November 2014 – Delhi Food Walks

Posted on November 30, 2014 December 7, 2015

Asli Habshi Halwa

By Anubhav Sapra

I came across something very interesting when I recently roamed around in the streets of Ballimaran. The entrance of Punjabi Phatak in Ballimaran greeted me with a sweetmeat, “Asli habshi halwa”. This sweet is made up with many nutritious ingredients put together such as milk, desi ghee, cashew, nuts, almonds, clove, kewda, wheat flour, and only during winters, saffron. It is recommended in the cold weather as it is a good source of energy and gives strength to our body to prevent weakness.

The name in itself is very intriguing, which got me thinking why a sweet should be named “habshi”. Habshi is the Urdu word for the colour black and also a name commonly used by many Delhiites for people of African descent because of their color and strength. Isn’t that a bit harsh?

Firoz Ahmed, the proud owner of the shop, shared the journey of the sweetmeat since the time of undivided India. The original shop of habshi halwa was in Chandni Chowk, located somewhere in between Kucha Rehman and Kucha Ustad Daag. Abdul Khaliq was the owner of the shop, famously known as Ghantaghar Habshi Halwa Wale. During the Partition, Abdul Khaliq migrated to Pakistan, leaving his shop in the hands of his workers.

After the Partition, Firoz’s father started with a small granary shop, and sold paan and bidi to earn a living. He met a worker from Abdul Khaliq Habshi Halwa Wale and learned the art of making habshi halwa from him. The recipes were passed down from that worker of Abdul Khaliq’s shop to Haneef to Firoz and till date, Firoz Ahmed makes this delicacy at his home.

The shop is now looked after by his son, Firoz Ahmed in Punjabi Phatak, Ballimaran. Mohammed Hanif’s brothers have also continued the business of selling habshi halwa but have opened their own stores named after their brother, namely, Hanif Dairy in Gali Qasimjan, near Hamdard Dawakhana, which has been doing brisk business there for more than ten years now. A few shops after that, I found another shop selling the same sweet by the name Ahmed Dairy, which was started by Taqi Ahmed. To differentiate from the others and retain the original identity of Abdul Khaliq’s shop, a picture of Ghanta Ghar (the clock tower in Town Hall) is printed on the box of Firoz Ahmed’s Habshi Halwa.

Habshi halwa is one of Old Delhi’s famous delicacies and is rich in flavour and aroma. It takes nine hours to cook this sweet and it is sold throughout the year, but mostly in the winters from October to March. It is priced at Rs. 430 per kilogram. The shelf life of the sweetmeat is one month. It may become dry after one month but the taste remains the same.

Ghanta Ghar Wala supplies this halwa all around India, mostly to Kanpur and abroad in Pakistan. During the month of December season, they offer yellow carrot halwa which is supposed to be eaten cold and is made without ghee. I found this extremely new and fascinating. I am eagerly waiting for the December to savour this carrot halwa. I wonder how it will taste – halwa without ghee and served cold.

If you have a sweet tooth and ever find yourself in Old Delhi, you must visit these shops located at the following addresses and try the extremely famous and delicious habshi halwa:

1. Ghanta Ghar Wala – 1368, Punjabi Phatak, Ballimaran.

2. Hanif Dairy – 1532, Gali Qasimjan, Near Hamdard Dawakhana, Lal Kuan.

3. Ahmed Dairy – 1538, Gali Qasimjan, Lal Kuan.

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Anubhav Sapra

Anubhav Sapra is an avid foodie! He is a Founder but proudly calls himself a Foodie-in-chief at Delhi Food Walks. He is also a street-food and Indian regional cuisine connoisseur and loves to write about street-food.

http://www.delhifoodwalks.com

Posted on November 26, 2014 November 26, 2014

Trishul Chaat Bhandar

By Anubhav Sapra

Chhole have distinct taste at each chhole kulche joint. At one end of this spectrum, Lotan’s Chhole Kulche at Chhata Shahji in Old Delhi adds red chilies to make it spicy and hot, while at the another end there are a few eateries like Pancham Chhole Kulche, near Filimistan, Rohtak Road that makes a nice mixture of saunth or meethi chutney with khatti chutney in chhole to give it a distinct flavour.

