If you are a lover of Indian snacks (and who isn't?), you probably are a fan of mirchi vadas: this popular Rajasthani delight should definitely be on any foodies checklist. 

You can find variations of it all over Rajasthan, but having a perfect mirchi vada isn't as easy as one would imagine. What makes a mirchi vada perfect? Every little thing that goes into it. Starting with the chilly itself, it's nice to get a full length chilly that reaches to the ends of the batter, one that has a bite but not too sharp. The stuffing should be fairly "chatpata" - a melange of spicy sour flavours that make you wince but in delight. Again, the balance of spices is important; one should not overpower the other. And finally, where most fail: the batter. Even some of Jodhpur's renowned shops use a thickly battered pakora that only begged to get soggy that much quicker.

Which leads us to Udaipur, the city to which we owe our favourite mirchi vada. In town, the unanimous vote on where to find the best mirchi vada went to the Eklingji Temple. A little north of Udaipur, not only the temple is magnificent, but it's lined on both sides with tea stalls bearing glorious, golden stacks of mirchi vada.

We chose the one on the right just before the temple. One bite and we knew we had found it. The perfect mirchi vada!

Everything was exactly how it should be, even the batter. It was thin enough to be perfectly crispy and thick enough to still make of the mirchi vada hearty Indian snack. The batter had been whipped so well that when it was fried it became a fluffy crackling. We paired this spicy snack with an over sweetened glass of chai, which is both advisable and blissful, and a visit to the temple. A perfect combination.