Delhi-cious!

In his new book, food critic and historian Pushpesh Pant maps Delhi's food history, from Chandni Chowk to the kitchens of South Delhi

- REYA MEHROTRA

It is one for the artists, the writers, the journalists, the kurta-pyjama clad, the thinkers, with coffee-breaths-the Triveni Terrace Café, a modern-day literary den at Delhi's cultural hub of Mandi House. "Parantha with keema matar, phulka with shami kebab, cheese toast-the menu was limited but the place was spotlessly clean, great value for money, and the small dining area was packed with poets, painters and actors from the National School of Drama," writes academic, food critic and historian Pushpesh Pant in From the King's Table to Street Food: A Food History of Delhi.

The six-decade-old café was a place a young Pant frequented, familiarising himself with the flavours of Delhi and becoming a 'dilliwala' Hailing from Mukteshwar in Uttarakhand, Pant would make annual visits to the capital city in winters with his family.

From arriving in Delhi in 1965 as a teenager to living on his own, Pant has spent a lifetime studying the city's food culture. "My deep dive explorations into the food culture of Delhi made me curious about what this was like in Indraprastha, celebrated in the Mahabharat," he says.

And so, he sought knowledge from the epic to find answers: 'Royal banquets were held where vassal kings feasted... [there was] roasted venison, char-grilled or pan-fried fish, rice cooked with condiments, sweets like ladoo and pua. Lack of the mention of recipes in the Mahabharat surprised him and he went to the Gita only to find three types of food-satvik, rajasik and tamsik-which provide a firm foundation for Indian gastronomy.

Magnificent Mughal meals