I have never liked onion and tomato in my dona of chhole. I believe that chhole has its own unique taste which is lost once onion and tomato are added to it. In Kamla Nagar, near Chhota Golchakkar, Post Office Waali Gali, a small shop named Trishul Chat Bhandar, sells one of the best matra kachoris and matra kulchas in North Delhi without onion and tomato. The address is 121-D, Kamla Nagar. The shop is open from 12 noon to 4 p.m.

A plate of chhole kulche and matra kachori costs Rs. 25 each. As suggested by the owner of the shop, I first had chhole kulche and then matra kachori. I was intrigued by his suggestion and asked him the reason behind having chhole kulche first and matra kachori next. He candidly replied that khatti-meethi chutney is added in matra kachori, and its taste can be relished only if one has it right after the light masalas of chhole kulche.

I was surprised to know that they have been making this delicious dish for the past seventy-two years and currently, it is the fourth generation, and that they still use the same recipe. It was started by Ramful who used to roam around the lanes of Kamla Nagar to sell chhole kulche on a khomcha. After the death of Ramful, Tula Ram bought a cart and started selling the chhole kulche near Kamla Nagar Post Office. And the third generation, Krishan Lal, who is the current owner of the shop, bought this small shop eight years back, calls it “Almirah” because of its small size. It is indeed a small shop of literally the size of a cupboard and I love the way they have arranged everything from masalas to the stove there. From khomcha to a cart to an almirah, the place and those who made this delicacy have changed, but the recipe is still the same. The home made masalas- which are mixture of dhaniya, jeera, amchur, peeli mirch, long, elaichi dana, and chaat masala are used in making a dona of chhole. A helping of chhole is mixed with masalas, saunth, green chutney, roasted jeera, ginger, and coriander to be served with butter kulche. On other hand, Pawan, the son of Krishan Lal, generously makes a good layer of matra on a crispy kachori and tops it with ginger, coriander, and khatti amchur chutney. The crunchy kachori with soft matra over it with lime juice, khatti-meethi chutney makes it a perfect dish to savour.

All I can say, it is a taste of the divine!

Anubhav Sapra

http://www.delhifoodwalks.com

Posted on November 15, 2014

Monkey Bar

By Anubhav Sapra

I still remember an article titled “The Year That Was” written by Rahul Verma in The Hindu, the only food writer in India whom I follow religiously, and who mentioned in his last article of 2013 about his most memorable meals of the year. One of them was in Monkey Bar.

Indeed, it turned out to be one of my most memorable meals of 2014. Monkey Bar. or Mobar, a gastropub, opened their second branch in Connaught Place this year, located at 3, Connaught Circus, Connaught Lane, above Uttam Sarees shop.

The dishes have been curated by one of India’s most promising young chef and entrepreneur. Manu Chandra. I had no doubt about the food as I had read extensive reviews before visiting the Mobar.

Ankit, a trained chef and the restaurant manager at Monkey Bar CP, introduced the dishes one by one to me comprehensively. With deep research about the nearby restaurants and bars in Connaught Place, these fusions have been curated to suit the palate of every customer. On Ankit’s recommendation, I started with ricotta and paneer kebab, served with grilled pav and tomato kalonji chutney. Next was keema bao, a freshly steamed bao of rice, stuffed with spicy minced mutton and served with rich mutton broth in a small glass topped with coriander. The keema bao broth is perfect for Delhi winters. I can imagine myself having mutton broth on the terrace of Mobar to keep myself warm, when the temperature will dip further in the coming winter months. Dabeli, a Gujarati snack is served with tamarind and masala flavoured potato in fresh pav coated with sev, heeng peanuts, pomegranate, fig, tamarind, and garlic chutney. The two starters, which I am sure would be loved by Delhiites are chilli cheese dragons – spring rolls filled with cream cheese and mozzarella, green chilli, capsicum, coriander, onion and served with roasted garlic chilli dip; and butterfly chicken, which consists of sweet, spicy, crispy bits of chicken tossed with sesame, chilli, honey and peppers, stuffed in Mobar’s signature butterfly shells.

