Deliciously Delhi

“A mini-Pakistan was very much alive and well here”

Hindu groups to deride Muslims in India use mini Pakistan and there is no need to repeat that. Muslims in India are Indian. Those are historical Muslim areas in Delhi way before Pakistan came into existence.
There are areas in Karachi and Lahore that resemble Delhi. If people start calling them Mini-India, Would you agree with them on that?

Now food! The delicacy of Delhi food is captured in Karachi not Lahore. Most of the food sold in Lahore streets is made up excess use of lard/ghee/Tallow etc the lack of or accurate proportion of spices is evident. Food does not become delicious by using lots of Lard/Ghee/tallow or intolerable amount of Red chili(lal mirch). Lahore food is an example of abuse of spices such as red chili and black pepper.
Authentic chefs/cooks of Delhi origin cooked food in Karachi at least in the Burns road area. It may have changed now. However, the food in Lahore is no way near authentic Delhi food.

Your write-up reminded me of my travels in Delhi and in the surrounding areas such as Aligarh, Deoband, Meerut etc. in a car and frequently stopping at dhabbas to eat food.

Thanks for bringing back old memories. I am looking forward to be in Delhi this summer.

food wise, dilli is very provincial. mumbai is the only truely cosmopolitan eating place.

you have your ``muhalla`` food places, e.g. gujju muhallas serving thalis with piping hot rotis, madrasi muhallas like matunga for south-inidian veg food more authentic than madras or mysore, sindhi colony for the grease and junk food, koliwada (guru teg-bahadur nagar) for panjabi fried fish, muslim eateries liek noor-mohamdi restaurant in mahim or dilli-darbar on Foras Road (where every one is called Hritik Roshan), pasee colony yazdiyaar, ghati places like Mama Kane ..

street food (many new inventions) like bhel-puri, pau-bhaji, kala-khatta, juices, sandwitches, kebabs, wada-pau.

cool-cat places for pizzas and extremely ugly and pink cocktails, hole-in-the wall thai places in bandra, and more Barista coffee places on every corner (more than in Seattle).

good value institutions like the mocambo for biryani+beer, Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Hostel canteen called ``Majestic Hotel``, Mahesh Lunch home for phish.

new-trend speciality restaurants claiming bengali, keral, costal andra, goa-coastal marathi foods..

and offcourse daruu everywhere, and you can watch homely aunties dancing to latest item number for time-pass.

while dilli still competes with Lahore ;-)

Yes but I think lhr is cleaner and thus food is more healthy.

Hi Ras:

It is obvious that you enjoyed your trip...at least the palatable stuff:) Glad you wrote about food, that is pretty much all that Delhi has to offer...and made sense to stick to the Muslim-Punjabi cuisine. Though it is pity Annapurna was closed. Instead of Haldiram`s, Nathu`s at Bengali Market would have been good for mithai and to grab a quick chaat...

I think there is some confusion about the two Karim`s, though you visited both. The Chandni Chowk one is downmarket, but the kebabs are great. However, the one at Nizamuddin offers more subtle flavours (in their yakhni and saalans) perhaps keeping the clientele in mind. I assume you did not catch the qawaali?

Did you eat anything at all at the Dilli Haat stalls? I like their South Indian stuff the most...

Did you do Paranthewalli galli?

For dessert, you should have tried the Shahi Tukda...but I guess a certain lady`s name took you in a different direction?! Kheer Benazir is not named after the Pakistani PM, but I would love to push for a post-meal Pervez paan...

Next time, do make it to Mumbai. There really is nothing quite like it!

- - -
Stuka, so what if Gujjus put sugar in the dal? Punjabis put malai in their chicken...and if one can have have spicy parathas with dahi, then problem kya hai?

Jang:

Dude, Bombay sucks ass as far as Non Veg food is concerned. I was taken to a much touted Badey Mian`s close to Taj. Crap!! Better kabas and Tikkas and botis available in New Jersey. Even the Chinese of China Garden was over-rated.

Bombay does well for vegie food like Bhel Puri and Vada Pao. The south indian food is not bad but I have had better in Mangalore and Udupi.

Farzana:

``Stuka, so what if Gujjus put sugar in the dal?``

Umm, is that even a serious question? Do you also put Thums Up in black label scotch? Hahaha!!

