Food arts and crafts at GIG carnival

As spring sets in, Delhiites have yet another chance to enjoy the last leg of the winters with food, arts and crafts.
The GIG carnival being held here at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium brings an amalgamation of street food from various cities apart from cuisine from some of the best restaurants in the city.
The 3-day carnival, curated by Gourmet Planet and part of the Incredible India campaign kick started yesterday offering street food of over 14 cities and 47 restaurants of the city including the Turkish Embassy which offers authentic Turkish cuisine.
Festival curator Sonny Walia says it is his passion for food that drew him to organise such a festival. A street food corner titled 'Gol Bazaar' is one of the highlights of the carnival.

"Food is my passion and I am doing this for passion. For for these stalls I had to go to each and every place individually and meet chefs and restaurant owners personally. Be it the Old Delhi area or places in Kolkata or the North East, I went to each and every place and it was difficult to convince them to come here," says Walia.
Street food including Club Kachori, Puchka with three different types of water (Meetha, Khatta and hing water), Jhal Muri, Ghugni Samosa chaat from Kolkata, Litti Chokha, Khaja and Kachori from Bihar, Sevpuri, Panipuri, Pav Bhaji, Vada Pav and Bhel puri from Mumbai, Palak (Spinach) and Tomato Chaats from Benaras are on offer.

Street food also includes Raj Kachori from Allahabad, Aloo Tikki with Dum aloo from Haridwar, Delhi's very own Chhole Kulche, Bhalla Papri, Dahi Gujiya Papdi, Chhole Bhature from the famed Nand Bhature shop in Sadar Bazar.

The Carnival is also a treat for the non-vegetarians with dishes like Biryani and Tikkas being offered to the customers to give them a gastronomical experience.
Aslam Chicken Tikka, Mutton Lahori, Chapli Kebab (made of mutton, Anjeer and walnuts) by the famed Chajju stall hailing from Amritsar is a real treat while Aslam Chicken Catering from Jama Masjid lays down the Mughlai tradition with Chicken Tikka, Chicken Seekh kebab and Rumali roti.

The idea, as the organizers say, was to offer Delhiites a complete treat that can be enjoyed with the family.
The festival is an initiative in collaboration of the Culture and Tourism Ministry.
47 restaurants including Khan Chacha, Kunafa, Soda Bottle
Opener Wala, Olive Bar and Kitchen, The Claridges, ITC Maurya, Zambar, Punjab Grill, Fio Cafe, Smokeys, Shangri La etc are participants at the carnival.
One such restaurant, Ammi's Kitchen, having origins in Rampur served dishes made of authentic recipes of their grandmother including Khichda, Yakhni Pulao etc.
"We only deliver and have our origins from Rampur. The recipes used to make the dishes are all given by my grandmother and so we have named it 'Ammi's Kitchen'. Our specialty is Yakhni Pulao which is lightly fragrant pulao with less spices and mutton pieces. Also our 'Khichda' which is made of various Dals, and mutton is a favourite among the customers," says owner of Ammi's Kitchen.

The Turkish embassy has a pool of authentic dishes with dishes like cigarette borek (cheese), meat ball, dal kofte, and yaprak sarmosi which is wine leaves stuffed with rice and spices.
The stall also had Turkish bracelets, a Coffee Set, Nazar Bonsieur etc for the customers.
"We are offering authentic Turkish cuisines to customers which include many vegetarian dishes as well," says Arzu, secretary at Turkish Embassy.
"It is a celebration of various aspects of modern Indian living. It is completely in sync with our philosophy of spreading happiness through varied flavours," says Viraj Bahl, Founder and Managing Director, Veeba Food Services.

The festival also includes dishes from across the globe such as Japanese sushi, offering Chinese cuisines, Thai Crafte to name a few.
With food being the major highlight of the festival, music, art and crafts are also given equal emphasis with artisans from Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Manipur, Assam, Gujarat being called upon to showcase their skills and talent.
Wood carving from Andhra Pradesh used for decorations, mugs, tea set, smoking pipes, frying pans made of serpentine stone from Manipur, 16 variety of natural flower perfumes or Itar from Kannauj, Madhubani paintings on stoles, saree, shawls etc are on exhibit.
Three different types of silk items from Assam namely Paat, Nuni Paat, Mulbery along with handwoven cotton stuffs and jackets attracted customers to the stalls.

Rogan Art from Gujarat which is an oil base without
tracing was also one of the main attractions with the art being carved on wall hangings, stoles and jackets.
"One of the unique attribute about this art is that it does not follow any design or drawing. It is done stepwise and no tracing is used in this art," says Abdul Gaffar Khatri, a Rogan art artist.
Music acts lined up include Coke Studio performing with Medieval Punditz, Hamza and Mannu, Prateek Kuhad.
Organnisers of the three day extravaganza, which ends on Sunday say they now plan to take it to different cities like Lucknow, Amritsar, Chandigarh, etc with an aim to establish this inaugural edition an annual affair.