The "Chaat" trail on the streets of Old Delhi

Past few weeks, my home looked as if i am running some papad-achaar business. Thanks to my Mother-in-law who had come for a short visit and left teaching me all the good-old days activities of women. The arrival of summers and women in those days would get ready to make all different kinds of pickles, chutneys, papads, wafers etc etc. Though some of it's process is tedious and lengthy and would invite boredom if making all alone, i would post pictures and recipes of each of them one by one. The pickles are surely worth making, as they were a specialty of the nani's and dadi's of my husband.

During their stay here, we went to visit Chandni Chowk - one of the oldest markets in New Delhi and the largest wholesale market in India. Chandni Chowk, though crowded has it's own charm, not only for the shopoholics but also for foodies like us. Chandni Chowk was a market visited once by merchants from China, Turkey and even Holland. You think of a type of fabric, or a book, or some household or lifestyle item, or a spice or cooking ingredient and you have it all here! During my 2 year stay in Delhi, this was my 4th visit to Chandni Chowk, and i feel there is still so much more to explore.

For food lovers, this place literally awakens your senses. The aroma of the food when you walk around is so inviting, that you can't miss eating some food that has retained their taste all over the years. Going beyond the regular Karim's and Moti Mahal or Al-jawahar, this time we ditched non-vegetarian food and decided to head on a chaat-walk. The first stop was :

Natraj DahiBhalle wale : Imagine the month of may, sweat rolling all over your body, tired legs from shopping, and crowds of people till your eyes can see. Suddenly a plate of some tangy tamarind chutney floating on some rich, creamy, smooth curd arrives in front of you! You take a dip in that curd with your spoon and you find a soft bhalla inside loaded with masala. You take a bite of that Dahi-bhalla and an ocean explodes in your mouth. Suddenly you no more feel the scorching heat or smell the sweat-marks. Priced at INR 50, this dahi-bhalla is a must-try if you visit Chandni-chowk. They serve bhalle since 1940, hence ask any person where the "bhallewala" is, and you will get the right address!

Our next stop was the Jung Bahadur Kachori wala : Located just near the parathe wali galli, this is a roadside stand serving some crispy kachoris with some hot and spicy aloo sabzi. Just thinking about the urad daal kachoris is making my mouth water right now. Served just at INR 20 for 1 kachori with sabzi, you can't afford to miss this place if you love some spicy stuff.

Just a small walk towards the metro station and we found a tiny looking shop of the famous Shri Balaji Chaat Bhandar : We tried the Kalmi bada as the name sounded interesting. Kalmi vadas are basically deep fried gram dal crispies. Here, they were topped with some awesome chaat. The guy serving us (Raju bhai) was one interesting guy who gave us water to wash our hands and insisted that we eat with our hands. He feels that a "chaat" tastes best when you literally lick your fingers clean. True to his opinion, we simply licked our fingers and plate clean. Their papdi chaat is must-try too. But we had Gol-gappe (again on Raju's insistence that the gol-gappe water is made from bisleri and that he serves it the best in town). Again, we will second his opinion that the green water was one of the best we have tasted in a long long time! It had the perfect flavours of sour, sweet and tangy. What more! It was cold - perfect for the season! 

On our way to Khari Baoli - the wholesale spice market, we came across Bishan Swaroop chaat bhandaar : who has been running the place since 1920. His aloo chaat is very famous, but we were too full to stuff ourselves with carbohydrates, so we tried the Fruit chaat. Reluctant to tell me what his secret spices were, he mentioned he adds chaat masala and chutney to the fruits. Priced at INR 40, this chaat adds a nice zing to your regular fruits and worth a try if you like a little spice to your fruits. I personally prefer my fruits plain, so i would avoid this the next time!

After stuffing so much of food in our stomachs in a span of 1 hour, we definitely needed some medicine for the stomach!!! What better way than to have a glass (rather kullad) of Lassi. This lassi was fresh, sweet and refreshed us, preparing us for our journey back home in all that hustle bustle. Running the shop since 1981, Pandit Gyan Prasad Madan Mohan 's Lassi priced at INR 45 is a hit amongst the travellers. Their Malai cake is delicious too, so grab a parcel of it back home!

There are many other places we have missed, but were too full to try more! So until next time!!!

Happy travelling :)

 

Tradition meets Modern : A visit to Dastkar

I have enjoyed going to exhibitions always, for the mere joy of seeing something different there from the regular popular hangouts we normally go to, at restaurants, cafes and malls. There is so much of art, culture and moreover, you get to meet the "Creators". Yes, a lot of people host their own stall so they are able to explain the products to their customers better. Its fun talking to them and knowing their backgrounds and how they developed this hobby/ passion or craft. Festival times always invites exhibitions at various places with people willing to splurge on clothes, gift items, jewelry, decoratives and everything you can think of. Not to forget Food!!!! Yes, the food stalls at exhibitions are worth a mention. People normally get tired shopping and stop by to have a snack or drink at the food stall. I was amongst such people until i started this blog. Yes, a visit to Dastkar recently confirmed my love for food and the dedication i have towards writing this blog when i headed straight to the food stall first than seeing the shopping stalls :)))) And i wondered, "Have i started enjoying food more than shopping?", as i literally spent an hour of my time at the food stall seeing all the things around, talking to stall owners and enjoying the delicacies and got very little time to see all the shopping stalls around...( Apart from the fact, that we reached late - just 2 hours before closing time !!! )

Dastkar (http://www.dastkar.org/bazaars-and-exibitions.htm ) is a Delhi based NGO. It organises bazaars and exhibitions to help promote craftsmen from all over India. This year's Dastkar had around 22 states participating and craftsmen were happy to get a platform to showcase their products to the urban crowd. Each year, bazaars are held in Delhi and also in Bangalore and they have been getting tremendous response from the people. I didnt know about this until a friend Sonia Vasudeo mentioned it to me and tagged me in photos of Dastkar exhibitions. I found it really interesting ( especially the hummus with Pita bread photo caught my eye :)) and went to see it with my husband on weekend.