In the main course, I had Chandra Ji’s mutton curry. This dish is named after the chef’s father, Mr. Chandra. The succulent lamb is cooked with khada masala, curd, butter, and served with steamed rice topped with caramelized onions. This was my kind of mutton, which I normally cook at my home with raw spices. The aroma of the spices is intact and can be felt while eating. The most interesting dish I had at Mobar was butter chicken khichdi. It sounds really unusual to mix khichdi with butter chicken, and the dish while being offbeat, was truly delectable. The softness of creamy moong dal khichdi with succulent pieces of chicken served with “khichdi ke paanch yaar” – ghee, papad, dahi, salad and achaar, was a great gastronomical experience. I added a spoon of ghee, crushed papad, mixed dahi, and salad to make a perfect mix of khichdi and butter chicken. It was indeed divine.

I was also served patra ni machi, a classic Parsi dish with a Bengali twist, basa topped with green chutney and kashundi, steamed in banana leaves, and served with steamed rice. However, it was too salty for me.

I ended my journey with filter coffee panna cotta, cardamom and milk cake crumble with salted caramel sauce and coffee ice cream. I am sure this would have been inspired from the next door restaurant, Sarvanaa Bhavan’s filter coffee.

As the year 2014 is coming to an end next month, I am already eagerly waiting for Rahul Verma’s list of memorable food trips of 2014, so that I can relish throughout the year.

Anubhav Sapra

http://www.delhifoodwalks.com

Posted on November 15, 2014

Kulcha King

By Anubhav Sapra

Sarojini Nagar is synonymous with Khandani Pakode Wala for me. Come winters, and people will queue up in front of the shop to relish hot and crispy pakodas with green chutney. Opposite to Pakode Wala, there is another food joint – Kulcha King, famous for its Amritsari kulcha and chhole. The address is Shop no. 144, Ring Road Market, Sarojini Nagar.

The eatery has been set up by Avtar Singh Bagga, who originally hails from Pind Bagga, Tehsil Ajnala in Amritsar. Avtar Singh started his career with a small transport business. Due to the risky nature of the work and few accidents, he closed it down and started dealing in foreign currency. This work too did not continue for long and finally, Kulcha King yielded profitable dividends by satiating the taste buds of Delhiites.

His son, Harjeet Pal Singh(contact no.: 8882335222), is a fine arts graduate from Punjab University and currently, runs this food joint. After 5 p.m., Harjeet works on his own sketching and painting. In fact, he has also designed the new website of his food joint: www.kulchakingfood.com .

The man with a charming personality, who serves the kulchas at the table and refills the hollow containers of the plates with chutney and chhole is Ravinder Bun, famously known as Kukku (contact no.: 9643676146). He has a huge fan following, and students from nearby colleges just come at Kulcha King to interact with him.

There are three varieties of kulcha at Kulcha King – mix kulcha (Rs. 70 for a plate), stuffed with aloo, gobhi, methi, pyaaz, adrak and dhania; mix kulcha (Rs. 80 for a plate), stuffed with gobhi, methi, pyaaz, adrak, dhania, with topping of ajwain and kali mirch; and paneer kulcha (Rs. 100 for a plate), stuffed with paneer, dhania, hari mirch and masalas. Each and every plate of kulcha is served with tamarind chutney, a mixture of spring onions, black salt, red onions, and cumin powder, and pindi chhole. The chhole has a subtle flavor of spices, not too spicy and oily. The chhole is cooked with masalas, and without adding any onions.

I had the crispy mix kulcha smeared with Amul yellow butter. The fillings were good and very less maida was used in making the kulcha. I dipped a small bite of kulcha in chhole and chutney and relished the taste like a king.

In the evenings, between 5 p.m. to 10 p.m., they serve some delectable dishes as snacks– Afghani soya, achari chaap, malai chaap and hariyali chaap and gravy- chaap tikka, paneer bhurji, soya keema, and soya kaleji. With this visit, I got another reason to visit Sarojini Nagar in the evenings.

Anubhav Sapra

http://www.delhifoodwalks.com

Posted on November 11, 2014 November 11, 2014

10 things you need to know about Burger King

By Aisha Bhattacharya

I was part of a privileged preview of Burger King’s first outlet in India and I have to say the kind of effort they have put into making it a sure shot success is mind-boggling. From travelling to various cities in India to discover what people want, to doing group surveys across our demographic and creating a menu of products suited to the Indian market in just under a year – Burger King has taken efficiency to another level.

