North-East Organic Restaurant at Dilli Haat

Tourists visiting North East states will always witness a unique characteristic in diverse areas like artistry, cultures, ethnics, dresses, food and natural beauty & resources etc. compared with other parts of the countries. The states in the region represent both the geographical and administrative mechanism in a unique way. North-East part of India is known as ‘The Seven Sisters and One Brother’ among the fellow country men as all over the world. The region comprises of eight states namely Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura and Sikkim etc. One important fact of the North Eastern States is their delicate food cuisines, which got rarely publicized in their tourism promotion. Each state has it’s uniqueness and special cuisine to offer in the culinary landscape of India.

North East Tourism –

North East part of India is a land of undulating hills and plains with luxuriant green cover, beautiful arts and cultures, wonderful cuisines and a wide variety of rare and exotic flora and fauna. North East tourism is widely associated with all over the world for its wonderful and adventurous places to visit which leaves wonderful impression on people travelling there. It’s important to visit one of most desired place like Don Bosco Museum in Shillong to have a brief understanding of NER states regarding their culture, heritage and life style. Food habits always grow based on climate, availability of natural resources, culture, life style and other geographical parameters. One may experience a varied food cuisine in NER states but it stands on similar line.

The values, traditions, cuisines of North East are famous not only in North Eastern states but also in rest of India. Tourists who wishes to have a glimpse of North East states’ unique food cuisine, may visit Dilli Haat for a while. It is located at commercial centres of South Delhi opposite INA market in New Delhi. Dilli Haat is unique in nature which is a permanent platform, administered by Delhi state Govt. through Delhi Tourism Development Corporation and organizes various events to extend the benefit to rural folk to exhibit their traditional skill and craftsmanship in diverse fields. A small entrance fee is charged to have access to Dilli Haat to enjoy various delicacies in open air food plaza and experiencing the unique skill in crafts bazaar, heritage in New Delhi. Dilli Haat is a wonderful platform which was opened in March 1994. The institution has showcased various traditional craftsmanship, food cuisine and ethnic products indicating an impression of diversity of various states. It has facilitated the visitors and tourists across the globe to have an exposure on cultural heritage of each and every state through different style handicrafts, carvings, footwears, fabrics, cuisines, etc.

NORTH EAST STATES FOOD CUISINE:

North-East Indian Cuisine represents an exotic blend of mouth watering dishes with regional differences and foreign influence on this platform. The food cuisines of all states of North-East India are almost similar, more inclined towards non vegetarian. Some dishes are bland while some are spicy. Different states of North-East India have also had their own food culture which keeps individual’s identity strong. NER states are slowly moving towards organic food culture and it is getting popular. Manipur is known for its simple seasonal stews, while Meghalaya is more famous for spices meat and fish preparation. Nagaland makes it’s entity visible by offering bamboo shoots and Pork fare. Mizoram prefers subtly flavoured boiled food rather than fried & spicy. The influence of neighbouring countries like Myanmar, China and Thailand can easily be experienced in the cuisines of Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh. Tripura is known for bursting masala and chilly in cuisine. Assam’s food cuisine ranges from spicy to bland with rice bearing center piece of cuisine. Their cuisines are mostly switching to organic foods as which they believe, these are the best for human health and it really fulfills the need and upscale the flavour & taste. North East cuisines includes food like rice, fish, pithas (cakes), creamkhoi (puffed rice), chira with yoghurt and jaggery, Hukiti, a fish delicacy, Tenga, a special preparation of tomatoes, kaji lime, thekra and other vegetables, Apong, a refreshing drink is made from rice and millet and it is very healthy. Biryanis, traditional dish named ‘Kabok’ is made from rice and vegetables and it is also served on banana leaves as a tradition etc.

NORTH EAST RESTURANT AT DILLI HAAT:

At Dilli Haat, there is a North East Organic Restaurant, where visitors and tourists of various corners have an opportunity to enjoy authentic north east cuisines, of course; it is a blend of all the North Eastern states. There are both veg and non veg dishes available for tourists and food lovers. The tables at this restaurant are decorated in a unique way. It is rarely seen anywhere. It indicates organic food culture of NER states. Original organic rice grains and pulses are separately placed in specially designed bowls covered by glass sheet. This is really unique and attractive USP of this restaurant. One can hardly imagine such a wonderful feature in any regular restaurant. The table is decorated with rice, dry peas, red kidney beans (rajma), lentils (masoor dal), Split Green gram (moong dal), Split Black gram (urad dal/ beluga) and French green lentils (chhilka wala masoor dal). Tourists may avail the opportunity to enjoy excellent and authentic north east veg and non veg dishes at this restaurant. This restaurant is decorated with trees, bamboos and north east handicrafts where tourists / customers can feel the essence of staying in north eastern state for a little while. We had a very good time in enjoying the north eastern food at this restaurant. This is really incredible and amazing and food is so tasty that one can feel the taste for long. I have taken a small video of the food court while enjoying the food at this restaurant while visiting Dilli Haat recently. Tourists visiting the Dilli haat should not get a miss to step in such a wonderful place.

- Sattanurupa Saha