Delhi-cious traditions
Popular for its elaborate cottage emporium and traditional crafts, Baba Kharak Singh Marg has never looked as colourful as it is these days. With the sun shining bright, the lavish food spread beckons you to taste aromatic spicy paranthas with hot badaam milk and gatte ki subzi fills the air as you enter a setting called the Delhi Food Festival, Dilli ke Pakwaan.
So whether you’re a tourist who has never had the chance to traverse through the narrow lanes of Old Delhi, (quite popular for its culinary treat) or a Delhiite who has been longing for a one-stop hub to grab all of city’s street food, the festival has a wide rang of delicacies to offer.
“We decided to start with the chaat stalls, and gradually tasted everything else. It’s relaxing to sit here, with traditional music playing in the background and having your fill. We’ll have the special biryani from Khan counter, after which I plan to try the garam doodh kullhar wala,” said Shalini, HR executive who couldn’t stop raving about the food at the fest.
A few minutes’ walk into the fest and you’ll find yourself gorging on not the recipes by experts, but those by the little known vendors of Old Delhi. “Quintessentially, we wanted the street food of Delhi on display. We wanted to bring in stuff that you wouldn’t find easily otherwise. For instance, the doodhwalas here are from Old Delhi who are serving malai milk. And then you have the chillawalas serving piping hot pooras,” says Shivajee from the organising team.
Talking about moong daal chillas, they’re not the ones you’ve tried at the various weddings, but are wraps of a different style. “We make break pakoras of moong daal paste, just like you make them with besan. We also have ladoos and the most special of all is our moong daal wraps stuffed with tomatoes and slices of paneer. They make for a perfect snack,” says one of the stall owners.
While strolling through the stalls, don’t be disappointed if you don’t find too many options at the Paranthe Wali Gali. “There are not many options that we could keep as the demand is too high. So we decided to bring out the best of all, mixed paranthas stuffed with multiple ingredients,” says another stall owner.
What caught our attention was the pav bhaji cooked at the Ratan stall. Using masalas prepared at home, the essence of the bhaji was different. “We don’t use a mix of all vegetables. We primarily use seeta phal, potatoes and lots of tomatoes. We make masalas at home when we prepare it,” says Ram Sevak of Ratan.
The most exciting of all recipes, are the bajra rotis cooked by the nomads. The flavour of the bajra roti is simply phenomenal. “You can’t enjoy the real flavour of bajre ki roti until you cook it in a traditional way. We’re making it on our traditional tawa to give you the real flavour of our meals,” says the cook at the nomads’ stall.
On till December 11
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