Old Famous Chandni Chowk, A Street Food Heaven

Back in the motherland for another 3 1/2 weeks means a few more blogs on the the food and experiences from some of the   places I'll be visiting. And as usual, the first stop is my favourite city, Dilli.

I wanted to give my friend from NZ a taste of the true Delhi that I have grown to love over the years so I took her to Old Delhi (Purani Dilli).

Purani Dilli is (in)famous for many reasons, but from a culinary point of view you go there for 2 types of food: the authentic Mughalai curries/tandoor and the other is the street food.

After a quick Google search we found Natraj Dahi Balle. It's a tiny 3x1m corner shop near the Chandni Chowk metro station. They sell only two things - Dahi Balle and Aaloo tikki.

Dahi Balle is basically a pakora that has been soaked in cold yogurt with a range of chutneys and spices. It's not supposed to be spicy but instead it blends sweet with sour with tangy tastes. Natraj's dahi balle had the perfect mix of the three sensations. Highly recommended for people who like yogurt or sweet & sour meals.

My pick of the day though was the Aaloo Tikki. This is a potato patty that has been freshly fried and served with a range of sweet/sour and spicy chutneys. A differentiating factor of Natraj's Tikki was the fact that it was stuffed with dried masala that you normally find in kachoris. I was blown away by the amount of flavour in this dish. Such a simple concept with so much taste. The "chatpatta" ("zingy") spice will definitely leave you wanting more!

And finally, to cool down our taste buds we walked over to the "Old Famous Jalebi Wala". Jalebi is a flour based paste that has been deep fried in oil and then soaked in sugar syrup to absorb the sweetness. This one was particularly fat and very juicy but I found that it wasn't as sweet as it probably should be. Standing around the Jalebi Wala while he swirls his hand in the spiral motion is quite an experience so if you aren't keen to eat it, at least go over and see what the crowd is looking at.

Chandni Chowk may not be the cleanest or glamorous place to visit in Delhi, but it really is a special place and the places I listed above are safe must-haves (with no tummy aches afterwards).

Looking forward to what else this trip has to offer me....

Above: Dahi Balle

Below: Aaloo Tikki

Above: a view of the old famous Jalebi wala

Below: fresh fat jalebis

Chandni Chowk - A taste of Purani Dilli (Old Delhi)

3 days into my stay and I was struggling to find a reason to venture all the way to one of my favourite places in Delhi but I finally had one when my Maami (aunt) said she needed some things for the wedding which would easily be found in Old Delhi.

So after a long ride in the metro, we were in Chandni Chowk (one of the oldest areas of Delhi). My cousins and I decided to go to Jama Masjid (India's largest mosque built by Shah Jahan - same person who built the Taj) because we figured that would be the best place to eat some nice mughalai food and do the wedding shopping.

We spent almost 2 hours shopping and admiring the historic masjid before our stomachs demanded we have lunch. The shop keeper guided us through the gulleys (paths) of Chandni Chowk to this small biryani joint called Taufeeq Biryani. For 30 Rs (approx 60c) my cousins and I had a full plate to share. I wouldn't recommend these unknown (Lo key) biryani places because while they taste much better than the biryani you get at all Indian restaurants outside of India, the quality of meat is sometimes questionable. But for 60c who is complaining?!

We then went to Jawahar Hotel, one the oldest restaurants in Purani Dilli (next to Karim's). We ordered mutton qourma, chicken biryani and tandoori chicken with Romali roti (roti so thin that it is nearly transparent). The biryani wasn't bad but there was nothing too special about it. The qourma was rich in flavour, spice and had well cooked meat. The tandoori chicken was slightly dry but tasted delicious with the Romali. If you are near Jama Masjid then I would recommend Jawahar hotel over Karims (which I am not a fan after having average food there in the last few years).

Despite being full from lunch, I made my cousins join me in enjoying some fresh Paranthe (layered and shallow fried roti) from the famous "Paranthe wali galli" (street of paranthas). The main restaurant of PwG had a large range of paranthas to choose from but because we were already full we decided to share a muli (radish) and rabri (sweet and thickened milk) paranthas. The paranthas were served on a thali with 5-6 different chutneys and sabzis (vege curries). The chutneys included a tangy banana one which went surprisingly well with both the savoury muli parantha and the sweet rabri one. The paranthas themselves were awesome! Highly recommend this place (even if it's not in the way).

Before getting on the metro back to CP, we stopped to have mitthai at a small sweet shop located at the entrance of Paranthe wali galli. The gulab jamuns, Ras mallai and rasgulla were as sweet and delicious as they sound.

Those who have issues with hygiene and personal space may not enjoy what Chandni Chowk has to offer but those who are looking to experience rich history, flavour and excitement must visit the cultural capital of the capital city.

See you next time after my cousin's wedding!

above: exploring chandni chowk by cycle rickshaw

bottom: Built by Shah Jahan (same as Taj), Jama Masjid is India's largest mosque

above: chicken biryani, mutton quorma and tandoori chicken with romali roti from Jawahar Hotel

below: muli parantha, rabri parantha on a thali of sabzis and chutneys

above: amazing mitthai near paranthe wali galli - Ras mallai, rasgulla, gulab jamun