"Purani Dilli"

For a long time, I have been discussing with my friends about the mouth watering

food at Zakhir Nagar. Today, I satisfied my hungry soul after visiting

Zakhir Nagar.

I visited “Purani Dilli restaurant” with one of my German friend who is a great

foodie. He is studying medicine in Munich but loves oily and spicy food without caring

about his arteries. The best way to be at Zakhir Nagar is by rickshaw from Jamia

University or Maharani Bagh. The lanes of Zakhir Nagar are engulfed with famous

Non- vegetarian eateries.

Purani Dilli has entered into its sixth glorious year in serving mughlai food. The menu starts with “cooking is an art”......and we possess the instinctive art of cooking. Our delicious andmouth watering recipes will bring back the memories of “shahjahanabad”to you. Carefully prepared using original recipes and authentic spices, food at “Purani Dilli” Restaurant is an exquisite treat for a person of refined taste like you.

It indeed was delightful to taste the food of “Purani Dilli”.It was also a pleasant surprise to see the son of the owner of this restaurant , who studies in a school,gracefully eating chicken fry with rumali roti.

We asked for half plates of nahari,haleem and chicken achari. Haleem and Nahari were of Rs 135 each..Haleem was topped with green coriander leaves, crisp onion strips and ginger pieces. They served a plate full of crisp onion strips,ginger pieces,green chillies,lemon and masala, which you can add to Haleem according to your taste. The nahari and Haleem is truly delectable. The spices were up to the mark and one can digest it comfortably without causing harm to the stomach and intestines. Moreover, the meat served over there is soft and it melts in the mouth like anything.

We rounded up our meal with one of my favourite dessert (Kheer),which was again great in taste.

Food walk @ Kamla Nagar

College is the best time of your life. Whosoever had studied in north campus,must had visited kamla nagar to hang out with friends.The second food walk organised by street food of delhi was in Kamla Nagar.During my undergrad years,i used to be a devout follower of food available in north campus and kamla nagar.

The walk started from Kashyap pakodas.There are two kashyap pakoda wala in kamla nagar, both being equally good.Bread Pakoda is fried in pure ghee on tawa and served with green and red chutney.The taste is different from pakodas which are fried in kadhai filled with oil.Kashyap pakodas are crispy from outside and soft from inside.Each bread pakoda costs Rs 30.

Next on our food walk was Brijwasi sweets.I have been here before to eat delicious kadi chawal during the day time.The food available at brijwasi do not include onions and garlic.As we reached in the evening time,we tasted gujia,ras malai,kular rabri and badam milk.Milk was exceptionally good.

After having sweets,it was time to taste some chatpata snacks.We reached at Bombay bhel house and had delicious bhelpuri.One of our foodie friend recommended Manawahar in shakti nagar for puchka and hing kachori.Hing kachori was not good but puchka was really mouth watering.The water filled inside the puchka or golgappe in delhi is of pudina but here it was imli ka paani.

Finally, we thought of having some drink It was disappointing to see that Chacha shake which was quite popular during our college days have now entered in to the real estate business.Keventers,now named as shake square was the only choice left for us.I never liked keventers shake because they mix flavours in the milk.Lastly, we had chiku shake at malka ganj chowk.

Famous eateries where one could enjoy good food are:-Mini shop,chaat street,nine75,QDs,Bon Zai,momos point,vaishnav chaat,and bille di haati.

Rolls @ 34,Chowringhee Lane

In vicinity of all colleges and Universities of Delhi you can find good eateries. Whether its JNU’s famous Ganga Dhaba or Delhi University, North Campus Kamla Nagar, the food available is irresistible.

In all these eateries, the food is reasonably priced keeping in mind the pocket of the students.Last week after completing my work at Venkateshwara College in South Campus, I asked my friend about the eateries, which serves mouth-watering food . At once, my friend asked me to try rolls at 34 Choringee lane. It was lunch time and I thought of eating something delicious which can fill up my empty tummy. In Delhi one would wonder why all the roll centres are named after Patna. Anyways I will try to find it out some other time. The rolls available at these road side food stalls have stuffing of noodles. However, a perfect roll in its true sense has a filling of onions, different sauces and lemon.

The famous rolls joints in south campus which was referred by my friend is 34 choringee lane right opposite to Venkateshwara College. This chain was started by entrepreneur Rishi Kapoor(do not confuse it with bollywood superstar).After going through the menu which was a bit confusing as there were different kind of rolls. I ordered single lemon chicken roll, priced at Rs.70. The chicken stuffed inside the roll was juicy and truly delectable with a tinge of lemon . However it could not satisfy my eagerness to try some another rolls available at 34 chowringhee lane. Another roll, which I tried was simply veggie. However, I did not like it much but the taste of chicken was still fresh in my mouth. I returned to my office happily relishing the lemon chicken moments with a resolve to visit that place again.

Makhan Lal Tika Ram Sweets @ Kashmere Gate

Old Delhi is a divine place for foodies and I am a devout follower of good food. One of the children’s home run by Aman Biradari is at Kashmere Gate. Whenever I visit the Children’s home, I make it a point to visit Makhan Lal Tika Ram Sweets Shop.

