Fare for one & all

The ongoing Bihar Diwas celebration at Dilli Haat has something more on offer besides cultural performances by state’s dancers and musicians. The place should be visited especially by foodies for the delicacies popular in Bihar and being served till March 22.

The food lovers will have a diverse range of street foods from silav ka khaja to the well-known litti chokha, garlic-soaked mutton rice and jalebi rabri to relish. The stalls by street food vendors, especially from Bihar are also serving lip-smacking chicken kebabs, fish curry and rice too. 

With sumptuous delights all round, it was difficult to select what should be ordered first.  One opted for chicken biryani and chicken korma to taste the non-vegetarian fare cooked in Bihari style. The biryani (priced at a very reasonable Rs 100) served with raita, mint chutney and onion rings was delicious. The aroma of the spices that wafted up from te hot biryani was heavenly. 

The chicken korma, red in colour, seemed very spicy at first glance. But surprisingly, it was not. The gravy with deep fried onion and garlic paste had garam masala, javitri, Kashmiri mirch and kasturi methi as the main condiments and included tender, juicy  chicken pieces, making it worth the money spent. 

The second round began with tikki and chaat. Unlike the tikki here in Delhi, this was a bit different. Boiled chana and matar were added over tikkis, which were then covered with tomato and chilli chutney followed by some dahi. The sprinkled chaat masala added to the rather different taste. While the ardent fans may not like the use of peas or chickpeas in what is a basically a potato dish, one can definitely give this a try. 

As for the desserts, khaja scored over the widely available jalebi rabri and imarti. Vikas, a street food vendor from Shilav, a small place nearly 100 kms from Patna in Nalanda district, has set up a dessert stall at the fest. He explains, “Khaja is made of pure ghee and maida soaked in shira. This has been as popular as jalebi rabri over here,” says Vikas.

Another street food vendor, Ashok Gupta from Patna, has his forte in preparing special litti chokha and garlic soaked mutton rice. “Vegetarians relish liiti chokha and it is very much in demand. On the other hand non-vegetarian items like fish, mutton and chicken curry is in demand. You will love it if take it with garlic soaked mutton rice,” says Ashok.