To beat the winter blues and tickle the taste buds of Delhiites, the National Association of Street Vendors of India (NASVI) held the Street Food Festival 2012 recently.

The festival had a spread of over 200 street food varieties in 50 stalls from States such as Rajasthan, West Bengal, Delhi, Kerala and Punjab. What’s more, in keeping with the true spirit of globalisation, even Chinese and continental food sold on Indian streets was showcased.

NASVI, a non-Government organisation, aims to promote Indian street vendors and organised this festival in a bid to regularise the market, the primary aim of the National Policy for Street Vendors, 2009.

“With membership of over six lakh vendors and 714 organisations recognised countrywide, we want to highlight the struggle of these vendors” said Sadaf Farooq, Programme Manager, NASVI.

She said they contacted vendors from different States, arranged for their travel and accommodation, and also ensured that all requirements for preparation of street food were made available. On offer were regional favourites such as uttapam from Kerala, biryani from Hyderabad, fish curry, prawn pakodas from West Bengal, mutton qorma from Uttar Pradesh, chaat from Delhi, and many more lip-smacking items.

Farooq said the festival’s aim was not to generate profit, but to promote the concept of street food and help change the perception that street food was ‘unhygienic and unhealthy.’

“This time, we included special features such as a magic show, folk dance and music to make the festival engaging for kids,” said Farooq.

While Delhi has no dearth of street food joints, Arbind Singh, Project Co-ordinator, said people from all economic strata thronged the venue to try out food from various regions.

India has over 10 million street food vendors who are facing a threat from the foreign fast food giants, but we train them to recognise business opportunities and innovations and use them for their benefit, Singh said.

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