New Delhi:
The food scene in Delhi never ceased to surprise foodies. Being the melting pot of various culture and ethnicity, Delhi is replete with many culinary delights. From the conventional dishes found at street vendors to dhabas, the gastronomes in the city are readied to dive in to new taste and flavours from the other parts of the country. Authentic traditional cuisines ranging from the southern coastal parts to the north-eastern most parts of India have niche position in the markets of Delhi. This season, we bring to you some of the authentic cuisines to fill your palate.
Nihari– North Indian
This traditional Muslim dish comes with a slice of history. The word Nihari originated from the Arabic word ‘Nahaar’ meaning day. The delectable looking meat is cooked in low fire with wheat dough on a hot vessel, adorned with the aroma of rose water and indigenous spices like green cardamom, cloves, black cardamom, bay leaves, garlic, red chilli etc. This hot and spicy gravy of Nihari is best served with khameeri roti, naan or phulka. Since the dish comes with blanket of spices and texture, it is best to savour during the lunch time. This mouth-watery Nihari dish is found mostly in eating outlets and restaurants that serves Mughlai for dining in the city.
Naga Food – Nagaland
The land of festivals, Nagaland is also well-known for their choice of food and its’s lifestyles.
Normal Naga cuisine would include rice, boiled vegetables, chutney (Naga chilli, mashed potato with any vegetables) and of course, the pork cooked with either dry or fresh bamboo shoot. The delectable Naga cuisines are closely similar with the South East Asian cuisines as this part of the region loves to eat spicy foods and rice. Smoked pork is usually cooked with Naga signature bamboo shoot and hot chilli, which gives a unique taste and flavour to the outsiders. At the same time, Nagas consume great volume of green vegetables with boiled without seasoning it. And for those taste buds who dare to savour some hot spicy curry, you may visit various Naga cuisine specialized outlets in the city.
Fish Molee – Kerala
The southernmost part of India is well known for their rich traditional heritage. Kerala offer multitudes of food cuisines to gastronomies ranging from seafoods to tribal cuisines. And, one of the popular and unique dish of Kerala is called Fish Molee – a fish curry cooked with coconut milk. Molee, literally meaning stew is prepared with coconut milk and very low spiced flavour masala, so that the fish dominates the taste of the curry. This fleshy fish after cooked is best to serve with Appam/Idiyappam, rice, kappa (boiled tapioca) etc. The mild and delicate fish curry is included in most of the south Indian eating outlets in the city.
Mizo Cuisine – Mizoram
Mizo cuisines has its own unique form of cuisine. Vegetables are commonly used in preparing the authentic Mizo dishes as the region is abundantly blessed with natural resources. In comparison with the North India food, Mizo cuisines is less spicy. Local organic herbs like ginger, garlic, chilli and some other indigenous ingredients are used in most of the local dishes. One of the well-known dishes of Mizoram is called Bai. This soupy like dish is cooked with pork, spinach and bamboo shoots.
Paddu (dosa batter balls) – Andra Pradesh
South Indians has got variety when it comes to breakfast menus. Paddu or Gundpongalu is a common street food in the coastal regions of Andra Pradesh. This crispy deep-fried item is made of urad dal or rice batter and served with spicy hot chutney. This crispy and yet mild dish is prepared in most homes of Andra since immemorial times. There are no specific rules in preparing the batter except that the batter must not be runny in order to produce fresh and thick batter balls. Since its introduction in the city, Delhites also enjoy these popular traditional snacks of Andra Pradesh.
