Scratching the surface of INA Market

I grew up in Assam and our trips to Delhi were far and few. When I was studying in Delhi, one of my weekend trips with relatives was to the enchanted world of Dilli Haat! I was soaking in the vibe of this melting pot of cultures and I yearned to keep coming back. Years later, now that Delhi has become my new home, the list of things to do in the city have increased manifold. Among these, INA market has remained un-ticked on the list for a while now. INA market is right across the road from Dilli Haat, and one day R & I decided to finally explore it. We naively parked our car at the Dilli Haat parking lot and planned to zoom right into INA market through Dilli Haat. But that, we realized later, was wishful thinking. As I walked in to Dilli Haat, I was engulfed by its colour and vibrance once again, and we ended up spending 4 hours prancing from one shop to other while our INA market plans slipped into oblivion.

Last Sunday, we were steadfast in our resolve and meticulously planned our first visit to INA market. We decided to take the metro so that we walk straight into the market bypassing all other distractions. It was raining when we reached; we weren’t carrying an umbrella and my heart sinked. But having made it this far, we weren’t going to let the pitter patter of raindrops ruin our plans. Our friends had given great reviews of the seafood and meat available in the market so we walked past the numerous shops with the sole agenda of scouting for good seafood. We didn’t have to ask for directions at all. The fragrance from the fish market hypnotized us and carried us through the tiny lanes straight to Bombay fish shop and the countless other sea food and meat shops nearby. We were awestruck by the myriad options before us. Being from a land of fresh water fishes, I am not well versed with marine produce, and this was educational for me. I wanted to buy it all! All those years of watching Masterchef, I was imagining us as contestants cooking up a storm with the lovely ingredients from this imaginary pantry box. What caught my eye were these buckets full of prawns and crabs, and R and I decided on having an in-house Masterchef faceoff very soon!

Our tummies were seeking instant gratification after this food tour. I had heard of an old and famous hotel in the market – The Kerala hotel and we decided to check it out. It turned out to be a small and rundown place, and I will be frank, had it not been for the recommendations, I would have walked past this place without stopping by. The interior was in the shape of an extended corner with a few plastic tables and an exotic aroma of spices. The place was full and we saw happy customers with heads tucked in their plates of food. As we stood there, we realized it had shared seating due to paucity of space so we found a place with another couple and started looking through the menu. My knowledge of Kerala cuisine was limited to appam, stew and payasam. We sat there spoilt for choices with options of biryani, curries, ghee roasts etc. and sent out SOS message to our friend from Kerala seeking help as the waiter stood there getting impatient.

The gentleman sharing our table probably guessed that we were new to the cuisine and the place. I could gauge he was a regular at this place by the ease with which he was ordering. When his food arrived and he caught me staring with curiosity, he thankfully spoke. He gave us an insight into the staple food of Kerala and the popular accompaniments. We saw him eat something that looked like mashed potato and found out it was called Kappa (made from tapioca). Kappa is a starchy substance high on carbohydrates paired with different curries, and is usually consumed for breakfast by people involved in physical labour. Our friendly gentleman’s next move surprised us. He insisted that we try the kappa and sole fish curry that they had ordered. We sat there sharing the mouthwatering food with them and talking about the cuisine of Kerala. This encounter was so special. I realized it had been ages since I had spoken to a stranger, let alone share food. This inconspicuous restaurant made this experience possible, which is impossible in a typical restaurant.

Back home, we donned our chef caps to do justice to the gorgeous crabs and king prawns we got from INA market. The menu was decided. I went with the crabs and R took the prawns. I had no previous experience of cooking crabs so it was going to be an uphill task for me against our in-house executive chef. We were removing the prawn head and preparing the prawns for the biryani, when I decided to put my binge watching cookery show gyan into play. I didn’t have the heart to waste the prawn heads and the crab tentacles, so I decided to make a flavourful soup with it. I wanted to savour and highlight the taste of crab. A simple butter poached crab with curry leaves beautifully complemented the sweet crab meat. R is more adventurous. His standard recipe involves atleast 100 steps. He decided to make prawn biryani with mirchi ka salan! He was drawing inspiration from the prawn biryani of the Goan shacks and gave it a twist by pairing it with Hyderabadi flavours in the mirchi ka salan. The Goan-Hyderabadi combination worked well together. If you are interested in these recipes, please let us know!

We enjoyed the seafood lunch and continue to relish the aroma in the house even as I write about it a day later. I wouldn’t be surprised if my neighbours think I have secretly transformed our home into a seafood restaurant!

INA market is representative of so many cultures around the world and in hindsight; we could have picked ingredients to try different cuisines. In our first visit, we stuck to familiar flavours, but we can’t wait to get back, put on our thinking caps and let INA market inspire us to try something new in our next trip.