Street food festival to highlight India’s regional cuisines

A street food festival promising regional flavours is all set for its seventh edition in the city as the National Street Food Festival will be organised by National Association of Street Vendors of India (Nasvi) at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium from December 11 to December 13.

“The festival programme has been designed to highlight the range of flavours that inspire India’s menus, drawn from the cuisines of 25 states, as well as the traditions of Indian street cuisine and hospitality, an increasingly important element of our tourism offer. We look forward to welcoming residents and visitors from the Delhi and beyond throughout festival time from 11-13th December 2015 to experience the depth and diversity of our country’s street food culinary credentials,” said national coordinator of Nasvi Arbind Singh.

“You can’t have bhaturas being sold at a Bihar stall and papri chaat at a Kerala stall at a food fest. This is being unfair to food lovers,” Sangeeta Singh, food programme head of Nasvi, said.

The association has roped in close to 800 “practicing” vendors for the sixth edition of their annual event. These vendors from 25 states will treat visitors to their special preparations. She said the festival would be a great way to expand culinary horizons. “Street food is more than bhel-puri, gol gappe and chaat. There are popular vendors selling lahsan ki kheer, taash kebab, fish stews and kebabs from Bihar. You can sample all these at the fest. Benarasi paan and tea, ragda patties from Mumbai, fusion dosas and Goan beverages are new additions to this edition,” Sangeeta said.

The food festival would feature cuisines such as Wazwan, Khamiri roti, Noon chai and Kahwa, variety of dimsums from Sikkim, Konkani food, kasa mutton, kakori kabab ,Gulawati kabab, Afghani tangri and tea from Assam, and Darjeeling.