Rude Food by Vir Sanghvi: Delhi chefs are putting the city back on the map

There was a time when foodies would compare the merits of Delhi and Mumbai. Delhi usually won. Then, things began to change. Mumbai was seen to have the edge. Bengaluru suddenly joined the race and became recognised as a foodie haven. Now there’s a hype-driven move to treat Goa as India’s food capital, spearheaded mostly by the sort of Mumbai person who believes that because Juhu is now too over-developed, they need to travel further afield to find new beaches and build new holiday homes.

I have often wondered (frequently on these pages) why Delhi let its advantage slip. After all, no Indian city has been as influential in food terms as Delhi. What much of India regards as north Indian food was created in Delhi: Tandoori Chicken was popularised here, and Butter Chicken was invented by Delhi’s Moti Mahal.

The original Moti Mahal dal was refined by Bukhara and remains the single most served dish at Indian restaurants abroad. Just when tandoori cuisine had taken over, Delhi’s Dum Pukht popularised the food of Awadh, serving a biryani that nearly every north Indian restaurant now copies and serves.

When it came to international cuisine, Delhi was the pioneer. Roger Moncourt at the Ashoka taught generations of chefs how to cook French food. Though this is largely forgotten now, India’s first authentic Japanese restaurant opened in the 1980s, also at the Ashoka.