Relish the culinary culture of the city

The Capital is savouring the delight of mouth-watering delicacies from all corners of the country at the ongoing Dilli ke Pakwaan 2014 food festival.

The event, which has been organised by Delhi Tourism in association with Delhi Government, has brought a variety of extraordinary dishes with a twist of flavour of Delhi at one stop.

To celebrate the foodie convention of the city, Delhi Tourism came up with the concept of this festival at the time of the Commonwealth Games and since then it has become a much-awaited annual fixture successfully satiating the city’s taste buds. The seven-day festival, in its fifth year, is an organised space for food vendors who have been in the league providing best of delicious food in the city with love and diligence.

“Dilli ke Pakwaan Festival presents traditional dishes with new flavours. Going beyond food, cultural activities along with art and photography stalls make it a complete package for the modern city explorer” says Darpan Moga, one of the organiser, Delhi Tourism.

Delhi being a multicultural city, has a wide range of food options from north to south and it has adapted all the flavours with a hue of its own. In keeping with this spirit, the festival had nearly 60 dishes arranged in about 40 stalls.

The Rajasthani Kachori, Daal Baati Churma, Mirchi Bada spice up the taste buds, whereas the exquisite Daulat ki chaat, a sweet chaat made out of milk foam, hot gulab jamuns, giant jalebis and rabri sugar the palate. There are many options for both vegetarian and non-vegetarian foodies in the city.

From the famous streets of old Delhi, mutton korma, mutton and chicken chap, aromatic biryani, malai tikka, kebabs and much more is being offered for the non-vegetarian folks which gives the authentic taste of Mughlai cuisine. For vegetarians, Rajasthani and Gujarati cuisine, various spiced up pakoras, vegetarian kebabs are a good option.

To take you back to the old times and give a sense of Delhi streets, the festival has a special setup for the stalls and a whole open area where people can get their selfies clicked and take back sweet memories of the event.

The kullar ki chai and desi jalebi with rabri which has been a favourite since ages did not lose its charm amidst the varied options.

The Traditional Kulfi Hut, a stall with over 22 exotic varieties of kulfi attracted a lot of people despite the extremely chilly weather that has left the city shivering. “Our kulfi is one of its kind and is still made in the old traditional way.

It is a healthier option for a dessert instead of synthetic and preservative-added ice creams,” says Niraj Arora the owner of Traditional Kulfi Hut. “We have different flavours which people might have never tasted like jamun, anjeer, special paan, kulfi with real fruit essence to name some”, he adds.

The festival hosted several other activities like recipe competition, food photography crash course, expert food talk, musical evenings, art and crafts and much more. An NGO called Divya Jyoti Jagriti Sansthan, an initiative for visually impaired and physically disabled persons, was also given space as a special societal welfare opportunity. 

“This is one among the best one-stop places to taste the different variety of food from every nook and corner of Delhi and you can enjoy the outing with your family. I loved the schezwan rolls which were delicious!” says Himanshi Sagar, an accessory designer from Delhi. The festival will conclude today at 9 pm.