Ram Kachodi - Thank you Hanuman Ji..

Yesterday was a Sunday, and at around 10:45 am, my dad's religious spirit awakened and he wanted to visit Lord Hanuman's temple behind Red Fort. It popularly goes by name of Marghat Waale Hanuman ji. Well anyhow, who wants to get out of rajai at that hour in winters, however after dad promised some breakfast, I was game.

He is ultimate foodie and encyclopedia when it comes to Delhi's street food, so eating out with him is always a pleasure. Anyhowwe reached the mandir complex by 11:45 am, only to find out that temple closes at 11:30 am. While my parents were disappointed and sulking, I was grinning and drooling :D. It was like Hanuman Ji has ensured that I drive more than 10 km to reach there and have his prasad a.k.a KACHODIS....he is not my favorite god for nothing.

Regardless of the general hygiene of the temple complex, which is as sad as any other temple in he city, you can spot few shops selling Kachori, bread pakora, poori and stuff. Out of those 'Ram Kachodi' seemed most prominent, and we decided to have a go. Rs.12 per plate for piping hot stuff. First few bites did not excite me, could taste lot of baking soda in the pithi (stuffing), and thought what a disappointment it was, should have tried other outlets. However enter peice number two and things suddenly changed. The excessive soda was gone, and now the kachodi was as good as any, if not better. Suddenly I realised that it was quite well done, and had spent a lot of time over fire. It was quite crispy, but not hard at all.

There is nothing more divine on face of earth than a properly cooked and stuffed kachodi, and Ram kachodi had that on offer. You cannot blame me for having 2 more after that, and still wanting more. I sincerely thank Lord Hanuman from bottom of my heart or rather top of my belly,for making me come to temple, only to shower me with his blessings in form of food.

Pranathas near Moolchand

Now this one is another legend of the city. If one tries to think of Delhi and Paranthas, its quite easy to assume that Paranthas would be sold at every nook and corner of the city, as we do swear by our paranthas. but unfortunately that is not the case. In this parantha crazy city, everyone only likes what their mom makes (or wfie maybe) and do not generally go out for paranthas.  And yes, the legendary Paranthe waali gali is alive in  legends only, its a sham.

However the Paranthe-walla sitting opposite Vikran Hotel, near Moolchand Hospital in Lajtap Nagar is one of the few that has been able to make a name for itself. It is know by many names, but yes, most of the foodies in the city would know about this place for sure.

As any other famous and roadside joint, this place is often crowded, hygiene is not what you are looking for, food comes cheap and there are not many who do better than them. I guess the most expensive Parantha on the menu would not cross Rs.20, and they have a good variety of those. The most famous one being Egg Parantha.You can have them with combination of Rajma, Boondi Raita, butter or either one of those. They serve it with Masala on top and bunch of spiced up green chillies.

And yes, coming to actual praranthas they are quite good, made on a giant Tawa with perfection of an assembly line. Its the stuff that Taxi waalas eat for a days heavy lunch and youngster after their evening party sessions in fancy clubs and pubs.

If you notice, I have not commented on taste, well is it not a given :D with the description above.

Baba Nagpal Ke Chhole Bhature

Being a Delhiite, its impossible to avoid Chhole Bhature. Every single citizen of the city would have his/her favorite outlet for the same.

When we talk about Nagpal from Amar colony, we are talking about top of league here. In a city which has a (or two) Cholle Bhature waala at very corner, Nagpal would feature in Top 5 of any self respecting food lover. For some it might be number one, for some number 5, but it has to be there, because they hardly do better than him.

Its not hard to find, just go in Amar colony and ask anyone, and you will be directed to the outlet. The prices are average at Rs.30 per plate. There are other things on the menu too like, Rajma Rice, Shahi Paneer rice etc.

The stuff is pretty heavy, a foodie like me is satiated with two bhaturas itself. If going there on weekend, be prepared to brave some crowds. Generally the stuff sells out by 2 pm.

Tandoori for Vegetarians

Good Tandoori food has always been hard to find on the street for vegetarians. The traditional dish being Paneer Tikka, maybe mushroom. Even though there are other options like veg seekh kebabs, stuffed aloo etc., however there hardly has been a place where you go exclusively for vegetarian tandoori stuff. Otherwise its generally ordered when your non vegetarian friend is having his kebabs or tandoori chicks.

Thanks to Jatin once again, for recommending Amtritsari Chaap corner in Karol Bagh area. Even though I had seen the joint earlier, and wanted to go there, but Jatin beat me to it. Anyhow. now have been there couple of times, the menu has 8-9 items on it, including Rumali roti. The USP of the place being, it specializes in Tandoori stuff and deals only in vegetarian food.

You can actually count what they have to offer, 3 types of Soy chaap (Stuffed, Masala and Malai), 2 paneer tikka (normal and malai), Mushroom tikka, Veg. Seekh Kebab (with or w/o roomali roti). All the dishes are Either Rs.60 or 70 for a full serving and half the rate for half serving. They serve them on paper plates, with kuchumber salad and chutney. There is no sitting arrangement, you just stand and hog :D.

