Is Delhi’s Street Food Culture Over As We Know It?

Delhi bustles on a normal day: Customers crowd into shophouses, chic cafés plate continental fusion, and five-rupee cups of chai fly out of stalls. But all of this came to a complete grinding halt when Delhi was named one of the country’s largest hotsp…

Delhi bustles on a normal day: Customers crowd into shophouses, chic cafés plate continental fusion, and five-rupee cups of chai fly out of stalls. But all of this came to a complete grinding halt when Delhi was named one of the country’s largest hotspots for COVID-19, and a nationwide lockdown was mandated from March through May. Despite the nearly 80,000 confirmed cases in June, restrictions were lifted as the lockdown proved to be unaffordable.

Even as street food vendors slowly reopen their stalls, there is the unshakable realization that gathering publicly over food is now not only no longer feasible, but also dangerous. So how must the street food industry adapt in order to survive?

Read More >>

Meet Hilsa, the Beloved Fish That Connects Bengalis

Where and how one sources, cooks, and devours hilsa, the fish beloved across the Indian subcontinent, conveys a lot about one’s Bengali roots. In the 1947 Indian Partition, Bengal was divided along religious lines, and Muslims fled to East Bengal, whil…

Where and how one sources, cooks, and devours hilsa, the fish beloved across the Indian subcontinent, conveys a lot about one’s Bengali roots. In the 1947 Indian Partition, Bengal was divided along religious lines, and Muslims fled to East Bengal, while a majority-Hindu population stayed in West Bengal (an Indian state). Later, in 1971, East Bengal became the independent nation of Bangladesh.

Bengalis divide into two major groups: Bangal and Ghoti. “Bangal” refers to Bengalis from East Bengal, while “Ghoti” refers to those native to West Bengal. Perhaps surprisingly, the Bangal-Ghoti divide is largely innocuous amongst Bengalis, sparking fun debates such as how hilsa—a fish adored across the Indian subcontinent, but particularly in Bengal—should be prepared.

Read More >>