Ahoy, city foodies! This fest offers global flavours
If you feel the air in the city is thick with the aroma of exotic spices, sizzling meats, and freshly baked bread, you are absolutely right! The fragrance will lead you to the Delhi Tourism Food Festival, where colourful stalls offering an array of cuisines from across the globe, promise unique culinary adventures.
From fiery Mexican flavours to delicate Japanese dishes, not to mention cuisines from Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan, Punjab and Assam — the culinary assemblage beckons all. For instance, the doner rolls at stall 18, which is serving Turkish cuisine, are a feast for the senses. “Turkish chicken doner rolls require close to 20 pounds (9kg) of freshly hand sliced and layered chicken and lamb, which is cooked slowly as it revolves around a heating lamp,” shares stall manager Rohit Samson.
Likewise, the allure of Mexican and Arabic flavours is hard to resist, and Abhishek Pathak, manager at stalls 19 and 20, claims to have perfected them. “We have falafel, baked nachos and tortilla wraps in the Mexican menu and fūl medames with khabaz, falafel with pita and chicken shawarma with whipped garlic hummus, in the Arabic food menu,” he shares.
Talking about the organisers’ vision for the festival, Kripal Singh, manager at Delhi Tourism, shares, “A Delhiite wouldn’t need to go to different countries to try Turkish, Japanese, Chinese and Mexican cuisines, as they can enjoy them right here at this festival.”
Bringing Mughlai wonders from the bylanes of Old Delhi, is stall 40. Mahir Qureshi, manager, shares, “We are famous for our biryani and nihari. Yahan par abhi tak itne orders aa chuke hain biryani ke liye that no matter how much we cook and keep in stock, I’m sure we’ll eventually run out by the end of the day.”
The variety of delicacies at the venue is sure to cause a problem of plenty. Those who think otherwise, must head to stall 42 and picture perfectly succulent malai tikka, chicken tikka and paneer tikka. “It takes 48 hours to prepare dal makhani, which is one of our specialties,” shares Gurmeet Bhatia, the head chef at the stall. Bhatia adds, “Most of the food is slow-cooked, to let the flavours seep in and make it a delightful experience for the person who tries it.”