Beyond Restaurants - Street Festivals
Around 1990 I began to attend the street festivals that occurred during the warmer months. Harvard Square, in Cambridge, generally hosted two such events annually. Streets would be blocked off, bands would play, vendors would sell everything imaginable and food would be served.
Curry and rice combos were inexpensive from the local restaurants’ tables. For me, beyond an inexpensive lunch, I also saw this as an opportunity to sample different restaurants. At first I unconditionally loved it. But after awhile I started to regret the lack of variety in the offerings. Restaurants tended to serve tame versions of the standards: Chicken Tikka Masala, Chole, Mixed Vegetables, Palak Paneer, Nann, Pakoras or Samosas. Nothing wrong with those dishes and I kind of understood their rationale. As a restaurant, you have to assume that most people at a street festival, like a food court, want something simple and quick; something they already know. No challenges, no surprises. For some this might be an introduction to a restaurant or even Indian food, so accessibility was important. Someone like me sitting on the sidewalk closely examining their Chole was certainly the exception.
Occasionally I would be rewarded if an adventurous restaurant included a new or different dish on their table. And it was at one of these Harvard Square street festivals where I first tasted goat curry as part of my lunch combo. At first, I wasn’t so crazy about the dish, but after trying it a few more times, I started to warm to the gravy and I began to opt for it when it was available. Several years later, I tried it at a local restaurant, Shan-A-Punjab and their version really hit the spot. The goat was very tender, had less bones than usual, and the gravy was especially bold and flavorful.
But one of the best discoveries from a street festival was the day I happened on a new restaurant’s table. Tamarind Bay was framing themselves as an Indian Bistro, and appeared to be taking more modern approach. I believe that they had just opened their spot in Harvard Square. But even on the street, their food really stood out. Unlike the standard rice occasionally speckled with cumin seeds or peas, Tamarind Bay served a vegetable pulao with their curries. I completely forgot what else I received in my styrofoam tray that day except that it was mighty good, and I was looking forward to visiting their nearby restaurant as soon as possible. Several years later, after they opened a second location close to where I was living I was once again impressed with one of their rice preparations. This time, it was a Hyderabadi Lamb Biryani. It was beautifully presented and possessed a unique flavor.
India Day at the Esplanade
However, if you are looking for Indian food in a Boston area street festival setting, the place to be is the India Day celebration that occurs annually in the middle of August. The festival celebrates Indian culture and the end of British colonial rule in India — which occurred on August 15, 1947. The festival is a daylong affair with vendors, music, dance and of course…food. For many years I attended this celebration for dinner and a bit of Bollywood and Bhangra dance. One year I was so determined to go, that in spite of a dire weather forecast, I took the train to the Charles River Esplanade and stood in line to order dinner. No sooner than I had the goods, did the sky open up. And an energetic August rain ensued! Resignedly, I stood under a tent to try to save my dinner and escape the deluge.
When I first began to attend this event, several independent restaurants would man tables and serve an expanded menu of what I was accustomed to seeing at street fairs. After a few years it changed; the restaurants were all subsidiaries of a holding company named One World Cuisine. Thankfully, each had their own forte so there was a good variety to choose from and given the audience, it wasn’t just the standards. Dosas made while you wait (and you did have to wait!); chats such as Bhel Puri; fresh sugar cane juice or coconut water; and puri or jalebis made in giant vessels. One year I even found Chicken 65 on the menu.
But just before the One World Cuisine subsidiaries became the exclusive vendors, there was one year that the entire festival was catered by a restaurant unknown to me. I would later discover that Minerva Indian Cuisine had two locations in the suburbs beyond my normal field of vision. What they brought to India Day was a step above the normal festival menu. I most recall that the entrßes were served with a vegetable pulao that was a touch spicy and possessed a great flavor all on its own. A few months later, I visited one of the restaurant’s locations with my cousin and found a deeper menu than many Boston restaurants; one that included a south Indian section, several dosa varieties as well as dishes such as Chicken 65 that were still elusive in the city.
Spice of India
While shopping in Waltham one day, I caught wind of something special. The India Association of Greater Boston was advertising a food festival named Spice of India that would take place in Burlington, Mass. I’m sure you can imagine my eager anticipation. No question, I would be going! And like India Day, I would be probably be one of the few non-Indians in attendance.
This food festival was going to provide me the opportunity that I had been waiting for. This wasn’t going to be just Indian food. This festival would feature dishes from Bengal, from Gujarat, from Hyderabad, and several other regions. It was a chance for me to experience what I had been reading about and attempting to cook; the regional dishes. If you are eating Bengali cuisine, one group of spices will be favored; if it’s Rajasthani, different ingredients, more besan and less vegetables. In Hyderabad…
And I was not disappointed. This festival featured a large variety of dishes, some of which appeared to have been home cooked by members of the association which was an added bonus. Some dishes I had previously tried (Aloo Posto, Dum Aloo, Kali Mirch ke Tikke, Kachoris), while others (Dimer Dalna, Undhio Puri) that I had never even heard of. I tried to hit ever table and sample as many different dishes as possible.
My favorite table featured Hyderabadi dishes. This was an early experiences with food from that city, and it was indeed memorable. A member had prepared an amazing chicken biryani. While I was familiar with the standard restaurant biryani, this one piqued my interest immediately. Its spicing, and taste traveled down different highways than the drier versions found on most menus. Although it was a bit oily, I was quite impressed and I think it set the stage for later meetings with Hyderabadi cuisine.
Sadly, apart from the biryani and vadas (from a different table), I don’t recall my exact impressions of the other dishes I tried other than thoroughly enjoying the food. I’m a bit surprised that my memory is so vague because this event was such a big deal for me at the time. But I did not take notes at the time, and certainly wasn’t planning to write anything about the festival.