Relish the flavours of India at 'Dilli Ke Pakwaan' food festival

New Delhi, Dec 26: Be it a 'paan-wala' from Benaras or a traditional vendor who hails from Rajasthan, but when food vendors from different regions of the country cater to Delhi's palate it becomes 'Dilli Ke Pakwaan'.

Giving a common space to the city's street food vendors, the ongoing food festival that is scheduled to end here on December 30 has been an annual affair in the national capital since 2010.

This year it is being held at the Baba Kharak Singh Marg. Gulchand Yadav, a 'paan-wala' (betal leaf seller) from Benaras has been putting up his stall at the festival since four years.

He claims that his Mahoba meetha paan sells the most. "The speciality of this 'paan' is that it melts in your mouth. This is the most sold paan on the first day," says Yadav.

Mahoba, a district in Uttar Pradesh has been famous for its betal-leaves cultivation. Also at his stall are rows of 'Maghai paan' which says Yadav is popular in Benaras even though the Maghai leaves that go into making the paan are originally grown in Bihar.

On offer too is a variety of variety of supari, chocolate and flavoured paan chutney. Surpassing the standard size of jalebis, Gohana's Lala Matu Ram's stall offers jalebis of 250 grams each that they claim are made in pure ghee.

Lala Maturam Halwai is a popular sweet shop in the city of Gohana, located in the Sonipat district of Haryana. This is their second year at the event.

"Jalebis are our speciality and this is the most sold item at our stall. Unlike the usual jalebis, even if you keep these jalebis for twenty days, it will still be edible. It tastes best when had with milk," says Satya Narayan, manager of the stall.

After jalebis, 'gajar ka halwa' is the second popular dish at their stall, claims Narayan. "What people do now-a-days is cook gajar ka halwa in pressure cookers.

But we do it the traditional way. Mawa (thickened milk) and carrot are cooked together in a cauldron," he says. Besides jalebi and gajar ka halwa, 'daal ki kachori', chhola-bhatura and aloo-puri are also available at the stall.

PTI