Most menus are made according to the season. Even today, a few neighbourhoods in Delhi and Lahore have a community tandoor. Until a few years ago, this phenomenon existed in urban neighbourhoods, too.
In rural North India, the community tandoor, dug in the ground and either coal-fired or (more recently) electrically heated, is a meeting place for women, who bring the kneaded atta (dough) and sometimes marinated meats to have them cooked while socializing. It is a versatile kitchen appliance for making rotis and naans and a social institution.
The tandoor (also called ‘tandooria’ or dhatti) is a barrel-shaped clay or earthenware oven, which makes the cuisine special. Dal makhni is a popular dish in the vegetarian dhaba. Two types of food are served in the dhabas – non-vegetarian cuisine (which is the most popular) and vegetarian fare termed vaishno dhabas (where food is cooked in pure ghee or clarified white butter). Food is served on big brass or steel thali (plates) and drinks – water, lassi, milk (of several varieties), or tea, as well as shorbas (soups) – are served.
#Dhaba punjabi full
Indian food served in dhabas is wholesome and full of rustic flavour. The food is typically inexpensive and has a 'homemade' feel to it. With time, the cots were replaced by tables. A wooden plank would be placed across the width of the cot on which to place the dishes. There is now a large network of the Indian and Pakistani immigrant communities worldwide, and many have opened dhabas in far lands (such as at service stations on the Trans-Canada Highway network).ĭhabas were characterized by mud structures and cots to sit upon ( charpai) while eating.
The word has been alleged in folk etymology to stem from dabba, m., box, lunch box, tiffin.ĭhabas sprung up first on GT Road which ran from Peshawar, Rawalpindi and Lahore through Amritsar, Ludhiana and further to Delhi and Calcutta.