An under-appreciated aspect of Delhi is its cuisine. The city, rumoured to be 5,000 years old, first finds mention in the Mahabharata, the ancient religious text. However, it is during the time of the Delhi Sultanate (12th century) that the recorded history of Delhi actually starts. Since then, it has been the seat of power.

While little of its ancient history remains, what has evolved through the years is Delhi?s cuisine that has assimilated the influence of its diverse inhabitants and evolved into its own. Communities as disparate as the Punjabis, Kayasths, Vaishyas, Mughals, Rajputs and the Marwari make their presence felt in Dehlvi cuisine. And in many ways, it is these flavours of the city (one of the oldest in the world) that reveal its history. However, common knowledge of Old Delhi food is restricted to the oft-repeated fact that butter chicken was created in the 1930s in Moti Mahal, Daryaganj. Therefore, the need to resurrect the cuisine is very vital. There have been festivals with chefs hauled in from all over the country to recreate a bygone culinary era, but it has often been gimmicky. What is interesting about the attempt by 361 at The Oberoi, Gurgaon, to create Dehlvi cuisine is its scholarly approach to the food. The 27-year-old chef Dirham Haque has been researching Dehlvi cuisine for two years now. This is not just a ?food festival? that turned up on the calendar of events, it was one that he has planned for years. Chefs can be fantasists and this was his fantasy. But making it a reality, one that stepped away from its commercial representation in other hotels, needed planning and work. The recipes were at hand, but the ingredients used were hard to find. A look at Haque?s spice tray: betel nut root, mica flakes (abrak), khus ki jad (vetiver roots) and patthar ke phool. All had to be procured from halims, the few people who keep these items in ready possession. Haque tells me that getting the ingredients together was the most difficult part of curating the menu.

One can empathise. Chefs in five-star hotels are a relatively pampered lot. All they have to do is fill in pre-approved exotic items on a requisition form and the best is flown to them from around the world. But this posed a whole other challenge. Seeking out an authentic practitioner, who would have these ingredients, took leg work even if the location was convenient.

Then there was the matching of dishes to Delhi?s famous residents. Take Mirza Ghalib?s favourite comfort food, the Raan-e-mirza, a whole leg of baby lamb simmered in an onion and fennel paste and served in a coconut and poppy seed gravy. Haque has annotations backing his claim that this was indeed Mirza Ghalib?s dish du jour and it has been prepared just as he liked it. The menu also provides a quick lesson in palace intrigue, where recipes from Begum Zeenat?s (Bahadur Shah Zafar?s favoured wife who ruled the empire on behalf of her husband) kitchen are present. No guesses for one of the reasons why she was the favoured wife?belly to heart. Another section of the menu called ?sadgi khwan?, which was, supposedly, the common man?s food, has the standout haleem?hand-pounded lamb mince, carefully cooked overnight. It is of the ?melt-in-the-mouth? consistency plus delicately-flavoured, leaving behind a gentle, lingering taste of rose, making it a dish to remember even though it is placed among the more ?plebian? selections. However, it is the Punjabis who brought their clay ovens from Sindh that have brought a quintessential robustness to the cuisine. Let?s take for example, the bharwan karela. The bitter gourd is a difficult vegetable to make palatable and has most people crinkling their noses, but in this recipe, the balance of flavours?mango pickle with a spicy mashed potato stuffing?makes this preparation finger-licking good. The vegetarian food that the cuisine offers is noteworthy, especially since the Vaishya and Marwari vegetarian communities did well to stamp their imprint here. A perfect representation of the Marwari presence is the amrut sabzi?ripened guava cooked with turmeric and cumin and served in a rich gravy. The desserts aren?t a letdown either and the meal surprisingly light, considering the regal heritage of the city does leave room for further indulgence. The famed actress Madhubala, whose real name was Begum Mumtaz

Jehan Dehalvi, was partial to a kulfi khas, which was rechristened after her. It?s all there. After all, a little bit of Bollywood never got in the way of centuries-old history!

Advaita Kala is a writer, most recently of the film Kahaani. She is also a former hotelier having worked in restaurants in India and abroad