The Foodie's Guide to the best of Old Delhi
Empress Mumtaz
Mahal, in whose memory her grief-stricken husband, Shah Jahan, the fifth Mughal
Emperor of India built the Taj Mahal, is also credited with inspiring that most
iconic of dishes from the kitchens of the Mughal dynasty, the biryani.
While visiting the army barracks, the possibly apocryphal tale goes, the
Empress found the imperial soldiers looking rather weak and undernourished and
ordered her chefs to create a special dish combining rice and meat to
strengthen them for the stern business of empire building and protecting! Another
Mughal empress, Nur Jahan, the all-powerful wife of Mumtaz Mahal’s father-in-law
Jehangir is credited with not just creating colorful dishes like rainbow-hued
yogurts but also serving them on dishes studded with rubies, emeralds and gold
thread to complement the kaleidoscopic cuisine. Her royal husband, like many of
his forebearers, was no mean gourmand himself, elevated the ‘khichdi’ the traditionally humble dish of rice and lentils with the addition of ghee or
clarified butter, raisins, spices and pistachios, and had the royal chefs serve
it to him on days when he was going without meat and wanted to rest his
digestive system with slightly less rich repast!
The last of the
Mughal Emperors was exiled from India following the rebellion against British
colonial rule in 1857. However, many of the royal chefs were employed by the
surviving aristocracy or built on the culinary traditions of their ancestors by
setting up eateries, in Old Delhi, the true seat of the finest culinary
traditions of the city for every gourmet and gourmand in the know. A walk
through its narrow by lanes, inundates the senses with a riot of color, sounds,
scents and of course flavors emanating from every direction. You may no longer
be able to dine off plates of gold and silver like the emperors and empresses
of yore, but can still savor some of the dishes developed in their kitchens and
fiercely preserved by the cooks who safeguard their culinary traditions as a
means of honoring their ancestors. As generations of immigrants continued to
arrive in Delhi, they added their own culinary traditions to the heady brew
that exemplifies the diverse but syncretic cuisine of the walled city of Old
Delhi. The plethora of options can however leave you confused so here is my
handy guide to the most iconic dishes of Old Delhi… and the best places to savor
them!
1) Aloo
Kachori
An ode to the
city’s love for all things, deep-fried, the kachori is an iconic street
food consisting of a pastry shell made of maida (all-purpose flour) or
wheat flour stuffed with fillings ranging from spiced lentils to onion, pigeon
peas and even a sweet version stuffed with dry-fruit. The residents of Old
Delhi favor the savory variants eaten with an accompaniment of spicy potato (aloo)
curry and various Indian sauces called chutneys including a spicy but
refreshing mint sauce and saunth, a sweet chutney made with tamarind
paste, dried ginger and jaggery.
Where to Eat It:
Jung Bahadur Kachori Wala, 1104, Gali Bhojpura Rd, Maliwara, Katra Shah,
Chandni Chowk, Delhi
2) Chaat
Chaat is the
generic name for a plethora of street foods ranging from paapri
chaat (fried wheat flour crackers topped with yogurt,
assorted chutneys, boiled potatoes and chick peas) and gol gappa (flour-based
puffed balls filled with tamarind water, chickpeas and assorted chutneys) to shakarkandi
ki chaat (sweet potato slow roasted over a coal fire and served with a sprinkling
of lemon juice and a special spice mix often unique to the respective vendor). The
best vendors specialize in one or two offerings refined to mouth-watering
perfection over decades.
Where to Eat It:
Shree Balaji
Chaat Bhandar for paapri chaat - 1462, Chandni Chowk, Delhi.
Lala Babu Chaat Bhandar
for golgappas – 77, Chandni Chowk, Delhi.
Natraj Dahi
Bhalla for dahi
bhallas and the most scrumptious aloo tikki chaat - 1396,
Main Road, beside Central Bank, Kucha Mahajani, Chandni Chowk
If
you enjoy hearty, meaty breakfasts, paya and nihari may just be what the
doctor ordered! Deriving its name from the Urdu word for legs, paya is a
spiced, slow-cooked soup made with goat, buffalo or sheep trotters, typically
cooked overnight and served piping hot in the morning. Another ode to the
traditional Indian style of slow-cooking is the nihari, a
velvety stew prepared over a period of 6-8 hours by cooking meat with spices
and bone marrow and served at the crack of dawn. Key to building the flavor of
the nihari is the taar, unused portions of the previous day’s nihari
which is added to the next day’s pot. Nihari is traditionally paired
with khameeri roti, a leavened baked flatbread baked in a traditional
Indian clay oven called tandoor. The word nihari has been derived from ‘nahar’
the Arabic word for morning and this dish was the favored breakfast of
aristocrats in the Mughal era who would promptly return to bed for a siesta
after consuming this delicious but sleep-inducingly-heavy dish! Most
traditional eateries will only serve nihari in the morning, but we have
you covered even if you prefer to end rather than start your day with this
tasty treat.
Where to Eat It:
Karim’s an
iconic 108-year-old establishment started and run by the descendants of Mughal
chefs, Karim’s offers both paya and nihari for breakfast. 16, Gali Kababian,
Jama Masjid, Delhi.
Kallu Nihari
prepares its nihari over the course of the day and commences service
only at dusk. 180, Chatta Lal Main Rd, behind Delite Cinema, Chatta Lal Miya,
Chandni Mahal, Daryaganj, Delhi.
