and deliver food. These are separate from the dabbawalas who are a uniquely Bombay phenomenon. It’s usually a home business(es) in the neighbourhood trying to provide economical packed dinners to single working people. The quality varies widely of course. All RIGHT!! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2014, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dabbawalas-indian-lunch-delivery-how-do-they-do-it/682555/110 "2014-03-15T00:25:16Z")
> [@carnut](#): > > I think the dabbawalla culture is terrific. I would love to have a fresh, home-cooked, unprocessed meal while on the job. This is far more nutritious than most of what we get for lunch. Even restaurants use prepared foods that have salt or other preservatives added. Heck, when was the last time you saw a bag of wheat flour that didn’t have nutrients added back into it (it’s called “enriched”)? When I worked at a large firm in a Los Angeles tech/suburb, we had kind of a lunch bunch who all had home-cooked meals at home for dinner (the late meal of the day), but who liked variety for lunch. We had an informal arrangement with a few dozen people that who ever showed up at a particular room at noon each day would decide, quickly, by consensus, where all of us would go for lunch. We went to many different restaurants since the surrounding area was rich with variety. Burger King was _not_ under consideration, but many small, ethnic, family-run restaurants were available – Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Cajun, BBQ, French, German, Polynesian, Mexican – you name it, we had it close by. I can’t say that all choices were terrific, but I can say that we had an interesting lunch time. Many of us were able to sample cuisine that we might otherwise have overlooked. So I can’t say that an Indian-style Dabawalla delivery is all that great for everyone, but that’s just a personal, cultural observation. I’m pretty sure if all of my lunch bunch had to rely upon home-cooked meals delivered, we all would have starved. ---
**Author:** ![bldysabba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecccb3/32.png) [@bldysabba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bldysabba)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2014, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dabbawalas-indian-lunch-delivery-how-do-they-do-it/682555/111 "2014-03-15T05:11:25Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > When I worked at a large firm in a Los Angeles tech/suburb, we had kind of a lunch bunch who all had home-cooked meals at home for dinner (the late meal of the day), but who liked variety for lunch. We had an informal arrangement with a few dozen people that who ever showed up at a particular room at noon each day would decide, quickly, by consensus, where all of us would go for lunch. We went to many different restaurants since the surrounding area was rich with variety. Burger King was _not_ under consideration, but many small, ethnic, family-run restaurants were available – Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Cajun, BBQ, French, German, Polynesian, Mexican – you name it, we had it close by. When I started reading your anecdote, I thought it would be everyone bringing a serving of leftover dinner from the previous night and then trading. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2014, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dabbawalas-indian-lunch-delivery-how-do-they-do-it/682555/112 "2014-03-15T14:24:51Z")
> [@bldysabba](#): > > When I started reading your anecdote, I thought it would be everyone bringing a serving of leftover dinner from the previous night and then trading. Pot luck. Not a bad idea! I’m sure glad we didn’t think of it. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dabbawalas-indian-lunch-delivery-how-do-they-do-it/682555.md?page=5)