"The main objective of organising this food festival every year is that we want to empower the street vendors as a service provider to the country," Arvind Singh, national coordinator of NASVI, said.
The event got off to a splendid start with celebrity chef Sanjeev Kapoor inaugurating the event. The food festival, which focuses on recognition and encouragement of street food vendors, saw thousands of food lovers thronging the event at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium to taste the diverse range of food.
"We have reduced the number of stalls this year. Rather, we are focusing more on the quantity and quality of the foods served. We are also giving importance on training the vendors," Arvind Singh added.
From Tamil Nadu to Jammu and Kashmir, from Gujarat to West Bengal - the food festival leaves you spoilt for choice.
"Many cultural events have been organised along with the festival like street performances, musical events, cultural events and others," Arvind Singh said.
"It is high time that the street food vendors get their due recognition. Despite serving the society they are still neglected. The younger generation should try to help these street vendors in every way they can," Chef Sanjeev Kapoor opined. The food festival acquaints one with many lesser known dishes while some others are familiar. The stalls are not arranged in geographical or chronological order.
Sesame chicken served with plain rice or sesame bun, an Assamese dish, was the first counter to grab the attention. The chicken was spicy with a rich taste of sesame. Rajnandin bhekti, a fish delicacy from Bengal; chicken tash from the Champaran district of Bihar and the state's famous chicken and mutton litti chokha is worth trying.
The galoutikebab from Lucknow is another mouth-watering dish. The mutton pieces were soft and tender and full of Indian spices. The Varanasi stall served their specialty - tamatar (tomato) chaat, a unique combination of spicy and tangy. From the north, the Ludhiana-style Chinese Manchurian, noodles and noodles burger were worth trying. The Chinese dishes were presented with a pinch of Punjabi tadka in them, giving a very different taste.
Uttarakhand's lumkum soup was a surprise dish. Made of vegetables, this soup was a little spicy and had the flavours of masalas from the hills. Jammu and Kashmir, which was represented in the event for the first time, came up with its authentic traditional gastronomic delights. Chicken rogan josh, muttonyakni, vegetable pulao and kahwa - were quickly lapped up at the Kashmir counter.
The Delhi stalls offered a huge variety as well. From old Delhi's kebab and korma to chhole kulche - name a dish and it was there at the counters. The food stalls from west had nothing less to offer. The Goa counter was an interesting one with an array of dishes: prawns fry, sea fish fry, kombadi vada (fried chicken), sagoti vada (mutton), zunka bhakari(flour or gram powder mixed with onions, chillies, garlic-ginger paste and then fried), modak and puran poli.
The Andheri vada pao of Mumbai, mawa kachori from Rajasthan, dabelifrom Gujarat are some dishes not be missed from west. From the southern part of the country, Telangana had many stalls focusing on their traditional food items. Some of the items worth trying at the Telangana stalls would certainly include the mini Telangana thaali; a sweet dish named double ka meetha - made of bread, milk and heavily garnished with dry fruits - and punugulu, served as a snack, made of wheat flour mixed with curd spices and then deep fried. Not to forget the Hyderabadi biryani which was very popular among the crowd. You can also sip on the famous Irani and Pune tea at the Telangana stall.
Chicken 65 from Karnataka and fish fry from Tamil Nadu also falls in the category of must try.
A stall from Jabalpur had a mouthwatering specialty - spicy kaka dabeli - poha first powdered, then made into a paste, mixed with unique spices, friend and then stuffed inside a bun.
For lovers of sweets, the festival offers ample of options. From halwas, jalebis, moong dal ka halwa to kheer, puli pitha, sandesh and much more; almost all states displayed their art of churning out multiple sweet dishes.
And all these food items come at prices ranging from Rs.30 to Rs.200.
Venue: Jawahar Lal Nehru Stadium, Gate No.14.
Nearest Metro station - JLN Stadium on Badarpur line.
Entry Fee: Rs 60.
Dates: December 11-13.