Sound bites

Crunchy textures are taking over our soups, salads, sushi, even desserts. Chefs break down the hype around the crisp and crackle, and the trick to getting it just right

- Karishma Kuenzang

Forget molecular foams and umami. The new food obsession is one you can both see and hear. Crunchy textures are everywhere. Soups are coming out of the kitchen topped with crispy-fried noodles. Sushi gets a dusting of crunchy batter bits. At Asian restaurants, there are rice crackers to start with, and fortune cookies at the end. And on the street, the top vada pao stalls add besan choora to the pao; dabeli is hidden under nylon sev; even a ragda pattice gets blessed with crushed pani-puri shells. It's more than an Indian trick now. Israeli-British chef Yotam Ottolenghi serves butternut squash cooked with poppadom; and black chana and mango curry topped with namkeen Bombay mix.

Science says we're hardwired to like crunchy foods.

Biting into something that provides clear haptic feedback (we hear it inside our heads and feel it in our jaws) sends a signal that food is fresh.

Around the world, local words for crispycrunchy foods are onomatopoeic. Italians say croccante; the Japanese say pori-pori and kari-kari; the Russian term for crispy crust is khrustyashchaya korochka; north India loves karari bhindi; south India loves murukku; we literally have a snack brand called Kurkure. We asked Indian chefs how they're making the most of our textural home advantage.

Tribal Gourmet, Delhi

Tanisha Phanbuh, founder of the NorthEastern pop-up kitchen, knows that traditional recipes from the region aren't big on crunch. Most local food is mashed, steamed or tender. "But we have fresh salads to do the job," she says, and adds generous portions to her preparations.