For a day the capital took on a distinctly ‘desi’ and ‘chatpata’ feel as ‘Zaika-e-Dilli' celebrated the myriad variety of street food with over dozens of stalls holding huge pans of crisp aloo tikki, kulchas stuffed with boondi and barfi, and other food items prepared from the distinctive dal, aromatic spices and other condiments made to perfection.
The fact that this TheleWala Street Food Festival combined over 20 stalls selling local food from Delhi/NCR's popular vendors, along with food competitions and live art performances - all to keep the guests busy, it had to witness a decent turnout.
For Ridhima Kapoor, a food enthusiast, the festival was a pure celebration of street food from Purani Dilli which was the key reason why she decided to drive down to Chanakyapuri's PSOI club all the way from Dwarka. “The festival saved me a visit to the cramped and claustrophobic lanes of Chandni Chowk. With big names such as Paranthe Wali Gali, Japani Samose Wala, Giani's Di Hatti, Heera Lal Chat Bhandar, Jugal Kishor Ramji Lal Chaat Bhandar, Kuremal Mohan Lal Kulfi Wale participating in the event, no dilliwala could have thought of giving such a festival a miss.”
Focusing on its core concept, the festival featured the signature grubs from the streets of the capital. We started with Kulle Ki Chaat (from Hira Lal Chat Bhandar stall). Offered in interesting kullas, which were prepared by scooping out the cucumber, banana and apple, it looked tempting and tasted a lot better than what you’d find at any other eating joint in Delhi. Filled with pomegranate peas and chana dal, and the spicy jaljeera, it was undoubtedly the perfect starter.
The delicious Chana Kulcha (Murari Kulche Wala stall), which is seen as a favourite snack in northern states of India, offered the true Punjabi flavour, courtesy its spicy chana. Garnished with sliced onions and tomatoes, and fried potatoes, this food item turned out to be a perfect complement to a somewhat warm weather. And the Raita which was prepared with roasted jeera powder – added to introduce flavour and taste – went well with this lip-smacking food item.
The one preparation that impressed and surprised me the most was Sweet Kulcha (from Chalo Punjab stall). Not a common dish, as there are several takers for its salty version, Sweet Kulcha came with boonbdi stuffing. Not as soft as the regular Kulchas, it tasted a lot like Naan. Even though it was over-cooked in a few portions, the kulcha was irresistible.
We saved the best for the last. The warm Japani Samosa, which had as many as 7 wafer-thin crusts was stuffed with potatoes. Not as spicy as the original samosa, this version tasted a lot like a regular pattice. The samosa, which looked different, came with a generous helping of chole, which was why we were tempted to order another plate.
So all those who are food-obsessed and more often than not on a shoe-string budget, this street food festival could have been your saviour.
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