Page Three Platters

More than Mumbai, and perhaps just a little less than good ol' Cal, Delhi is a city that takes its food seriously. And the best food, at least in the capital, is never in the restaurants, it is always in people's homes.

So while your average aspiring or newly-arrived Page Three type will SMS you an invite to a party at whatever restaurant/pub/club is deemed happening that season, khandani types will entertain you differently: by not only being there to see you in and off personally "" at a nouveau party, in contrast, the hosts rarely know who's on the guest list, gatecrashers pay heed "" but by also personally serving you the khana, preferably cooked by his/her own august hands, though the last is not mandatory.

It's all about exclusivity, you see, as also about polite manners and good breeding.

The Scindia household would know all about that, being erstwhile royalty. Both Madhavi Raje and daughter-in-law Priyadarshini are supposed to be exceptional hostesses.

The family cook does all the cooking and the food usually served is Indian. But it is always classily done and the aloo chaat in particular is what guests look out for.

"It is to die for," says Devi Cherian, columnist and socialite, "I think we all go for the aloo chaat!" she adds. But if potatoes sound a little mundane, interior designer Sunita Kohli's table is perhaps the one for you.

Kohli, who is from Lucknow (and whose mother is apparently a cookbook author), serves some great Mughlai food, many of the dishes personally cooked , including the kebabs.

For those who prefer something fancier, wrangle an invite to fashion designer Ritu Kumar's party. For Diwali and for an annual lunch she hosts for "just a few friends" from the worlds of modeling, fashion and media, the designer dons the chef's hat and cooks crabs.

Though there are other accompaniments, live pasta stations and the like, it is the crabs that naturally hog all the attention. Fellow designers Rohit Bal, Ravi Bajaj not to mention Vijay Arora (who seems to have gone full-fledged into his gelato business now) are also big-time foodies but are more likely to invite you to their restaurants and cafes "" if at all.

Publisher Pramod Kapoor, on the other hand, will call you home and have the choicest fare catered to by traditional Dilli cooks. On the other hand, make sure that you ask diplomat Pavan Verma's wife Renu for a helping of her homemade pickle. The Banarsi red chilli achchar is courtesy her mother-in-law's recipe.

And then there are some polished politicians who take the business of feeding India's teeming thousands fairly seriously. Kashmiri leader Ghulam Nabi Azad, for instance, is known to personally serve the wazwan to guests "" his wife Shamim rustles up a delicious kaladhi, a Kashmiri version of the goat cheese, lightly roasted and seasoned.

Ravi Shankar Prasad, on the other hand, tends to serve the traditional litti from Bihar, with a twist "" with mutton curry.

And Venkaiah Naidu, assures my friend who covers his (political) party and has been the recipient of such hospitality, is another generous host, always making sure that there is enough authentic Andhra food for his guests, including jumbo prawn preparations. To round off, there's also jaggery-coated fried cashews.

Thank god for society that will not subsist on lettuce alone!