Spanning several centuries, Delhi’s long history has been the subject of many writings both fictional and non-fictional. Having functioned as the capital of the Tomars, the Turks, Afghans, Mughals and the British colonial empire, the city has been peopled by communities from different religions, regions and ethnicities. Its complex political and socio-cultural history has left its imprint on its food ways which is marked by diverse strands. The author of the book under review, a well-known food writer and a longtime resident of the city, is a person well qualified to write a history of its culinary journey.
The book begins with a chapter where the author reminisces about his initiation into Delhi’s vibrant food culture in the 1960s. Delhi then, as it still does now, had a lot to offer to a food lover-from exotic cuisine in fancy restaurants to more simple fares in humble establishments. The role of several iconic canteens, dhabas, coffeehouses, sweet shops and restaurants, many of which exist to this day, in providing food and a venue for convivial sociability to Delhi’s residents is recounted with nostalgic fondness. The stories of the people who established these institutions and their clientele comprising famous writers, politicians and artists add to the richness of the chapter.
Delhi’s culinary past from the ancient to the contemporary era is recounted in the rest of the chapters. According to the Mahabharata, the Pandavas set up a new capital called Indraprastha, which is believed to have been located where Delhi now stands. Drawing upon references to food prepared in banquets in the epic, Pant provides a window into the food culture of the ancient era. From the early historical period, the books time leaps to the late twelfth century when Delhi became the capital during the North Indian conquests of Sultan Muiz-ud-din Mohammad’s army. The Delhi Sultanate, ruling over large parts of the subcontinent till the early sixteenth century, became the home of immigrants from the Central Islamic lands. Pant’s treatment of Delhi’s cuisine under the Sultans is disappointingly brief as it mainly relies on information from the writings of Amir Khusrau, the famous poet and Ibn Battuta, the fourteenth century Moroccan traveller. Had the author utilized other material like Sufi literature and historical chronicles like Zia ud din Barani’s Tarikh I Firuz Shahi, now available in English translation, the account would have been richer as these sources contain snippets of information on food ways of non-elite sections.
The Mughal period has been treated with greater respect with the author drawing upon court chronicles and travel accounts to provide a much more detailed picture of Mughal cuisine. Overall, the sections on Delhi’s pre-modern culinary past have a factual rather than analytical orientation; while dishes prepared in royal kitchens are listed, their provenance and culinary techniques behind them have not been given much attention. Here the author seems to have been limited by the sources consulted. A much more intensive use of late Mughal culinary manuals, which unfortunately are largely unpublished and untranslated and consequently have been accessed by the author through secondary works, could have elucidated these themes. The ways in which the cuisine of the Islamic immigrants interacted with and influenced the food culture of the non-Islamic population of Delhi deserved more attention. Several dishes like Halwa, Jalebi and Kabab which have now become eponymous with Delhi and North Indian cuisine were of Turko-Persian in origin. Likewise, the manner in which the foodways of the Turk and Mughal ruling classes were influenced by Indic food traditions could have been given more attention.
The book also neglects discussion of the impact of the introduction of new food crops into Delhi’s cuisine. New World fruits like pineapple, papaya and guava were introduced to India by Europeans in the sixteenth century while potato, tomato and chilli came later. Neglect of the chronology of this diffusion had led the author to the mistaken assumption that the potato was consumed in the Mughal period whereas its cultivation and consumption in North India dates from the nineteenth century onwards. Similarly, the book fails to note how the chilli, which arrived in North India in the middle of the eighteenth century, was incorporated into Delhi’s cuisine.
In contrast to the brief treatment of the medieval period, the modern period of Delhi’s culinary history has been treated with greater attention reflecting the availability of increased information. The book provides rich details of the gastronomic traditions of the various communities that have populated Delhi since the colonial period and thereafter, the Punjabis, Banias, Parsis, Anglo-Indians, and so on. The post-Independence rise of a restaurant culture and changes wrought by forces of globalization on Delhi’s culinary landscape are also narrated in detail. The writer’s vast knowledge of the city’s prominent restaurants, their founders and their culinary innovations is apparent.
Altogether, the book provides a stimulating account of Delhi’s culinary past and present. Written in a reader-friendly style without use of jargon, it will benefit those interested in the fascinating world of Indian food. By interweaving culinary history with political changes, the writer serves a reminder that food traditions are not unvarying across time but subject to larger transformations. A glossary explaining names of dishes mentioned in the book (like nihari) would have been useful to those not well-versed in Hindi and Persian.
Sandip Kumar has a Ph.D. from Jawaharlal Nehru University and specializes in Medieval Indian History. His current research focuses on the culinary history of medieval India. He is the author of ‘Revisiting Coffee Consumption in Early Modern India’, a paper in Food and History, a Scopus indexed International Journal, and a paper analysing a Sanskrit Culinary Manual, the Paka Darpana, for the Indian History Congress, 2023.