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Shiv Misthan Bhandar

It is said that “Breakfast is the most important meal of the day”, and Delhi has no dearth of options when it comes to sizzling breakfast options. Be it vegetarian or non-vegetarian, you would find it all in this walled-city. So one day I went around old Delhi in search of some good vegetarian dishes, and was instantly recommended Shiv Misthan Bhandar’s bedmi aloo.

Shiv Mishtan Bhandar is one of the legendary shop in Chandini Chowk. Established in 1910, by Shri Mohar Singh Yadav, Shiv Mishtan Bhandar is recognized for a wide range of sweets and snacks of Rajasthani cuisine. Shiv Mishthan Bhandar is known to serve its customers with heavenly delights prepared with pure desi ghee.

If  you are there in the morning, you can dish on nagori halwa, a delicious dish, which consists of  small puris which you stuff with halwa or relish their famous bedmi, a delicious meal of two big puris stuffed with a dal mixture, which is served with potato sabzi and chole. Flavorful methi chutney and pickles are also served alongwith.

Apart from bedmi aloo, they have chholey bhature, kachori and samosa . They sell six kinds of sweets : jalebi and imarti, gulab jamun, suji halwa, mung dal halwa and malpua. Shiv Misthan’s jalebi is juicy, yet crisp.

Earlier, one had to stand and eat there, but now the place has expanded and remodeled with a decent seating space. If you are eating there, bearers keep filling your plate with sabzi at regular intervals.

There are only 11 items on the menu but Shiv Misthan keeps a strict check on quality. Few of its signature dishes are must try, like Bedmi Poori served with Aloo ki Sabzi along with spicy Methi ki Chutney & Choley, Halwa Nagori with Crispy Poori, Jalebi, Imarti.

When visiting Shiv Mishthan Bhandar, you are ought to leave your calorie conscious mind back home to fully enjoy the of taste and tradition of old delhi. My craving for bedmi aloo has been met, when are you going?

 

Location : 375, Kucha Ghasi Ram, Chandni Chowk, New Delhi

Cost of Two : Rs 100 (Approx)

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Haji Mohd. Hussain Fried Chicken

Jama Masjid is quite a delight for people looking for authentic street food of Delhi. The aroma of different kababs, parathas, mithais have served as crowd puller since time immemorial and one such gem of Old Delhi is Haji Mohd. Hussain Fried Chicken. Since 40 years, the modest eatery is serving some of the finest fried chicken in Delhi.

The mouth-watering Mughlai preparations are every non-veg lover’s dream come true. The chicken is first marinated in different spices, and then half-fried. The marination lends the perfect balance of spices in the juicy and tender chunks. The person who fries the chicken legs even checks the chicken piece with his hands to ensure the piece is well- fried and not undercooked.

When served, the portion comes with spicy chutney, green chillies and raw onions. The chicken has a crunchy outer and is super-juicy inside. It is complemented well with rumali roti, onions and tangy chutney.

 

For maximum crispness, the chicken is cut into small pieces to be fried in huge pan of boiling oil. They fry the half done chicken again before serving. Double frying the chicken results crunchy outside and moist and tender inside.

Don’t expect a very hygienic environment or an upscale service, as it serves in a small shop but offers lip smacking food at reasonable rates. Haji Mohd. Hussain Fried Chicken lies in the vicinity of Jama Masjid and opens by 11 in the morning and serves till 11 at night.

There is no seating available. One has to stand and eat or mostly people prefer to get these delicious treats parceled for home. The moist and tender delight would is sure to impress all chicken lovers in town.

A must try dish for all.

 

Location : 113, Matia Mahal Road, Bazaar Matia Mahal, Jama Masjid, New Delhi

Cost for two : Rs 300

 

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Hira Lal Chaat Corner

From past 100 years, this little joint is serving variety of delicacies.  This place claims to invent a chaat. Surprisingly its neither deep fried nor oily. It is rather refreshing and healthy, as it’s all fruit. Don’t confuse this with any normal fruit chaat, Kulliya Chaat is no ordinary chaat.

Asking about the idea of kulliya chaat, the owner said, One day I was experimenting by hollowing out the potato and filling it with spices and lemon juice, it tasted nice and I started selling it along with our other items.

The word Kulliya is suppose to have been named after the “Kullhad”. Kuliya or Kulle is fruit and vegetable cups that are scooped out of its flesh and then filled with flavored stuffing. The Kulliya Chaat is a quintessential street food sold in Old Delhi.

This wonderful edition of Fruit Chaat is great in taste and has an impeccable flavor. The fruits induces freshness, while tangy Chaat Masala gives it a marvelous flavor.