``Punjabis put malai in their chicken...``

So do the French. Cream and butter are essentials of good cooking as thickeners in all sophisticated cuisines such as Punjabi, French, Italian etc.

``and if one can have have spicy parathas with dahi, then problem kya hai?``

No problem eating Paranthas with Dahi. I also do that. We are in agreement here. (Thumbs Up Icon)

I`ve eaten excellent food in Manali (HP). Karahi chicken and paneer. One of the best ever Chicken I ate in my life is at the Queen`s palace (now a restaurant) in Mandi (HP). It was EXCELLENT!

stuka on kababs i agree. i prefer mahim dargah for kabab (shashliks marinated in papya jiuce) or foras road for mughlai. dilli is overall provincial in the sense of lack of veriety. also in the older times, dilli did not have any ``real`` upmarket restaurants..all they had were hotel restaurants (liek dum-pukht etc). us mumbaiyas found it very provincial. hopefully things have changed. offocourse in mumbai we have great views from sea-lounge..

other thing in dilli is that say you meet an old friend and want to get a cold beer (or 2 or 3), masala papad over a pack of wills navy-cut, you would have to think of where to go, whereas in mumbai you would need to walk for about 3 minutes at most.

mumbai also lacks those tibetan dhabas .. but then mumbai does not get compared to Lahore ;-)

sutka .. china garden sucks.. lings pavillion the place (actually i hate chinese food pretty much anywhere in india)

A foodie article and my claims not not interacting here get thrown out of the window. Especially with these Bambaiyas claiming a cosmo variety (visit Pune and see where the better Irani joints are). Actually that was true till maybe even 10 years ago but saddi Dilli has changed quite a bit since then.
The Karim at Jama Masjid is the original. Many years ago when I was chota sa baccha my dad posted in Red Fort, so I had fond memories of kebabs from Karims. The Nizamuddin one only makes it more accessible for those who rather not drive into Old Delhi (traffic hazards not any other reason). But the traffic in that area is a better controlled now than it used to be. Chandi Chowk ki Parathewali gali deserves a look in as well as the book stores there. The chaat variety in CC is unmatched (which reminds me - UPSE ka Chaat wala apparently still does roaring business except he now comes in a Mercedes).
Chandi Chowk say yaad aaya did you go to Chor Bizzare for Kashmiri food (maybe Wazwaan in Def Col).

``Nathu`s at Bengali market`` indeed. For many Nathu`s at Bengali market is an imposter, a newbie (thos its been around for ages now). The Bengal Sweet House being the original which now, horrors, sells ``Vage`` pizza. Vaise sweets ki baat hai then a trip to the sweet house at Sundar Nagar rates a mention. Actually there a number of them all over the city to give names would reveal my gluttony.

And the option is not just restricted to the 5 stars. The Lucknowi food at Al Kauser mmm think Kakori Kababs and as mentioned previously the resturants at Pandara Lane (Pindi, Gulatis). And I can`t reemeber the name of the original that started it all by the refugee from Pakistan (darn the original is at Daryaganj).

Dosas are now a North Indian dish. Malabar Cafe for wonderful spicy southern chicken with appams. Visit Dilli Haat to savour food from different states. Try the Rajasthani kadhi chawal. Actually have anada parathas at night from the roadside vendor under the moolchand flyover. Eat fried fish with grated mooli from any roadside vendor and do not miss the kulcha channa from the roadside vendors too. Actually some of the best food comes from the street vendors, hygiene be damned. I had all the gol gappas and papri chaat and nothing happened. Mexican/Thai/Chinese/Japanese etc etc sab milta hai and as I have to write my script this term paper will have to wait.

amrita:

yes wenger`s

made fresh, personal size and steamin....mmmmm

#21 by stuka on February 18, 2005 12:43pm PT

You`re eating at the wrogn places...
Try Peshawari and Bukhara grill...

Ras Sahib says

``No beef was served even in the Muslim households visited, and obviously not in the restaurants outside.``

``The taste of “Shabbarati’s Nihari” is comparable to the best that old Karachi and Lahore have to offer on a good day.``

Can someone notice the contradiction here? Did someone catch Ras Bhai pulling a fast one on us?

