Delhiwale: Paharganj’s Israeli thali

Delhi’s backpacker-friendly hotel district - Paharganj - offers a foreign adaptation of the Indian-style meal arrangement.

Those thali meals tend to be so very predictable.

A bakery in Delhi’s Paharganj offers a vegetarian Israeli platter. (HT Photo)

There they are, right in front of you: steel bowls arranged around a larger steel plate, filled with all sorts of curries and subzis. And then a huge pile of rice and rotis occupying centrestage in this delicious arrangement.

No wonder these meals are so convenient to get a sense of India’s culinary medley.

But, let’s suppose you add falafel or pita bread to it all? Is that still…Indian?

Not in the least.

What you’re now devouring is the vegetarian Israeli thali introduced this year in the backpacker-friendly hotel district of Paharganj’s Main Market. This meal is served by Brown Bread Bakery on two plates: there’s falafel with crisp pita bread on one plate, and then bowls containing Mediterranean dips and salads on the other platter. It’s not entirely surprising that somebody or other in Paharganj would start serving Israeli thali, since the area gets busloads of young Israeli tourists. There’s also a branch of the New York-headquartered Chabad House, a centre for Jewish travellers. Indeed, the bakery’s menu also features an extensive collection of specifically Israeli dishes, but the thalis always tempt.

The Chabad House in New Delhi’s Paharganj Main Market. (HT Photo )

“That’s what the Israeli travellers usually order,” says waiter Mohan Singh.

After your meal you might well turn to the waiter to say toda raba — Hebrew for thank you.