When I was there first, it was like a trip to Appu Ghar for me,  wanted to try everything, so we ended up having Mushorooms, Paneer malai Tikka, Stuffed Chaaps and Masala Chaaps. And it was some spread. I have had stuffed chaap earlier as well, and this one was nothing extraordinary this is not to say it is not good, it was quit good, but not exceptional. Mushrooms, tasted like just that, Mushrooms ;). However I really loved the Malai Paneer Tikka and Masala Chaap. Paneer tikka was like the best I had (Till that date, watchout for next posts :D), Masala Chaaps were unlike anything I had eaten before. I was there again last night, however they only had Masala Chaap and Malai Chaap to offer, rest all was sold out. Well, I did not find malai Chaaps to be that good compared to Masala Chaaps, however still worth a try. .If you can see the pic, you can see the kind of spread we had, and paid around only Rs.200 for all that stuff.

The important thing to keep in mind, that these guys generally sell out by 10 pm. So you better be there early, or you gonna be disappointed.

Here are the details of the outlet :

Amritsari Chaap Corner

4973/2-3, Shiv Nagar, Ganga Mandir Marg, Karol Bagh ND-5.

Behind Khalsa College, Opposite Reebok Showrrom.

Ph: 65876171, 9250782785

Rahim's Mughlai Food

Just wanted to go out last night to one of the tried and tested places, however this friend (Jatin Ghai) of mine recommended Rahim's right in the neighborhood. Now I am quite skeptical about hardcore Mughlai places, besides our regular places, these restaurants have little to offer for vegetarian food.

However went there, its quite small arrangement, not for dine in basically, but you can still sit on stools and eat. I ordered a Butter Paneer and Jatin ordered a Jehangiri Murgh. It was too basic, the food was served in same packing boxes in which they deliver, paper plates for roti, plastic spoons etc. However the khamiri roti's looked quite promising, well done in the tandoor, and thinner than usual.

The prices on the menu card seemed quite ok, with all veg dishes in range of Rs.75 to 95. For non-veg most of the offerings were for Rs.99, barring a few.

The first bite of the food, put away all the apprehension I had about the place. It straightaway reminded me of Paneer at Karim's at Jama Masjid. It confirmed what my companion had maintained all along, its as good as Karim's. Even the chutney was quite nice. Combine all three with amazing hospitality of owner, Md. Tahir, and you have a great dining experience.

Tahir bhai told us that they have 4 outlets in all, three other being in Dwarka, Vasant Kunj and Kalkaji, and they actually are somehow related to Karim's. He is someone who does his Nawaz 5 times a day, is fond of good bikes (his imported Yamaha Drag Star was parked right outside), and is as gregarious as they come.

All in all a great experience, they have a centralized kitchen and the food is supplied to all 4 outlets from same kitchen, so if you see one in your locality, do try it out.

Would right more about it as i try their other vegetarian offerings.

Rahim's Mughlai Food
6/1, West Patel Nagar, New Delhi - 08
Phone : 64702777, 64637888, 64690999

I guess I should also mention the numbers for other Branches as they are mentioned on the menu.

Dwarka - 64674111, 64702111, 64692111

Vasant Kunj - 64560777, 64569777, 65100193

Kalkaji - 65024978, 9268181231, 9268181232

PS : forgot to mention the lovely Mint-lemon tea that Tahir bhai generously shared with us.

Samosa from Karol Bagh..

I heard about this Samosa walla in Karol Bagh area through EOiD (Eating out in Delhi) community, and was curious to try it out, since I live quite close to the area.

I was in the area yesterday evening and decided to give it a try, as per the direction reached the front gate or Jessa ram hospital and with your back towards Pusa Road, took right into the street opposite it  (Technically the service lane of Pusa road, this shop is behind house no. 14 Pusa road), and spotting the shop was not a challenge then. As there are hardly 2-3 shops there, and spotting the halwai was an easy job.

The shop looks quite run down and old, I doubted the quality of the stuff after first glance. I was told that there were some really old guys managing it, however I saw couple of young guys manning the counter. They said that samosas were being fried and we have to wait for 10 minutes, decided to sink our teeth into a Ras Madhuri sitting on the counter in the meantime (cannot say much about it, as was too sweet and syrupy for me, but texture seemed nice). Later on we were told that even those guys were customers and and the famous old man was busy making samosa on the backside. This enjoys tremendous loyalty, so much so that peoeple actually patiently wait for 15 minutes, while the stuff is being made.

Now coming to the samosa, the main reason why it is famous is because they do not fill the mashed potatoes, but they cut them inot small pieces, roast them and then fill them. It was lovely to eat, the old man had taken his sweet time to fry them, this ensured that the crust was nice and crispy. The potatoes has subtle spices, nothing over powering the flavor, every bite and experience in itself.

We were qute satisfied with the samosa and started chatting with the old man (Mr. Dutt or popularly known as Pandit Ji)

, he said that shop was originally owned by his Mama Ji and he worked for them since beginning. it opened in 1942 and the owner was staunch follower of Nehru-Gandhi school. Infact Nehru has visited this shop on several occasions.

He also made us sample some Sandesh made from "Kajoor Ka Gud", which comes straight from Bengal and a type of Mathri.

The Menu

Sandesh

News Paper Article

Original Owner 

 

Other Pictures

United Coffee House

Have heard a lot about this place. This is like an institution in Delhi. Unfortunately was never able to visit the place till now, however got the opportunity today.

People have told me that food is nothing great, but its all about the ambiance. However I found the ambiance to be ordinary too, the place was just too loud for a restaurant in that price range. Have few things only, Paneer Tikka, Golden Fried corn and Salt pepper vegetables. All these things were in range of Rs.300 per dish, however nothing was good enough. Paneer Tikka was the worse that I have had anywhere. Salt and pepper vegetables were ordinary, and golden fried corns were corn pakoras.

All in all, my first experience was not good at all, though service was decent and polite.