The launch was conducted by Rocky Singh and Mayur Sharma from the popular television show ‘Highway on my plate’ and Chef Vicky Ratnani. We did a masterchef inspired team relay challenge and each participant had to make a burger to the standards and specifications of Burger King. This was not an easy task but we won! I was with another group of bloggers and by the end of it we ate so much food. Burgers, fries, slush, shakes, ice cream – we tried it all and below are the top 10 things you need to know about Burger King India:

1. It launched on the 9th of November, 2014 at the 2nd floor of Select City Walk, Saket.

2. India is their 100th country in the world of Burger domination

3. They have carefully customised the menu for the Indian palate based on 3 core aspects – Juicy, Crispy and Spicy

4. The Tandoori grill chicken burger has been created by Chef Vicky Ratnani – it is everything we could want – succulent tandoori chicken + Mint chutney (mayo) + onion rings (pyaaz) all stuffed in a bun. What more could we ask for?

5. There are NO Beef or Pork products on the menu – ensuring that no religious sentiments are offended

6. The kitchen is clearly divided into vegetarian and non-vegetarian sections with colour coded tongs and separate prep areas like all QSR outlets. Vegetarians can rest assured that no French fries are being fried in chicken nugget oil.

7. It really does ‘take two hands to handle a Whopper’ – irrespective of your gender.

8. The service is super fast – they take 30 seconds or less to assemble each burger!

9. When Burger King says chicken or mutton burgers, they mean 100% chicken/mutton patties. No fillers whatsoever. Just pure delicious, juicy meat.

10. Apart from the burgers, there are fries and chicken strips called Cravers and a couple of shakes and slush which go brilliantly with the burgers. The blue slush is a winner.

I said 10 and I know how to count. This last one is for good luck because Burger King is now officially in India

11. There are 13 burgers on the menu so have a ball and try out a different one each time because here is a place where the burger is King!

Anubhav Sapra

http://www.delhifoodwalks.com

Posted on November 11, 2014 November 11, 2014

Hot Pot

Hotpot

By Simran Kaur

Chinese food is one such cuisine that is most relished by people of all age groups. Hot Pot , a roadside van stands adjacent to lush greenery of Shalimar park in Model town ,serves extremely delicious and authentic Chinese food for more than a decade.

The food served here is really mouth watering with hint of Desi Tadka to it, making it unique and King of all nearby Chinese food joints. To your surprise , Hot pot serves around 53 type of noodles, out of which Hot Garlic Chicken Chowmin is my personal favourite . It has super spicy seasoning to it and explode like a bomb in the mouth.

In addition , Hot Pot is also famous for its spicy honey chilly potato, chicken hot and sour soup, egg fried rice, lemon chicken and drums of heaven. Chilly Chicken , served with spicy diced veggies is another attraction of the place. All the delicacies are so decently priced and the quantity is so generous that it is actually overflows off the dish. In case you are 2 people then half plate is more than enough for you.

However, parking can be an issue to be dealt with. Despite of much crowd in the evening, the service is so quick that the moment you blow the horn of your car, the attendant rushes to the window to jot down your order. It also has home delivery to nearby areas with minimum order of Rs.250.

So , when you crave for Chinese food, next, Hot Pot can be a perfect delight for you.

Anubhav Sapra

http://www.delhifoodwalks.com

Posted on November 10, 2014

Purani Dilli’s Al Karam – Purani Dilli in Gurgaon

By Anubhav Sapra

“Ek seekh kebab, ek nahari, ek korma, ek keema naan, ek shahi tukda…” and the sounds are still echoing in my ears. I visit Bazar Matia Mahal in the lanes of Jama Masjid, situated in Purani Dilli, almost four times in a week and these words echo every night when I go to sleep. For me, it was a bit unusual to hear the same words in the kitchen of a restaurant in Gurgaon. At one point of time, I thought I was again in an eatery in Matia Mahal.

