Delhi is a city known for its amalgamation of cultures, thoughts, expressions and over the past few years, what has added to this cheerful atmosphere is the presence of various food festivals. It will not be wrong to say that Delhi-ites and food fests now go together like macaroni and cheese and one such food fest is the Asian Hawkers Market.
The brainchild of four friends and well-known faces of the food industry namely, Sourish Bhattacharyya, Atul Sikand, Sid Mathur and Tanveer Kwatra, Asian Hawkers Market brings together some authentic and delish Asian cuisines and takes the visitors on a perfect culinary journey combined with top notch entertainment.
We, at Spoon, recently got a chance to interact with one of the founders of Asian Hawkers Market Mr. Sourish who is also a very famous food columnist and the co-founder of the Delhi Gourmet Club. Here is what he had to say about the market, its concept and different cuisines.
Photo By Sabhyata Badhwar
Spoon: How did you come up with the concept of Asian Hawkers Market?
Sourish: All four of us (including the other three co-founders) had previously worked on different events together and we wanted to do something related to the Asian food from a very long time. We wanted to curate a special experience, which is not very generic like the other fests. Being theme focused was very important and that’s when we thought of bringing all the Asian cuisines together under one roof through this market.
Spoon: We are really curious to know that while you have all big restaurants associating and putting up pop ups here then why does the market name include ‘hawkers’ in it?
Sourish: You see, we have got a number of carts here, the entire set up of the market is very informal and designed keeping in mind the ‘hawkers’ theme. Hawker markets are very prevalent in Singapore and Thailand so we tried to create and give a taste similar to that.
Photo By Sabhyata Badhwar
Spoon: Out of all the new and less tested cuisines that you are bringing to the festival, which one is your favourite?
Sourish: That’s a tough call but I feel Japanese is my favourite. It’s a very understated cuisine, already we in India are under so much of spice attack that we need something to counter that and Japanese food proves to be perfect for this purpose. We have a lot of restaurants bringing some authentic Japanese food here at the Asian Hawkers Market too.
Spoon: The earlier edition of the market was also held at Select Citywalk and you continue to have it here again. Why so?
Sourish: We decided to do this event at Select Citywalk because of its popularity. We believe one of the reasons of such a big footfall is that this mall is considered to be the best in town. Also, Select Citywalk has a base of certain popular Asian restaurants. So, there are a lot of different things happening at this mall that blends itself to this whole culture of Asian Hawkers Market.
Photo By Sabhyata Badhar
Spoon: We see there is a lot happening in the food aspect of the market but what plans do you have in the entertainment aspect?
Sourish: Entertainment has always been one of our priorities, we always try to keep an interesting artist line up. From dance to band performances you’ll find it all here. Also, the selfie sessions and discount coupons are to watch out for. There’s something for everyone.
Spoon: What are your future plans for the Asian Hawkers Market? Are you planning to expand it to other cities as well?
Sourish: We are definitely going to run it twice a year, as long as people love it and want it. As far as other cities are concerned, if we get good venue partners like Select Citywalk there then why not.
Photo By Sabhyata Badhwar
Asian Hawkers Market is still going on at Select Citywalk. If you fancy Asian cuisine, this market is a must visit. After all, what’s better than spending the V-Day with your one true love – food.