My first Indian festival... Happy Lohri!

Last night was my first celebration of an indian festival in India. Lohri, traditionally a punjabi festival,  involves burning a bon fire and throwing popped corn and nuts on it to celebrate the harvest season (this is my understanding based on the numerous explanations I have heard). While it was mainly people of the Sikh faith that organised the bon fires around the neighbourhood that I was in, it was an amazing feeling to see it being celebrated by people of all religions: Sikhs, Hindus, Muslims, Jains and Christians spending hours together around the fire chatting, learning about the festival and appreciating each others company. Despite having a majority Hindu population in Delhi and India, the same thing happens on Eid and Christmas.

Our differences are what unite us. This is what it means to be secular. This is what it means to be Indian.

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

Auliya - ideals of an ideal leader.

Hazrat Nizamuddin Dargah - New Delhi

A few months ago I heard a song from the Hindi movie "Ungli" which had the following lyrics:

"Auliya mere rastaa dikha...Girte ko uthna sikhaa" which (roughly) translates to "'Auliya' show me the way... teach someone who has fallen to get back up"

I had never heard the word Auliya before so decided to look it up. According to Google it is a term given to Sufi saints meaning "Friends of God" or a more generic meaning is "Friend/Supporter". One of the first links that was available was to one of Delhi's popular tourist attractions - Hazrat Nizamuddin Dargah (Sufi shrine).

Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya was a humble man who was said to have preached and lived by strict principles which include the following:

• Unity and equal treatment of all people irrespective of financial, social or religious background - at a time when the caste system and religious divide was at its peak
• Helping the oppressed and feeding the hungry
• If everyone acts out of love for god and others, there would be no war or poverty
• The equality of women
• Spiritual control and sobriety is better than spiritual intoxication

When I visited his dargah in South Central Delhi. I was quite surprised to see the large number of people who were there to pray for the soul of this man. What was even more (pleasantly) surprising was that right next to the 100s of Muslims praying in the masjid (hardly 5m from the dargah) there were many non-Muslims who were praying for him.

I asked an elderly man if these people were worshiping him. He said no, they just seek his "blessings and guidance".

Travelling through India has shown me so many different cultures, religions, languages, traditions and ways of life. Yet today, our leaders and people in the position to unite us and change this country are choosing to employ the tactic that we cursed the British for using in order to achieve their own agendas - "Divide & Conquer".

I might be wrong but maybe India could do with more people like Nizamuddin Auliya - who can show us the way and teach India how to rise up to what it is capable of being.

Best Chole-Bhature in Delhi

After some shopping in Palika Bazaar (underground market) and CP (Connaught Place), dad and I caught a rickshaw to Bengali Market -  a small suburb of central Delhi known for its concentration of 2 things that are generally synonymous: Bengalis and delicious sweet shops.

Nathu's Sweet House is the place we would often have lunch at when I was younger so today we took a stroll down memory lane and had Nathu's famous chole-bhature - a Punjabi meal. 

Chole-Bhature
Category: Main vegetarian meal
Nostril Flaring (hygiene issues): None identified
Personal Rating: Best chole-bhature in Delhi, my favourite vegetarian meal.

The first thing you notice when you get a plate of chole-bhature is the bhature (similar to puri). Nathu's bhature are huge! Both of them were about the size of half a basketball. Luckily these ones were not stuffed with anything - that would have made it impossible to finish. These ones were fresh out of the kadhai (fry pan) and incredibly soft making it easy to break.

The chole (chickpea curry) was full of flavour and mildly spicy (not too much but had a slight kick). I think the fried/roasted zeera (cumin) seeds and deep fried aaloo (potatoe) that garnished the chole gave it a distinctive taste and added a different texture. The chole is what makes or breaks this meal; this chole definitely made it.

Chole-bhature is normally served with onions, green chili, pickle or chutney.  The chutney that was served at Nathu's was spicy and added a lot of flavour to each bite. 

We also had masala dosa (a South Indian meal), lassi and Ras Malai (a Bengali mithai). All of these were incredible but probably deserve their own blog so I'll leave them out for now.

Nathu's Sweet House is an amazing restaurant which serves authentic and very tasty food at a reasonable price (< Rs 200 per meal). Ironically, if you're looking for a delicious Punjabi meal, go to the Bengali part of town and order Nathu's Chole-Bhature.

Delhi's No.1 Chole-Bhature

Entrance of Nathu's Sweet House with their vast range of mithai on display