4) Bedmi Poori
and Nagori Halwa:
For a vegetarian
breakfast option, try bedmi poori, a puffed, fried bread stuffed with a mixture
of a local lentil called urad dal, spices and dried mango powder and
served with a potato curry flavored with asafoetida. An alternative for those
with a sweet tooth is nagori, a non-stuffed puri paired with suji
halwa, a semolina dessert prepared with clarified butter and dry fruit and
a fantastic comfort food any time of the year, but especially during the biting
cold of a foggy winter morning.
Where to Eat It:
Shiv Mishthan
Bhandar, 375, Kucha Ghasi Ram, Chandni Chowk, Delhi/
5) Kulfi:
India’s (creamier) answer to ice-cream, with roots reportedly going back to the 16th century, kulfi is a summer staple but enthusiasts can be seen wolfing it down even in the cold winter months! Beginning its life as sweetened, flavored milk, kulfi is painstakingly birthed into existence by slow-cooking the milk while continuously stirring it until it reaches a caramelized, semi-condensed state. This mixture is then packed into tightly sealed molds and frozen in a mixture of ice and salt to create a decadent dessert that is denser and creamier than ice cream.
Traditional flavors include rose, cardamon, pistachio and saffron
with fruit variants like mango, pomegranate and apple also amassing a fan
following from the 20th century onwards. The traditional kesar-pista
or saffron and pistachio flavored kulfi can also be served with falooda, a
preparation of fresh-corn flour vermicelli flavored with rose syrup and holy
basil seeds.
Where to Eat It:
Kuremal Kulfi for their
preparation of fruit kulfi stuffed inside fruit slices - Shop No. 526, Kucha
Pati Ram, Sitaram Bazar Road, Chawri Bazar, Delhi.
Giani Di Hatti
for Kulfi with Falooda - Church Mission Rd, Bagh Deewar, Katra Ghel, Khari
Baoli, Chandni Chowk, Delhi.
6) Japani Samosa
and Jalebi:
Samosa
and jalebi is as natural a pairing as bread and butter or ham and
eggs for most Delhi dwellers and many of them will agree that Old Delhi is
unrivalled for the quality of these treats. A traditional samosa includes
fillings such as potatoes or peas enclosed in a flaky pastry, deep fried and
then served either with various chutneys or with a spicy chickpea curry called chole
in its chaat avatar. However, a unique variant found exclusively in
Old Delhi is the Japani or Japanese samosa where the pastry is made of
up to 60 wafer-thin layers and is served with chole and pumpkin
or carrot pickle. The reason why this samosa was named after Japan is now lost
in the mists of time, but fans of this variant appear to subscribe to
Shakespeare’s philosophy of “What’s in a name?”, judging by the queues outside
the stalls selling this unique treat. The best dessert after either version of
the samosa is jalebi, a spiral dessert prepared by deep frying maida or
all-purpose flour in ghee (clarified butter) and then finishing it in
sugar syrup flavored with saffron or rose water.
Where to Eat It:
Japani Samosa at
Manohar Japani Samose Walla which has been operational in Delhi since 1949, but
was first started by the current owner’s grandfather in Lahore, Pakistan in
1924. Shop 38/40, Diwan Hall Road, Near Bhagirath Palace, Chandni Chowk, Delhi
Old
Famous Jalebi Wala has been dishing out traditional samosas and jalebis since
1884 and they still use the traditional method of cooking over coal fires. 795,
Dariba Kalan Road, Dariba Corner, opposite the Central Baptist Church, Chandni Chowk
7) Biryani:
From its humble
roots as a one-pot dish for soldiers, biryani evolved into a culinary
masterpiece fit for (and often served at) the tables of monarchs. Prepared
exclusively with long-grained rice like basmati, the imperial version of biryani
includes spices such as saffron, cloves and cardamon as well as a meat or
vegetable gravy at times. The ingredients are combined and then slow-cooked in
an earthenware vessel sealed with dough. Traditional chefs don’t use timers but
gauge the amount of time required to complete the cooking process on the basis
of their experience and knowledge of ingredients and its only when the dough
seal is broken that one comes to know whether the dish is cooked through or
not. A highly skilled undertaking requiring a skilled hand, and in the days of
the imperial kitchens of yore, nerves of steel!
Where to Eat It:
Al-Jawahar
Restaurant which has been serving some of the city’s best biryani since 1947
when it was inaugurated by Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of
independent India. Opposite Gate 1, Jama Masjid, Delhi.
8) Daulat-ki-Chaat
This will-o-wisp
of a dessert is a winter specialty which is only available between November and
February and is sold by street vendors who make their own unique version based
on old family recipes. I coaxed one of the vendors selling it to part with some
of his secrets and he told me that the clouds of delicate flavor that are the
hallmark of this dessert are created by churning a mixture of milk and cream
for three hours and then leaving it out overnight for the night air and morning
dew to work their magic. After cooling for at least 6 hours, a portion of the
mixture is removed and whisked into a state of airy frothiness and a light-as-a-snowflake
texture. A liberal sprinkling of saffron, dry fruit and a milk solid called mawa
provides the finishing touches on this ethereal dessert which experienced cooks
insist owes its unique texture to dew and moonlight as much as their skills.
Where to Eat It:
Jaspal
& Sunil Kumar - In Front Of Shyam Sweets, 112, Barshah Bulla Chowk, Chawri
Bazar, Delhi.
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