If you are destined to eat good food, the universe conspires for you. You'll find it in most unexpected corners

Yesterday, as I politely declined a friend's offer of a sumptuous lunch, the foodie in him hurt by my betrayal quoted the 17th century French poet Jean de la Fontaine.u00a0 "A person often meets his destiny on the road he took to avoid it," he predicted as he stormed out.



Triumphant that I didn't fall into his food trap, I marched happily towards National School of Drama at Mandi House to attend the on-going theatre festival. But destiny is a mean b****. In a place where I expected to find Girish Karnad and Bertolt Brecht's characters sipping cutting chai, I came face to face with my friend's prophecy- savoury food where I lest expected.

Ghar ka swad
The tent bang inside NSD's gate, houses a food hub which is a part of the ongoing festival; something the school has being doing for a few years now. The stalls boast of no big names but that is what exactly makes them appealing. They serve limited but good chow which goes easy on your palate as you dissect Ranjit Kapoor's Begum ka Takia or Prasant Parmar's Reshmi Rumaal.

One of the stalls by the Kudumbasre unit, a group of women who sell surmai fish pickles serve dishes from Kerela like Appam with chicken stew, Banana fry and Kappa mutton biryani. And like I said the food is light and the smiling ladies who prepare it themselves give it a homely taste. Stroll towards the next one and you'll find Seekh kebabs and Chicken tikka. Again, not extra-ordinary but munchable going by the weather and mood. If you are someone who has been surviving lunch parties since New Year's Eve and longing for a simple lunch try the veg thali (mix veg, dal, roti, salad and acchar)- uncomplicated and filling.