As mentioned, we headed straight to the Food stall and what caught our eye at first was this super colourful "Thela-gaadi" ( Cart ) selling all the sherbets and juices. We wanted to eat something first, so we didnt stop over this stall at first. Though there was a huge crowd of kids surrounding this thela when we went, it is popular with the elders too who want to sip in some fruity flavours ! A quick round through the food stall and we came across " The Kathi's" where they were serving delicious Kathi kebabs, A rajasthani stall serving samosa, kachori, pani pudi ( as they call it ! ), aloo chaat etc.... There was even "Bombay ki bhelpuri" ( still calling it Bombay and not Mumbai :)), and the famous chuski !!! Its called "Gola" in common language...This sweet icy drink is famous from "Bombay" ( !!!! :))),normally on choupatty and beaches ). And yes, This stall did mention " The famous Kala khatta chuski". I wonder why there was so much promotion of mumbai food here in Delhi... But nevertheless, it all was tasty ( No, we didnt try it all... we could make out from the crowd savouring all the delicious dishes from every stall around)

Must - mention is the "Kiki's Kitchen" here...Its an open stall and a sweet smiling lady greeting us always. Specialising in omlettes and sandwiches and burgers, Kiki had it all in a small corner under a tree with just 3-4 work-tables. She had a gas stove and 2 pans to make things warm, a toaster and all the ingredients and herbs you can think of!!! We opted for the "Open sandwich" and were asked for the option of being served with fresh fruits or boiled eggs. Hmmm... Boiled eggs it was !!! And we stood there and watched her make it. It was a delight to watch. There were cherry tomatoes, salad leaves, sun dried tomatoes, pomegranate, bell pepper, cucumber, oregano, salt, and freshly crushed pepper( my favourite )- i dont know if i am forgetting anything... But it was super yummy...Yes, as it looks :))

Being from mumbai, i always crave for the famous vada paav here in Delhi. In fact, the last time i went mumbai was after 6 months of being in Delhi and the first thing i did when i landed was have vada paav :))) I especially dont like the paav that we get here in Delhi. The paav in Mumbai are soft and thin... Here we get packet ones which are not as soft, and they are big...huge (as you can see ). But minus the paav, the vadas were worth it at "The Maharashtra food stall". It had the real taste of Maharashtrian food. Owned and run by Shubhangi Chiplunkar, they also have a permanent stall at Dilli Haat. She was happy to tell me about her 95 % punjabi customers who are regulars and also about the huge orders they get for the Diwali "Faraal" of chaklis, sev, chiwda, ladoos etc. A sweet female, she instructed her cook to make special sev puri for us as we were from mumbai!! Yes, the food was yummy and very authentic. As much as we wanted to try the Shrikhand and Gaakar and pithla, we were full !!! So maybe next time at the stall at Dilli Haat :))

And the last mention is the "JugMug Thela".( https://www.facebook.com/JugmugThela/info) We loved the name, loved the decor and loved the wooden benches kept in front of the stall to sit ! Why JugMug? When i asked him, the owner Jatin said, "Its because of all the jugmug of lights around the stall and also signifies a jug of coffee and a mug of tea!!!" Started in Feb 2013, JugMug thela is a mobile kiosk that serves Artisan chai and coffee from India and around the world. The menu was interesting ! But i prefered being asked  personalised questions of " whether you like your coffee sweet or bitter, whether milky or strong etc..." The coffee was rich, creamy, hot and aromatic, just the way i liked it! They even have coffees and homemade tea masalas for sale. Also some fresh baked cookies and cakes along with your coffee/chai. And yes, not to forget the popular-with-kids Ice pops with flavours of Ginger, Aloe vera, Grapes, Fresh fruits in honey and green Tea.

As much as we are paan and mouth freshner lovers, we headed to the stall of "Mahesh Supari" selling churans and suparis. Some of them were really yummy, especially the "Khatta Meetha", "The gulkand paan" , and our all time favourite "Anaardana". There are pickles and readymade gol gappe puris (fry and serve) and also papads in different flavours. The next stall had very interesting packets of Gajak's (Peanuts in peanut butter, sesame seeds in sugar syrup... its like chikki), Gatte ( Of Rajasthan fame, which i bought a packet of and am going to make the yummy Gatte-ki-sabzi soon. Gatte are basically chicpea flour dumplings dried and then cooked into a gravy) and some Namkeens too.

Finally, we headed to the shopping section and were amazed to see all the different crafted antiques from various parts of India, some from remote villages. Salute to all the artists and craftsmen and i wish more exhibitions like these keep happening all over.

And we love this " Man amongst God "

A fun filled Saturday it was - All Thanks to Dastkar ! :)