Makhan Lal Tika Ram Sweets shop was established in 1928 (close to Old Stephens College) .Its famous for Doodh -jalebi and Lassi. Both are truly delicious. A glass of doodh jalebi costs Rs 45. It includes 100gms Jalebi and 250ml of milk. The colour of milk is brownish in col

our because it is boiled for 3 to 4 hours. There is almost deduction of 25% in milk when it is boiled for 4 hours. A thick cream (malai) is added to it in order to give it a perfect taste. In winters it’s in great demand.

Makhan Lal also serves Bedmi poori and Sabzi with methi chutney and pickles. It is priced at Rs 34. Bedmi Poori is heavier than plain poori as it is made of wheat flour and ground urad lentil. The methi chutney tastes awesome. Its a perfect combination to start a new day. Bedmi sabzi and a glass full of Lassi are perfect to fill an empty tummy. After this, you need not eat the whole day, as the dish is quite enough in itself.

Winters and Hot Samosas

During winters, we all like eating some spicy and hot food. Till last year, I had this great craze for Momos. This year (2011), during winters it’s only Samosas. Though people have started liking Momos in place of the tikki and papari chat but for me Samosas have its own taste that makes me go crazy.

Every day, in my lunch break I go to a Samosa shop and when I eat a hot samosa with spicy chatni, it makes me forget the whole world. I enjoy its every bite and keep on saying wow.it makes me realize sometimes that my work at office would have become bit hectic, if “Naina Nashta Point” shop (Mayur  Vihar) would not have been there. This is my favorite shop for Samosas that costs only 5rs (per piece). It sells some more eatable items as well like the Bread Pakora , Kachori-Sabji. But believe me, Samosas are definitely a healer over there. In morning only when I see fog outside, I make up my mind that today Samosa is mandatory to have.

The pointed structure and the stuffed masala inside it make me fall in love with every bite. This winter everything seems amazing with just one single Samosa. Get up and try Samosas at any food joint and make your winter season spicy and hot.

Food Walk @ Paharganj

Street Food of Delhi-SFD along with the support of “I am Happy meet up group”, organised its first Food Walk at Paharganj . It was great experience to meet foodies who were interested in exploring the amazing food spots of Paharganj.

The walk started from Moong Dal Samosa with Aloo Chana Sabzi at Janta Sweets. It was truly delicious. Daal stuffed inside the samosa was boiled with turmeric and salt. Janta sweets also serve Malpua with Suji Ka Halwa.

Next stop was of Geela kulcha which we could not eat as it was finished. It was really disappointing for most of us. But all of us decided to visit Paharganj againin order to try Geela kulcha.

It is rightly said that “Hope is the first step on the road to disappointment”. Multan Moth Bhandar showed us the ray of hope to eat some traditional food of paharganj. Kachori was served with moth and spicy multani masala, which made us all feel wow.

Next stop was Kashmir Sweet Shop Specialist in Chur Chur Naan and Veg Mughlai Thali. Although mughlai word in itself makes us think of spicy and delicious non vegetarian food but Kashmir Sweet serves vegetarian food only. Veg Mughlai Thali comprises of mughlai paneer,dal makhani,rayta and 2 lachedar parantha, which costs Rs100. When I asked the owner to give his visiting card, he said not to write anything anywhere. He said few days back someone was served notice from Income Tax department and fined 40,000.I laughed and said we are nowhere associated with IT department. It also shows how in India people fears from IT department.

After eating the masaledar food, it was time to have some desserts. The foodies reached shri baanke bihari samosa wala, soni sweets (specialised) in Samosa and gulabjamun. The shop was too crowded but gulabjamuns served here were worth waiting. Gulabjamuns in India are of different shapes and color. Black gulabjamuns are heated for a long time while red ones for short period. I got the chance to taste both red and black and trust me; it was so soft and delicious that it compelled me to go for another one.

Crossing the imperial cinema, where tickets might be the lowest one in Delhi,we reached lassi wala which serves lassi of different flavours and the list includes grape,mango,papaya,banana,cocounut and many more. All of us tried Grape lassi. You could actually taste the grapes while you drink the lassi.

Finally, we finished our walk with tea and Falafel at German Bakery. The best ones were ginger, lemon and honey flavoured. Moreover, Falafel is a very popular in the fast food in the Middle East. Sandwich is the main dish, which consists of the pita bread with lettuce, tomatoes, and tahini.

We will organise a food walk in Kamla Nagar, very soon...In my future blogs I would be covering in detail about the eateries mentioned above.

Annapurna Bhoj

I work with Aman Biradari and as a part of winter campaign blanket distribution team, me and my team members visited different parts of Delhi to distribute blankets to isolated homeless. One night, after completing work at Jama Masjid and Yamuna Pushta, we went to Fatehpuri to try some old Delhi street food.

I have been to fatehpuri before also at Kake di hatti but this time one of my team member insisted to for Annapurna Bhoj.

Annapurna bhoj provides a thali, which costs Rs 80. It includes rotis,rice,daal,shahi paneer,aloo ki sabzi and papad. The food made us feel like the one that we always have at home. It was truly delicious, compelling all of us to eat more and more.

You can have as many rotis, daal and rice as you want but an extra bowl of vegetable costs Rs 10.The thali brought a big relief to all of our empty tummies. Moreover, three of our German volunteers who were with us enjoyed the food, as it was less spicy.