Lodhi Garden in the heart of Lutyens Delhi is an urban oasis and any regular reader of this blog knows how much I love this public garden/park. So when I read about a foraging walk in Lodhi Garden as part of Delhi Walk Festival, my curiosity was instantly aroused. I visit this Lodhi Garden almost every day and have sometimes picked up a flowering plant sapling to grow in my pot. But to forage edible herbs & vegetables from the garden (and its nursery) and prepare a meal around them, I did not think it was possible. So I went on this walk to experience the possibility of foraging in Lodhi Garden and to acquaint with it in a completely different way.
The foraging walk turned out to be fun and I explored previously unknown parts of the garden, interacted with the gardeners and learnt to observe the interesting herbs & greens growing at Lodhi Garden. Sharing my experience of the foraging walk at Lodhi Garden.
The walk was led by two very affable gentlemen – Kush Sethi and Uzair, who were conversant with the various herbs, greens, fruits & vegetables growing in various parts of Lodhi Garden. They took us around some known parts of the garden and then to the nursery. It was nice walking around and learning about the location of cloves, cardamom plants, holy basil varieties growing at the garden.
At the nursery, the gardeners of NDMC – the municipal body overseeing Lodhi Garden, joined us and they showed us so many interesting plants – chillies, amaranth, spinach, kumquats, oranges, organic peanuts, and turmeric. They even cut out/dug the produce for us and gave them to us.
We spent around two hours at Lodhi Garden and then it was time to head to Khan Market to prepare a lunch out of these! Ofcourse, we were not supposed to cook anything; the walk had tied up with The Perch Restaurant and their talented Chef made some really intelligent dishes for us with the foraged items. We had a blast as the dishes started coming in one after the other.
To sum it up, the foraging walk at Lodhi Garden was one of the most interesting way I spent the weekend winter morning today.
The Delhi Walk Festival is having its 2nd edition from today till 4th December and there are many different & interesting walks scheduled.
