For A Grilled Cheese Packed With Flavor, Make It Bombay Style

If you really want to get foodies buzzing like angry bees, float the topic of how many toppings one can sandwich into a grilled cheese before it's officially a "melt" and no longer fitting of the name "grilled cheese." A few slices of ham don't disqualify the title, we think, but a hamburger patty makes the sandwich a patty melt. Caramelized onions are an ingredient upgrade, and we love hot honey in grilled cheese, but neither of these bonuses are too substantial — more like condiments. A Bombay style grilled cheese may stretch the boundaries of what "grilled cheese" actually is, but we think it's darn tasty and don't care about pedantic classifications. 

The Bombay sandwich was born in the part of India now known as Mumbai, and wouldn't have been possible without the culinary traditions of Portuguese colonizers who brought both bread and potatoes to southeast Asia. A Bombay sandwich takes simple buttered white bread and loads it up with boiled potatoes, cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, and onions, along with green chutney or chaat masala. A handheld toaster called a chimta is held over an open flame to give the loaded sandwich texture and crunch. In recent history, cheese has gotten in on the mix, whether melted in the center of the veggies or toasted in shreds on the outside of the bread itself. It's probably not an authentic grilled cheese or a Bombay sandwich in the traditional sense, but we challenge you to stuff your own sandwich with a mixture of these two handhelds for a cheesy, veggie-forward concoction that will sate even the heartiest appetite.

While a Bombay sandwich is typically made with thin white bread, we challenge you to consider the virtues of the best breads for grilled cheese and to perhaps make a different choice. All those veggies are watery, even if you sponge them off with a dry paper towel first. Choose a crusty bread with some heft to it, and, for optimal results, toast the bread lightly before assembling so that it's extra-sturdy and primed to get nice and crispy once you griddle it.

We also venture to suggest that your cheese or cheeses should be those that can also stand up to the pile of veggies and any piquant sauces or curries you add to the sandwich. Zesty goat cheese is a great idea, but don't sleep on a nice aged Cheddar or a sharp Swiss. If you really want to embrace Indian influences with your grilled cheese, give it a healthy dose of paneer! It won't do much in the way of flavor, but it will impart gooeyness and a delectable mouthfeel that you can augment with additional, more potent cheeses.

We'd also recommend slicing your veggies nice and thin. Thick slabs of tomato and onion will not only overpower your senses and erase the other, more subtle elements of the sandwich, like the potato and bread, but they tend to be hard to eat. Avoid your Bombay style grilled cheese becoming a knife-and-fork affair by keeping the trimmings slender, so that you can still melt the cheese thoroughly. If you toast the bread ahead of time, like we recommended, you can bake the sandwich(es) on medium heat for optimal cohesion.