India camel fairs

1. pushkar camel fair
2. Chandrabhaga camel fair
3. both in November
4. http://www.wildfrontiers.co.uk/
5. DEL food incl
6. BUKHARAITC Maurya Sheraton & Towers, Diplomatic Enclave (00 91 11 2611 2233). This restaurant is housed in the ITC Maurya Sheraton & Towers in south-west Delhi. Food is grilled behind a glass partition. You can watch the chefs thread the meat onto steel kebabs while you sip a chilled beer. Good choices include the murg tandoori (a whole chicken marinated in yoghurt, malt vinegar, ginger, garlic, lemon juice, chilli, turmeric and garam masala), the tandoori pomfret, a whole flatfish from the Indian Ocean roasted with spices; and bharvan kulcha, a baked bread stuffed with cottage cheese. Less delightful are the Flintstones-style décor and the absence of both cutlery and finger bowls. In deference to the restaurant's north-west frontier theme, diners are expected to tear chicken apart with their bare hands, with only an apron for protection.
7. CHOR BIZARRE Hotel Broadway, 4/15A Asaf Ali Road (00 91 11 2327 3821). For a truly northern Indian experience, head for Chor Bizarre, on the edge of Old Delhi (other branches have opened in the newly fashionable suburb of Noida and in London's Mayfair). Chor Bazaar mean 'thief's market', and the chef has indeed stolen dishes from across India. Who knows where the management got the 1927 Fiat, parked in the centre of the restaurant, from whose interior Bombay street snacks (chaat) are served? The bhel puri is excellent, but the real highlight here is the Kashmiri thali, a set menu that changes daily depending on what produce is available from the market and named after the brass try on which it is served, (a thali). With advance warning, the restaurant will also prepare wazwan, a 36-course feast.
8. DHABA Claridges Hotel, 12 Aurangzeb Road (00 91 11 2301 0211). Located at Claridges Hotel, a fine Art Nouveau building within which every effort has been made to recreate a roadside eatery such as you might find along the Grand Trunk Road. The designers have even tacked the side of a Tata truck onto the wall of the restaurant. The chairs are similar in style to the charpoys on which Indian lorry drivers like to recline after a good lunch, and the waiters are dressed in a colourful version of truckers' attire. Feast on yellow dal, alu masala (curried potatoes) and matter paneer (cottage cheese with peas).
9. KARIM'S Near the Jama Masjid in Old Delhi. Hidden away down a narrow passage, this renowned institution has been trading since 1913 and still serves the best grilled meat in town, the chicken tikka being a particular favourite. Dishes include murg Tandoori, nan and kebabs. Karim's is also famous for its brain curry, should you be brave enough to try it.
10. SEVENTYSEVEN The Manor Hotel, 77 Friends Colony (00 91 11 2692 5151). SeventySeven in The Manor Hotel - a modernist villa in Friends Colony - does a magnificent masala dosa, the paper-thin, crispy gram-flour pancake, served with a spicy sambal or curry sauce. The evening menu is, according to manager Ben, designed to introduce guests to a more modern version of Indian food.
11. SWAGATH 14 Defence Colony Market (00 91 11 2433 0930). Here you will be presented with your seafood to prove its freshness. Soft-shelled crab, one of many offerings, is deep-fried and coated in a sauce of sweet butter, garlic and green chilli.
12. THE SPICE ROUTE The Imperial Hotel, Janpath (00 91 11 2334 1234). If Dhaba is trying too hard to recreate an authentic experience, The Spice Route at the newly renovated Inperial Hotel on Janpath has moved into fantasy land, incorporating an Indiana Jones-style restaurant within the neo-classical building. The irachi stew of lamb and potato in coconut milk, served with appams (rice-flour pancakes). The more robust of appetite with coconut, curry leaf, black tamarind and mustard seeds. The days of starting a meal with fruit juice are back, try the spiced pineapple rasam with fresh curry leaves. And the vermicelli payasam, cooked in sweetened milk with fried cashews, raisins and grated coconut, is extraordinary.