Food aficionado in Delhi got the taste of Afghanistan at Winter Fair in the capital city.
A group of four Afghan women, who are living as refugees in India, recently participated in a Winter Mela (Fair) in New Delhi and set up a food stall to offer home-made Afghan delicacies to the visitors.
‘Ilham’ Afghani Cuisine stall was set-up with the help of Access, an NGO, which is working for sustainable livelihood for the refugees in India.
They served the authentic Kabuli Pualoa, Manthu, Kofta Chalaw, Chapali Kabab and herbal tea.
Afghani food which is popular in Delhi is getting good response through the ‘Dastakar Exhibition’.
Women refugees shared their overwhelming experience as they have participated in the fair for the first time.
Afghani cuisine is gradually acquiring popularity among Delhi’s residents and tourists, as many new restaurants run by Afghan refugees have opened in the national capital.
Ziyagul, who have been staying in Delhi for the past five years is hopeful to sustain a better livelihood as compared to her home land.
She feels if her food items get good response through this event she wished to do more work in catering Afghani food in Delhi.
“We are happy with the response at the fair. Our food is new here, so people like it. We are happy,” said Ziyagul, an Afghan Refugee.
The visitors at Winter Fair savoured the lip smacking delicacies from Afghanistan.
“It’s an amazing experience. I had Kabuli Pualo which has rich aroma with Afghani spices with chicken and it also has a sweeter blend as compared to the Indian Pualo or Biryani. It has some amount of carrot as well as raisins. Overall it is amazing and it is less spicy than the Indian version and it is quite good and quite good to have,” said Shohaib Mohammad, a visitor.
Apart from the food court, there were wonderful crafts which were displayed by over 25 producer groups across the globe, including Afghanistan.
Abdul Ghafur who has participated in the Dastakar exhibition for the fourth time is happy as he is making huge profit by selling carpets, Klims, jewelery items and accessories.
“We are making good profit through this exhibition. We are getting good response from the customers and our products are appreciated a lot and earning good profit, said Abdul Ghafur, an Afghan exhibitor.
Dastkar, a registered NGO partnering with Delhi Tourism is creating opportunities for the crafts people for over three decades in revitalizing and reviving the crafts and the community.