Home to cuisines from around the world, Delhi is rightly called a foodie’s paradise. Apart from serving scrumptious exotic international cuisines, street food from across the globe is also making its way to the menus of various food hubs here.
So while you’re busy hunting for that little something you relished on one of your vacations, we find out places that offer street food from around the world. From Thailand’s Burmese Khao Suey to Shish Taouk, you’ll find them all here in authentic flavours.
“Street food from various countries are now getting popular. The most popular among them is the Burmese Khao Suey which is a soup meal. It’s popular in Burma, Singapore and Hong Kong. Since originally, the dish is heavily laden with coconut cream, we use the same ingredients here. Apart from that we also have Shish Taouk, which is a traditional Arabic and Turkish shish kebab. It is quite popular in Greece as well. It is made by using Mediterranean herbs and spices and is eaten with garlic paste toum,” says executive chef KP from Second Sin.
And then there’s Singaporean Laksa, which comprises of Asian noodles with hot spices and coconut cream, which is quite a hit.
Another place called Iraqi Restaurant in Lajpat Nagar serves you delicacies straight from the streets of Iraq. Koba Halab, for instance, is an age-old dish which has many Indian takers.
“Salt is the only ingredient among spices used in this one. We fry onions and meat together and grind rice separately. After the onion-meat mix is cool, a paste of rice is made and small rice balls are then filled with onion and meat mix. This is the traditional way of making the dish,” says Rasid Raad from Iraqi Restaurant.
What’s interesting is that some of the ingredients in these traditional dishes are imported and the style of cooking is not tampered with. “We also make a dish called Kubba Borqal. The process is the same as Koba Halab, except that it’s made from a special daliya brought from Iraq, which is not available anywhere else in the world,” claims Rasid.
Then there’s Satay, a must-have from the streets of Indonesia, which is a hit with Indian foodies. It is also highly popular in Thailand, Malaysia and Philippines. While streetside carts in these countries are packed with multiple options of Satays, at TC Adhcini you’ll find the most popular ones — Chicken Satay with spicy peanut sauce and Pork Satay with spicy peanut sauce.
And if you’ve been scrounging for African herbs and spices in the INA market, search no more. Head to this quaint corner in Saket where Nigerian chef Jeffery Akuma has everything from the streets of Africa for you. “From Egusi to Okro soups, we serve Nigerian street food along with other dishes. For instance, we use these specifically long-grain rice. In some dishes, the rice is served with stew and chicken and there’s a special way to fry the chicken too. We also have Jellof rice which is a combination of spices and vegetables like diced carrot and green bell pepper. It’s a combination of vegetable and spices. Everything is available in INA market and the flavours are strictly Nigerian,” says Jeffrey O Akuma, who runs the A and G Afro shop with his brother.