Wherever you turn in India today, heritage food seems to abound. From Amritsar to Chennai, food festivals are bringing delicacies from var...
Wherever you turn in India today, heritage food seems to abound.
From Amritsar to Chennai, food festivals are bringing delicacies from various regions, cities and neighbourhoods to a general public hungry for food with provenance. At local cultural events such as the Sanchaari Sanskritik Parv in Allahabad and the Mahindra Sanatkada Lucknow Festival, audiences are treated to morsels of food history and traditional cuisine alongside literature, music, cinema and dance.
If you are on the five-star circuit, you may be drawn into luxury restaurants showcasing the finest dishes from historic royal courts. Last September, the Conrad Pune celebrated the “royal flavours of Rampur” with a special dinner curated by Chef Suroor Khan. On the menu were “lost recipes” from the glory days of the former princely state. Visit the ITC website and you’ll read about the hotel group’s “relentless pursuits in presenting the gastronomic traditions of India’s centuries old heritage” through signature restaurants such as Dum Pukht and Dakshin.
More accessible eateries have turned history into franchise. The famous Karim’s Hotel opened near the Jama Masjid in old Delhi in 1913, when the British Empire was still in its heyday. But, since branching into Nizamuddin West in the 1990s, it has spread across Delhi-National Capital Region, taking its famous kebabs everywhere. History is also a part...
