Best kebabs: Ustad Moinuddin
For just a few rupees you can eat some of the finest kebabs in Delhi.
On Lal Kuan close to where the great Urdu poet Ghalib once lived, you'll find the beef kebab maker Ustad Moinuddin. As you wait your turn, you'll have time to watch the master at work, packing soft meat on to skewers, judging the exact cooking time for optimum succulence before tipping them quickly on to plates and into waiting hands. Forget Bukhara; this is the real deal.
• Lal Kuan, at the corner with Gali Qasimjan, near Chawri Bazaar metro, Old Delhi
Best kulfi: Kuremal Kulfi
The Kuremal family have been making kulfi (ice-cream) in the old city since 1908. They turn out over 50 varieties, including pomegranate, tamarind, rose and custard apple, and also make a wonderful stuffed kulfi: mango or orange flavours stuffed into fruit skins.
• Kucha Pati Ram, off Sitaram Bazaar, near Chawri Bazaar metro, Old Delhi
Best kheer: Bade Mian
Bade Mian's kheer shop (oppposite Badal Beg mosque in Lal Kuan) quite simply sells the finest kheer (cardamom-laced rice pudding) you're ever likely to taste. I never come home with less than a kilo!
• Lal Kuan, near Chawri Bazaar metro, Old Delhi
Best sweets: Chaina Ram
Regularly voted the best sweet shop in Delhi. Try the Karachi halwa, laddoos and other treats cooked in ghee at this Sindhi shop on Chandni Chowk.
Best snacks
Around the Jama Masjid area, stroll along Matia Mahal (also the home of the famous Karim's and Al-Jawahar restaurants) and stop at any of the little stalls – it's almost impossible to eat badly here. One highlight is shahi tukda, labelled by one enthusiast as "bread pudding on steroids". The kebabs and biryanis in this area are also pretty special.
Ashok Chat Corner in Old Delhi
a modern metro entrance pushes out of the ground into the chaos above, and you are immediately there to Ashok Chat Corner (3488, Hauz Qazi Chowk) 10 steps away.
"All you have to do is stagger out of the metro and you're here," ordering papri chaat, a tiny bowl with crisp pastry discs (the papri), potato and fried chickpeas under a mix of sauces that include a yogurt-y curd, tamarind and spicy coriander. It's soothing and calm.
Jain Coffee House
a spot on a square with an alley-like entrance that's so easy to walk past that we do two U-turns on Chawri Bazaar before we find it. (From Chawri Bazaar metro walk along Chawri Bazaar until almost at the left turn into Nai Sarak. On your left is a small gully, Raghu Ganj: walk in and turn left.
Old Famous Jalebi
Thick and juicy, it is food porn at its best. Jalebis, the golden-coloured rings of deep-fried maida batter, soaked in sugar syrup, fill the mouth with a warm liquid of such excessive sweetness that modesty blushes in shame. The diabetic may find joy in just looking at its preparation.
Where Dariba Kalan Rd, Chandni Chowk Time 8.30 am to 10 pm Nearest Metro Station Chandni Chowk
Gali Paranthe Waali
It became a famous gourmet locality when the parantha shops moved here in the 1870s. This lane has been the haunt of many celebrities of India. In the years after Independence, Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru and his family members - Indira Gandhi and Vijaylaxmi Pandit - came here to take their parantha meals. Jayaprakash Narayan and Atal Behari Vajpayee were also among the regular visitors.
Kanhaiya Lal Durga Prasad's Parantha Shop (1875)
The paranthas are fried in pure ghee in cast-iron pans. They are served with Mint Chutney, Banana - Tamarind Chutney, vegetable pickle and Aloo Subzi.
Shree Balaji Chaat Bhandar (1462, Chandni Chowk; Noon to 10pm)
It is perhaps the best and most popular chaatwallah in Chandni Chowk. We particularly recommend the Papdi Chaat with its liberal inclusion of Kachaalu Chutney, Khasta Papdis and saunth. Bishan Swaroop (1421, Chandni Chowk; 10am to 10pm) is one of those gems tucked away in the chaotic by-lanes of Chandni Chowk which keep alive the magic of another time, another taste.
Lala Babu Chaat Bhandar (77, Chandni Chowk, Near McDonald's; 11am to 10pm)
Glorious Gol Gappe served with a type of Jal Jeera that's packed with harad (a digestive), kachoris stuffed with potato and peas, Gobhi-Matar Samosas, Dahi Bhalla and Matar Paneer Tikki are the fastest-selling items here.
Jugal Kishore Ramji Lal
13, Dujana House, Chawri Bazaar, Chandni Chowk, Old Delhi.
Best known for its fruit chaats.
--
No comments:
Post a Comment