THE biggest Indian food festival ever to be held in Scotland is set to take place in Glasgow this summer.

The Indian Food Bazaar: a Culinary Journey will be staged in the heart of the city at the historic Briggait – formerly one of the city’s most famous fish markets – which will be transformed into streets and rural scenes from India.

In addition to food stalls serving dishes from all of the Asian nation’s regions, the spectacular event will feature cookery demonstrations, live music, films, dance, holistic therapies, competitions and children’s activities.

One of the event’s organisers, Navdeep Basi, described how nothing on this scale has ever been presented before – certainly not in Scotland.

He said: “It will not only showcase the flavours of the culinary diverse regions of the world’s second most populous country, but also highlight its culture and traditions, and seek to educate as well as entertain.”

The festival comes after the top Glasgow restaurateur forecast last year that Indian street food would take over traditional Scottish Indian dishes in 2018 due to it being healthier, faster and lighter to eat.

Navdeep, who runs a Merchant City eatery, previously told the Evening Times his customers had been demanding even more authentic dishes such as puris instead of heavy curries over the past couple of years.

His predictions seem to be right on track, according to a recent trend report by Waitrose, which claimed Indian street food would be joining Japanese “dude food” and plant-based protein as the big sellers this year.

Navdeep said: “It’s all down to the taste and Indian street food has got its own unique flavours in the same way that people go to Mexico and want tacos.

“A lot of the street food in India is vegetarian and that is reflected in North Indian cuisine.

“It’s faster and healthier and a lot is yoghurt-based using fresh vegetables and ingredients. It’s sour, sweet, tangy, crunchy and spicy and can be enjoyed as a main or an hors d’oeuvre.

“I think more people are being educated through the internet and TV shows which show chefs going around the world and they want to break away from the real British curry.

“We recently changed up our menu to accommodate that but we still use proper plates and cutlery for our street food to provide a good level of comfort and quality.”

The event also comes after after Glasgow was named Britain’s spice capital at the end of 2017. Researchers by UberEATS found Indian food fans in Scotland’s biggest city ordered hotter dishes than anywhere south of the border, including Bradford, Leicester and Birmingham.

The team at JustEat also carried out some research into the city’s top curry choices and found the korma took the crown.

Bhuna, tandoori and biryani all took second, third and fourth place respectively.

The Indian Food Bazaar will take place in The Briggait on July 14 and 15.