I visited Purani Dilli’s Al Karam restaurant in Gurgaon the previous evening. The complete address is A-133, Supermart 1, DLF Phase 4, Gurgaon. Another branch of the same restaurant is in Satya Niketan. Even after attending the much hyped launch of Burger King in the morning, I was more excited to visit Al Karam’s to savour its kebabs and biryani. Indeed, the evening turned out to be “foodilicious”. The entrance of the restaurant greets you with a kebab stand, which was indeed very welcoming to a foodie like me. I reached at the very time the kebabchis were setting up the skewers to grill the kebabs. Within minutes, I was overjoyed to see the kebabs rolling.

While most restaurants in Delhi are run by the names of big chefs, Varun, the proud owner of the restaurant graciously introduced to me his kebabchi, Naushad, shagird of Lallu Kebabchi and Kallan Bawarchi in Jama Masjid. Naushad has also briefly worked in a kebab corner in Daryaganj for one and a half years before joining Al Karam’s. I had a short interaction with Naushad as he was leaving for a catering order in Gurgaon, but it still elevated my expectations. The journey of Al Karam’s started from Bazar Matia Mahal in Jama Masjid, where Varun met Umez Khan, the owner of Al Karam’s in Jama Masjid and both of them together set up Purani Dilli’s Al Karam in Gurgaon in November 2013.

I left it completely to Varun to introduce me to the menu and my food journey began with gilafi kebab (Rs. 230), minced mutton kebabs in a crisp coating of beans, green chilies, and paneer. The kebabs were tossed with butter and cream and I liked them, however, I must admit I like my kebabs served with green chutney and onions, and nothing else. I have had gilafi kebabs with a coating of capsicum at another place but Al Karam’s has a very different taste altogether. Another type of kebabs I had at Al Karam’s was achari kebab (Rs. 230). This was an interesting mix of the mirch masala of pickles in minced mutton and was full of flavours.

In curries, I had hakeemi chicken tikka (Rs. 500) and changezi chicken (Rs. 500). Both of them again had an unusual taste. Hakeemi chicken consisted of pieces of roasted chicken mixed with loads of Nutralite butter, cream, crushed brown onions, and topped with slices of ginger. The brown crispy onions added a nice flavour to the chicken. Changezi chicken, in Varun’s words was “daandedar”, in the sense that it had “daanas” of brown onion in the gravy. I also had mutton biryani with the gravy of korma. The rice of the biryani was long and flavourful, and the mutton pieces were soft enough while leaving the bones.

In desserts, shahi tukda made with ghee and topped with cashew nuts is a must try. In Bazar Matia Mahal, shahi tukda has toppings of green and red cherries, which I always remove to get the real taste of shahi tukda. This was my kind of shahi tukda, simple and delicious.

The food journey ended with interesting discussions with Varun about the best places to eat nahari, paaya, korma, and biryani in Old Delhi, Zakir Nagar, and Lucknow, where DFW is next heading to, on the 22^nd and the 23^rd of November. I could not try one third of the menu but I am going to visit Al Karam’s again to meet the bawarchis and kebabchis, and taste the remaining dishes in the menu, which I am sure would be excellent.

Anubhav Sapra

http://www.delhifoodwalks.com

Posted on November 8, 2014 November 8, 2014

Bishan Swaroop Chaat Corner

By Anubhav Sapra

I remember vividly, the must visit place in Chandni Chowk for fruit chaat where my mother used to take me during my childhood to was Bishan Swaroop Chaat Corner. Sitting on the stairs of Jain Library and slurping the leftover juices of fruits in a dona mixed with khatta meetha (sweet and sour) masala (spices) are some fond memories of those days. I visited Bishan Swaroop Chaat Corner yesterday afternoon to grab a dona of mixed fruit chaat and was saddened to hear that Bishan Swaroop had passed away one and half months back due to paralysis.

Bishan Swaroop Chaat corner has been serving fruit chaat since 1923. Started by Lallu Ram, the father of Bishan Swaroop, the shop is now run by his nephews, Jitender and Nand Kishore (contact no.: 9899648131). The address is 1421, near Mahavir Jain Library, Chandni Chowk, and it is open from 12 noon to 8 p.m.

