Decoding the complex history of food in Delhi's old gullies

Writer Dr Pushpesh Pant talks about the food history of Delhi - that of migrants, refugees, traders, travellers, and colonisers

- Anuradha Vellat

NEW DELHI: It's a little after 9 on a balmy February morning, and the dense lanes of old Delhi have begun to put themselves together. The cables hang over one's shoulders, the labourers draw up carts to restock shop supplies, and the nanbais (bread makers) roll out dough balls to make fresh rotis.

The smell of tandoors, attars, and curries buried in handis wafts through the air, and amid all this chaos is food historian and writer Dr Pushpesh Pant, sporting a beret and a greedy smile, as he sits down with HT for breakfast at the iconic Al Jawahar restaurant near Jama Masjid - to talk about fables of feasts, mutton cutlets, the imprint of the British on the city's eating habits, and his latest book, From the King's Table to Street Food (Speaking Tiger Books LLP).

"The culture of breakfast as a meal was something that arrived with the British," says Pant, as he waits for his plate of nihari (slow-cooked mutton stew) and khameeri roti (fluffy bread, slightly sour). The word nihari in Arabic means "morning".

What is the history of the food of Delhi? There is no one answer because the food of India's Capital is the food of migrants, refugees, traders, administrators, travellers and colonisers - in no particular order. This is why Pant chose to subtitle his book "A Food History of Delhi" and not "history of Delhi food".