Having made its way from Delhi’s stomach to its heart, the humble dumpling was given impetus by the “momo festival”, held at the Garden of Five Senses, Said-ul-Ajaib, over the weekend.
Crowd favourite
The event was attended by hordes of hungry “fans”, who stood in line to savour its many avatars.
The festival featured a collection of stalls of crowd-favourite joints from across the city at one venue, each one bringing with it its own version of the momo . Sunday marked the return of the festival in Capital in its second edition.
The festival featured over 60 varieties of momos , from the traditional Tibetan and spiced up tandoori momos to trendy vodka momos .
Momos have, in the recent past, amassed a huge fan following, especially among college students.
Healthier option
Delhi resident Ruchika Parmar, who was attending the event for the first time, attributed the dumpling’s gradual rise to its easy accessibility and reasonable rates. Her mother was quick to add that momos were healthier compared to other street foods, which is why even the older crowd seems to enjoy them just as much as the youth.
Most college-goers agreed that momo was not always a part of their lives or palate.
“I think they started gaining popularity around the time I was in Class IX. They are so flavoursome that you can’t eat enough of them,” said Aadya Chachra, a first-year student.
Another college student, Amandeep Kaur, added: “Preference for typical Delhi street foods like aloo tikki chaat is dying out. I would eat a plate of momos over chaat any day.”
Some people claimed they were ignorant about momos until a few year back.
Bharat Malhotra, a volunteer at the festival, said: “I had never even eaten momos before I came to Delhi about four years ago. It was in college here that I first acquired some basic knowledge of what momos were.”
E-wallet transactions
It was interesting to note that the crowd here seemed unaffected by the ongoing cash crunch. Another volunteer, Shalini Singh, said extensive promotions and advertisements stating that the festival would facilitate point of sale machines and e-wallet transactions managed to curb any losses that may have occurred due to demonetisation.
(The writer is an intern with The Hindu)