I had mixed fruit chaat (Rs. 40 per dona) which contains tomato, star fruit, guava, watermelon, cucumber, beetroot, apple, orange, papaya, freshly fried potato and chickpeas, all mixed together. Spices such as roasted cinnamon, black pepper and chaat masala are sprinkled along with lemon juice and tossed with coriander chutney. The fruits get coated in different flavours and taste delicious but unfamiliar. Interestingly, Ashok who was doing this magical mixing of lemon juice, masalas and chutney, serves the mix fruit chaat in a dona with a toothpick to eat the fruits and a small spoon to slurp the leftover juice with the chickpeas.

I slurped the leftover juice to the last drop and ate chickpeas soaked in sweet and sour juice. Other kinds of chaat to try at the Chaat Corner are aloo chaat (Rs. 50 per dona), sweet potato mixed with fried potatoes (Rs. 50), fried aloo and chhole (Rs. 30), and aloo kachalu (Rs. 50).

I am sure Bishan Swaroop’s soul would rest in peace as this wonderful task of making such delicious chaat is being continued by his talented nephews.

Anubhav Sapra

http://www.delhifoodwalks.com

Posted on November 4, 2014 November 4, 2014

Al Nawaz- Mummy ke kitchen se Meridian tak

Al Nawaz

By Anubhav Sapra

At the age when most youngsters are looking for a safe and cushy job with a handsome salary, there are very few who are passionate enough to take the bold step to realize their dreams. Last week, I met two young, passionate entrepreneurs – Apaksh Gupta of Smugglers restaurant in Hudson Lane and Chef Shahnawaz of Al Nawaz Restaurant in Abu Fazl Lane, Zakir Nagar.

In this blog, I would like to cover the story of a man who started his journey, as per his words, from “mummy ke kitchen se Meridian aur Meridian se Al Nawaz tak”. Chef Shahnawaz started his career from Meridian Hotel and left the job in 2010 after getting an opportunity in Melbourne as an Executive Chef. However, due to visa issues, he could not make it to Melbourne kitchen. He was recommended by the owners of Swagat to work in a restaurant in Toronto as the Master Chef. But his mother asked him to work in India and he declined the offer. Then he briefly worked with the Gujrals of Moti Mahal in Chandigarh.

With a strong conviction about his art of cooking, he started his second innings with a small degh of 1 kg biryani at Khalilullah Masjid in Zakir Nagar. Our host for the Lucknow food tour, Saira Mujataba, a self confessed biryani freak was regular visitor to Nawaz’s biryani shop in her student days. Believing in luck, Nawaz used to buy basmati rice from a particular shop in Maharani Bagh every time to cook his special biryani. People got addicted to his biryani slowly and in such large numbers that the biryani degh became too small to cook biryani for everyone. He purchased a degh from Jama Masjid but that became small too and finally he ordered a special biryani degh from Moradabad. He graciously admits that, he could not afford nine hundred rupees to buy an iron stand used to take out biryani from the degh and had to compromise with a self made stone stand, which he picked up from the street side.

Later he moved to Okhla main road, and opened a new restaurant by the name of Al Nawaz. He claimed to introduce Anmol Chicken, chicken with loads of cream and butter. I went there with another foodie friend last year and found it simply delectable. Soon, his Okhla shop also became quite small and in May 2013, he shifted to the current address in Abu Fazl Enclave, next to Jamia Police station.

I had Nawaz’s special kalmi kebab( 4pcs for Rs 270), juicy and succulent leg pieces, mutton burra( 4 pcs for Rs 270), roasted perfectly, big but soft pieces of fish tikka( 5 pcs for Rs 300) and mutton nahari(half plate for Rs 360). But I liked his Chicken biryani(Rs 250) the most which is served with red spicy chutney. I was told that, many people cook biryani in their homes and visit Al Nawaz especially for the chutney, which works as a salan for the biryani. His biryani has a mix of flavor of Hyderabadi, Awadhi and Kolkata style. I believe this is the reason that his biryani suits everyone’s palate.

I am waiting for the day when Jamia Metro Station will finally start functioning and I can frequently visit Al Nawaz for his Biryani.

Anubhav Sapra

http://www.delhifoodwalks.com