Wedding Feasts

In our market neighborhood of Paharganj, Delhi, most people lived in 2-3 storey or taller apartment buildings. Space was tight; most households included extended family members, sometimes living in simple one or two bedroom apartments.  Backyards or verandas were rare so ours and our neighbors’ lives spilled out onto the street.  

Kids set up makeshift cricket wickets in our residential street, which were hastily taken apart and put back together each time a car needed to pass.  Grandmas sat on straw cots set out on the street in front of their buildings, sunning themselves in the winter or enjoying the cool, evening breeze in the summer.  Occasionally, a portion of the street would be blocked off for a neighbor’s wedding.  Even though the evening wedding ceremonies were hidden from view under tents, I loved these occasions because the meal prep happened out in the open, right on the street.

For a late evening wedding or dinner reception, meal prep started early in the morning.  Cooks would set up giant cauldrons or deep woks heated by make-shift wood-burning stoves on the pavement.  Bags on bags of produce - onions, potatoes, cauliflower, cabbage, okra, peppers, and more - would be peeled, chopped, diced, sliced, at seemingly lightening speed, and set aside for various dry or saucy preparations.  Chicken and lamb would be cut and dropped in fragrant oil at a rolling boil followed with the tadka of onions, green chilies, ginger, garlic, spices, followed by chopped tomatoes, and finished with cilantro garnish.  

Hanging over the balcony wall, me and my cat watched greedily, marveled at the abundance, and salivated, as the aromas wafted down the street and up to us.  [Reema]