Nihari is made with beef shank (which is the lower part of Holy Cow`s leg).... Nihari made with anything else is blasphemy pure and simple. I wonder what Haji Shabbarati made his nihari with... chicken shank I guess!! What other blasphemies are being committed by this fake Hadji? I hope he is not selling paya made with duck feet! If this Hadji ever sets foot in Pakistan, lets try him under section 295-C...... OK?

Now bhai sahib, what kind of tourist would want to eat a Pakistani dish like Nihari in India? haiN? Bhai, in India, you should savor the wide variety of Injun vegetarian delicacies like aloo-gobhi, gobhi-aloo, kaddu-baingun, baingun-kaddu, and so many more.

CHOWK Editors,
Could we finally read what friend
arjun_m is trying to write on this issue?

# 26: The Kakori Kabab’s sound interesting. Any details?

#20 Hi Farzana. Too bad that I did not have time for Parathaywali Gulli
this time around. I was offered the Shahi Tukra’s but was already too
Nehari full at the time and opted for Haldiram’s later. The Kheer Benazir
we all know is not named after BB but when writing as often as I do, some
strange ideas do crop up like your Pervez Paan.

# 19 Patwari: Lahore is certainly cleaner

# 17 Dilli is like Lahore but with Daru

# 16 HP: I must say, all that was missing was the Pakistani Flag there.
But I must try and understand the sensitive nature of the label…
I will disagree with you on Lahore food. It is amazingly good.

# #15 temporal: You go to Dilli for Pizza?

#14 Stuka: Food is great on BOTH sides of the border…

# 13 & # 12 kaurasach: Eat in Lahore and Bhangra will follow..

#11 Ansari: It is nice to go vegetarian once in a while. The wedding in Aligarh
that I attended had separate Veggi and Non-Veggi food sections.

# 9 & #10 arjun_m: What was that again?

# 8 Amit: One can only agree with you here..

# 7 GuruJee: They do eat a lot of Paneer in India but my lactose intolerance
remains a problem.

# 6 nazarhayatkhan : maybe Lahore food can be reviewed next week?

#5 Ansari: I have been eating at that place (Riaz Masjid or Ghaffar’s) since I was a kid.
Our house was just a stone’s throw from Delhi Saudagaran. My family
Is not all from Delhi but most of my neighbors in Karachi were Dilli Walas.

#4 stuka: Who is Sadia Dehlavi?

#3 Amrita: I agree

#2 Veeresh: Maybe it is time to get back to kababs.
I did pass the Jalebi Wala but stuck to eating Bengali sweets.
I did not notice the marriage brass bands because there were
too many marriages going on in Delhi at the time (all busy?)
and did go to Aligarh, Agra and Jaipur. Will write what I can
without violating my visa restrictions…. I want to visit India again
for 300 reasons all related to me.

#1 rkhan: I could not resist. Burns Road is still the place for me….

#30 by Ras
CHOWK Editors,
Could we finally read what friend
arjun_m is trying to write on this issue?

Ras Sahib, let me summarize it for you..... this is what friend arjun_m has been tryin to write:

- Indian IT exports are 3.2 trillion dollars, compared with 3.2 million dollars from Pakistan.
- Nadeem Azeemji is the richest Indian, worth 137 billion dollars, more than the GDP of Pakistan.
- They are teaching Java programming language to pre-K students in Hyderabad, and html is being taught while babies are still in the womb...... compared with the madrassa education that pakistanis like you have received.
- Finally, he tells us that he was born in the USA but brought up and educated in India..... and is a key mover and shaker in the Indian American lobbying circles...... and is frustrated that chowkies find his quest for his H1B visa extension funny.

so there!

oops! he also calls us Pakistanis jehadis, terrorists and pukis and thinks all of us belong in Guantanamo bay. Thank Goodness I remembered.... lest you remained deprived of your friend`s writings.

#31
Good Catch Ali,

You forgot to mention that despite his H1B visa status, the US government accorded him TOP LEVEL security clearance because he had already killed his parents to complete the Security clearance form. Unfortunately, this creature does not know the form number for security clearance.
I have known some braggarts; but bragging on an anonymous forum! Give me a break!