Historian Pushpesh Pant: 'There’s a link between cheap food and free speech’

When food critic historian and author Pushpesh Pant thinks about food in Delhi a key turns on the door to some of his fondest childhood memoriesmdashsohan halwa from the cityrsquos oldest halwai Ghantewala at Chandni Chowk tikkis from the khomcha walas streetside hawkers at Connaught Place But food is also political especially in the national capital and this is something which significantly preoccupies PantHis latest book From the Kingrsquos Table to Street Food A Food History of Delhi Speaking Tiger Rs 699 kicks off with his childhood gastronomic adventures in the capital and rewinds beyond the cityrsquos documented history which only goes back 200 years agoThe subsidised coffee and food at India Coffee House or PRRM coffee house drew not only cashstrapped students but also nationbuilders and intellectuals from MS Swaminathan to MF Husain PicsGetty ImagesFrom the Mahabharata era when the city was known as Indraprastha Pant winds down the centuries until we reach modernday NCR Whether itrsquos cultural icons such as Ghantewala pulling down its shutters or the previously ldquodemocraticallyrdquo priced eateries no longer within reach of the commoner this version of Dilli is barely recognisable to PantThrough it all he discusses the influence that each of the capitalrsquos rulers and refugee residents had on the food scene and breaks some myths about Dilli cuisineTo begin with he posits that there is no such thing ldquoDelhi doesnrsquot have a single cuisine to call its own Throughout history the city went through a lot of upheaval and every time a new ruler or dynasty arrived and every time refugees from elsewhere in the country settled here they brought their cultural influencerdquo says the historian who details this influx of cultures and cuisines in chapters devoted to Baniya Bengali Punjabi Parsi Christian Northeastern and Bihari refugeesturnedresidents ldquoDelhirsquos food is like a sedimentary rock with many layers deposited over time My son has another analogy for itmdashitrsquos like many layers in a falooda that you can scoop and enjoy at the same timerdquo he explainsOne of Pushpesh Pantrsquos favourite food memories from Delhi is the taste of the famous sohan halwa from Ghantewala halwai at Chandni Chowk The sweet shop set up in 1790 reopened this August after a decadelong hiatus PicsWikimedia CommonsWhat about ldquoMughal cuisinerdquo one might ask Turns out this is one of Pantrsquos pet peeves ldquoWe overrate the Mughal influence on Delhi food Most Mughal rulers did not have the money to enjoy grand food Very few ruled from Delhi and many had hired cooks from Lucknow Humayun who succeeded Babur spent most of his life in exile where some accounts suggest he developed a taste for the humble besan ki roti and milletsrdquo says the academician Mughaliya influence on the cuisine is no greater than that of TurkoAfghan rulers such as the Khilji dynasty or settlers such as the Baniya community offers PantldquoWhy donrsquot people talk more about the mark the Baniya community left on Delhi establishing misthan bhandars which sold sweets and vegetarian savoury snacks that everyone could eat Some of these are as old as the French Revolutionrdquo he says referring to Ghantewala Halwai in Chandni Chowk established in 1790 It survived centuries of turmoil in Delhi only to be shut down in 2015 These mishthan bhandars were the direct predecessors of the modernday Haldirams and Bikanervala which Pant interestingly compares to the American diner phenomenon ldquoJust like those diners these places are accessible to all and the prices are affordable You can pick what you want to eat whether itrsquos a dosa or pav bhaji for the adults or a pizza for the children Therersquos something for everyonerdquo says PantDelhirsquos food scene is a microcosm of all the communities settled there Pictured above is The Potbelly Rooftop Cafe Bihari cuisine Pic courtesyThe Potbelly RooftopAccessibility and affordability form a large part of the discourse in Pantrsquos book in which he writes about how Delhirsquos food culture was predominantly ldquodemocraticrdquo in earlier days whether it was at inexpensive dhabas or the renowned India Coffee House also known as the Price Rise Resistance Movement PRRM cafe run by worker cooperative societies which offered subsidised food and coffee The PRRM coffee house drew not only cashstrapped students like Pant in his college days but also nationbuilders such as MS Swaminathan father of the Green Revolution and intellectuals and artists such as MF Husain ldquoWhen I moved from Nainital to Delhi as a teenager the primary issue was what I could eat and couldnrsquot and it was directly related to money Spaces like PRRM were not just affordable for a wider class of peoplemdasha dosa cost 27 paise including taxmdashbut it was a truly democratic public space where one could voice dissent and hold political discussions and have passionate disagreements as wellrdquo recalls PantA 16thcentury miniature painting depicts Babur at a banquet where the menu included roast goose PicWikimedia CommonsOn the other hand dhabas gave patrons a sense of anonymity encouraging free expression ldquoDhabas were where the real intellectual ferment took placerdquo says Pant ldquoPeople were freer and the food was cheaper Everyone mingled over the sugary tea and the conversation was scintillating One could eat a full meal for 70 paise at a dhaba People would bring their own whiskey buy fish by the kilo and just eat talk and listen Those were the last days when people ate unconsciously while sitting on the roadside Now even places like Raju Ka Dhaba at Green Park Metro station have become gentrifiedrdquo Gentrification of such spaces has occurred throughout the capital cutting off access to lowerincome patrons and dampening the unfiltered discussions of yore ldquoWhere is the cheap food anymorerdquo he questions ldquoThere is a connection between cheap food and freedom of speech The minute you enter a genteel establishment the waiters are careful not to get too familiar Patrons speak in hushed tones too Therersquos no eavesdropping on the conversation at the next table and jumping into a political debate with themrdquoWith the sense of anonymity they bestowed on patrons dhabas were where the intellectual ferment truly happened says Pant PicGetty ImagesPerhaps the closest parallels that Mumbai has to offer are our ubiquitous vada pav stalls Pant agrees ldquoMumbai has places where you can pick up cheap food on the run like vada pav centres There is neither the space nor the time to sit and enjoy a meal and a discussion with fellow patrons in this cityrdquo This onthego snack is not just an economic tummyfiller but a political icon from the previous century when the city was in the grips of mill worker strikes Several historians have written about how when the textile mills began to shut in the 1980s some of the workers who had lost their jobs began to sell vada pav The rest of the mill workers would buy their vada pav and eat it on their long walk home discussing how best to raise their demands before the authoritiesAnother quintessentially Mumbai instance of how food and politics are closely tied are the Sindhi refugee camps such as those in Khar and Chembur which eventually turned into cultural and gastronomic hubs When Sindhi migrants first settled here postPartition intellectuals and activists would go to these camps and break bread with them while discussing the problems faced by the communitySo where would Pant recommend a visitor grab a meal if theyrsquore in Delhi for a day His love for good solid food at affordable prices shines through ldquoDonrsquot fall for tourist traps Irsquod say have chole bhature at Haldiram for Rs 140 For nonvegetarians Irsquod send them to kebab shops at Nizamuddin or Shaheen Bagh Food outside the walled city Old Delhiis both tastier and more affordablerdquo Of course with Delhirsquos food scene so changed some of Pantrsquos favourite food memories are from home ldquoMy son is a gifted cook We host guests every now and then and the menu usually includes dal sabzi roti along with Kashmiri rogan josh Chettinad fish or Patrani machhirdquo says Pant And now the Pant family can end their feast with the famous gheesoaked sohan halwa from Ghantewala Halwai which reopened its doors in August after a decadelong hiatusAh sweet nostalgia