I had been meaning to get around reading this book a long time ago.I was familiar with Pamela Timms blog Eat and Dust,way before the release of this book.Had read about Uparwali Chai and loved the concept.So when I got to know about the book I was naturally curious.I just got my hands on it recently and got down to reading it immediately.And this here is my signed copy :)
This book as the name very clearly suggests is all about food.Pamela ,a Scotswoman by birth has to relocate to India owing to her Husbands job and finds herself in Delhi.After the few initial shocks India offers every foreigner and being frustrated with expatriate life ,she bravely decides to go to the back of beyond and find what the real India is all about.Always being passionate about food and cooking she embarks on a journey to find out all about Old Delhi's beloved street food.Here she talks about eating the most delectable Korma at Ashok and Ashoks mutton Korma.Bade Mian's Kheer,Baba Singhs Amritsari Kulcha,Pandit Kuremals kulfi ,Mouth watering Jalebis from the old and famous Jalebi wala,the non-glamorous Shakarkandi which is just a roasted sweet potato to the elusive winter treat only a few know about called Daulat Ki Chaat.Her passion about Indian food and her quest to find its origins brings her in contact with many people who end up being treasured friends and she soon realises that Old Delhi finally feels like home.
My Views:You cannot pick up this book and not linger on the cover photo for a bit before finally settling down to read it.The chipped ceramic cups,the dented tin kettle and the rusty shelves give a dreamy quality to the entire setting.It succeeds in exuding an old-world charm.I have already spoken about my love for book covers and this one managed to work its charm.
I consider myself fortunate to live in India where food,culture and language changes every hundred kms.I have been to Delhi only a few times but have been fascinated by the variety in street-food that this place boasts of.Korma,Kheer and Kismet serves as an excellent guide to help anyone embark on the same food trail Pamela has so vividly decribed.I am charmed by the fact that she being a foreigner ,delved into the dusty lanes to source the recipes of all the famous street food and compile them all in this book.Her writing manages to elevate the humble sweet potato or shakarkandi to another level.Besides she also tells us how Daulat Ki Chaat is made.I had been fascinated by Daulat Ki chaat ever since I read about it in Madhur Jaffreys memoir 'Climbing the Mango trees' and when she spoke about 'mutkainas' or terra-cotta pots filled with this piece of sweetened cloud,I had placed it way up there on my must-eat before I die list.Madhur Jaffrey had written beautifully about how a woman in white would always bring this delicacy in winter and how she was reluctant to part with the recipe saying that it required just the right number of dew drops on a cold winter moon lit night .However Pamela tells us how it is actually made and I liked that it was pretty honest and believable and has now led me to take it down from the top position on my must-eat list and list it under may-eat sometime list.Thanks to her for that.She does give food the due recognition it deserves comparing the Amritsari Kulche worthy of being in league with a Parisian bakery.
I was expecting coloured pictures and more pictures of the food,but there are very few of them and they are in black and white.I am not really a huge fan of recipes and re-creating dishes at home so the recipes listed didnt really hold my interest.However apart from that this book is a gastronomes delight .
I rate it a 3 out of 5.
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