Moong ki dal ke shaami kebab, naqli omelette, keema samosas?with names such as these on the menu, you would not be wrong in guessing that here is a cuisine trying out a fine balancing act between its meats and veggies.

A branch of the famed Kayastha cuisine, Mathur food may claim Delhi as one of its homes, but the cuisine, like many other traditional ones, is not easily available on order. The only places are in Delhi?s old quarters, largely inaccessible to PLUs.

So it was no surprise that a festival at Agni, The Park, Delhi, would be well attended.

Conducted by Anoothi Vishal, our columnist, and a great chef to boot, the festival brings together arguably the largest spread of Mathur food outside of a home. The community, known for its bridging role between the ruling houses of the medieval Indian history, largely Muslim and the brahminical elite, would over time evolve recipes uniquely their own. And, given their roles in central and provincial courts, the cuisine, too, evolved with numerous local influences. This festival brings together dishes largely from the northern plains?pakori ki sabzi (dal fritters in curry), papad aloo (dried papad with potato), kalmi vade (fried lentil fritters) and mutton chops.

The cuisine, found traditionally in Lucknow, Agra, Gwalior, Delhi, etc, is markedly distinct from its neighbours in the Doab. The Awadhi breads are replaced by the paratha and the poori; instead of biryani, there is the pulao for the mutton or the tahiri for vegetarian rice preparations.

As the community began to be known for its social graces, the sophistication began reflecting in its increasingly intricate cuisine. Mathur food is largely slow cooked, and the complexity is revealed in dishes such as take paise (small ?coins? of besan, deep fried and then curried), bharwan pyaaz (small baby onions, stuffed with powdered spices and steamed) and mewe ke aloo (potatoes coated in a yoghurt sauce with whole spices and dried fruits) ? elaborate dishes that almost conceal the effort behind them by their aromatic flavours.

While many women continued to be vegetarian in the older religious tradition, they began cooking non-vegetarian with skill, and mutton kofte (spiced mince dumplings simmered in curry), badam pasande (escalopes of lamb, cooked with almonds in the fabled Mathur fashion) and bhuna meat (lamb cooked with whole spices) became hallmarks of the cuisine. Another signature was to prepare some vegetarian dishes to resemble their non-vegetarian counterparts. Anyone could be taken in the look of the moong ke dal ke shammi kebab!

The festival, which ends today, may mean a few extra rounds of your neighbourhood park, but after the makhane ki kheer (milk and lotus seed pudding) and the phirni (powdered rice and milk pudding, set in earthen shakoras), you are sure to return for more helpings.

Not just about coffee

Latin American cuisine, after centuries of second-hand presence, looks determined to carve a space for itself in India, amply reflecting its tropical variety. While cuisine from Peru, Brazil and Ecuador, besides Mexico, of course, are already available in differing intensities in the country, Colombia joins this bandwagon with its first culinary festival at Delhi?s Jaypee Vasant Continental Hotel.

An initiative of the Colombian Embassy in India to mark two centuries of the country?s independence, the offering goes well beyond the coffee the country is famous for. Like its neighbours, Colombian traditional cuisine, too, is heavily reliant on corn and potato.

To an already rich tradition of seafood?Colombia is the only South American nation to be bordered by both the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans?centuries of Spanish rule made the cuisine even more meat based.

Chefs Edgar Mora and Patricia Soto worked hard to prepare dishes in unfamiliar territory. Not only were certain ingredients such as beef to be avoided, there had to be an ample sprinkling of vegetarian dishes, again an alien concept, explain the chefs. Not that there is any lack of vegetables in Colombia, but they are usually part of a dish that more often than not also includes some meat or seafood. On offer here aredishes such as pasta corta y vegetales thernos al wok, con cilantro y aguardiente (pasta and seasonal vegetables stir fried with coriander and anise flavoured liqueur). It could, in Colobia, have had chicken or lamb.

A must try is ajiaquito bogotano (Bogota?s classical chicken soup with potatoes and chicken herbs, including guasca, which gives the soup its distinct flavour. The bandeja paisa, which includes grilled steak, fried pork rind, sausages on a bed of rice and red beans and topped by a fried egg and a sliced avocado and sweet banana chips is the nearest approximation to a national meal.