Not to forget, the lemon juice balances the overall sweetness and makes it more delicious. They add boiled Chickepeas and fresh Pomegranate seeds. The crunchiness of Pomegranate contrasts with the softness of fruit cups and gives it a zesty tang.  As more and more customers appreciated this Kulliya Chaat, they experimented it further and added a whole new range of fruits and other ingredients to make the Chaat more flavorful.

Today, boiled potato can be substituted with sweet-potato, watermelon, apple, orange, banana or cucumber. The Chaat can be customized further and can be made extra spicy, tangy or a bit sour.

They serve various items which include pav bhaji, aloo chaat which is yet another popular item in their menu. Cube shaped potatos are fried twice for the crunchy texture and wonderful taste. Also they serve, burger but there’s a catch the tikki’s are made with sabudana which increases the health element as well as the taste.

So when are you going to chawri bazar, for the lip smacking and healthy kulliya chaat?

 

Location : 3636, Gali Lohe Wali, Chawri Bazar, New Delhi

Cost for two – Rs 100 (Approx)

 

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Lallan Kulche Wala

Lallan Kulche Wala

By Kshitij Rathore

IMG_20160729_122839Darya Ganj has been a representative of lip smacking street cuisine since time immemorial. However, in the recent time, it has lost its lustre due to the popularity of places like Hauz Khas Village and Greater Kailash market. This is the reason I decided to explore Darya Ganj ­ to rediscover its lost sheen and to explore the scrumptious food that this place offers.

I was walking around Hindu Park when I found a small cart named ‘Lallan special Chole Kulche’. Intrigued, I went up to the guy and ordered a plate of Chhole Kulche. He had 6 different kinds of Kulche to offer which, honestly, was astonishing because you rarely find more than one type of kulcha, let alone 6. So, I sat on the wooden bench he’d set aside for customers as he prepared a plate of Sooji ke kulche and chhole sprinkled with lemon on top. A glassful of raita to mellow down the spiciness of the chhole worked in my favour.

IMG_20160729_123106Originally from Bareily, UP, Lallan bhai has been working in this area for the past 25 years. The fact that this has been his family business for the past three generations really reflects in his preparation of the food. Despite having a plethora of customers swarming around his shop, he wasn’t annoyed with my enquiries. In fact, he was very cooperative.

I also tried the Jeera Kulcha which I found very staiating. The variety of kulche included Aloo Kulcha, Paneer Kulcha, Carom seed (ajwaain) Kulcha and coriander(dhaniya) Kulcha. If you’re famished after all the book shopping, you can make a pit stop here to gorge on a flavoursome plate of Chhole Kulche. I highly recommend the Jeera Kulcha as its effervescent aroma will make your mouth water. It won’t cost you a whole lot as the prices ranges from Rs. 40 to Rs. 90 per plate.

You’ll find his cart in the lane adjacent to the Darya Ganj police station facing Hindu Park.

Cost for two: Rs. 180 (approx)

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.
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Bhaiya Lal’s Pineapple Burfi

Bhaiya Lal’s Pineapple Burfi

By Anubhav Sapra

 Being a self confessed sweets addict, I am constantly looking out for sweet shops. Some of my favorite sweet shops in Chandni Chowk are – Chaina Ram in Fatehpuri Chowk for Karanchi halwa and sev badam, Hajari Lal Jain in Kinari Bazar for rabri and khurchan, Ghantewala near Fountain Chowk for sohan halwa, Tewari brothers near Town Hall for motichur ke laddu, Annapurna Sweets opposite Seeshganj Gurudwara for Bengali sweets and of course, Dariba Kalan’s famous jalebi.

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I was walking down the Dariba street when I spotted a mithai wala selling varieties of colorful mithais beautifully decorated with chandi vrak in separate trays. These trays were laid on the stairs of one of the Jewellery shops in Dariba Kalan. The owner, Naresh Kumar evenly spread sheets of edible chandi varak over the sweets, sprinkled pistachios burada, and covered the sweets with nets to keep flies away.

Naresh Kumar sells the sweets opposite Gali Kunjas in Dariba Kalan between Ramtaur Jewellers and Swastik Jewellers shop from 5 pm onwards. He learnt the art of making sweets from his father, who is well-known as Bhaiya lal. Bhaiya lal started the sweet shop in his name in 1936 at Shop no. 3459, Hauz Qazi, Subzi Market and Naresh Kumar took over in 1962. He has been selling the same variety of sweets.

IMG_20150530_174602The menu consists of Bengali mithai Rasbhari, Parmal stuffed with khoya, cham cham, lauki burfi, Pineapple burfi, nariyal burfi. All the sweets are prepared in a more or less similar way – with khoya as the main ingredient. All of them costs Rs 400/- kg. The sweets are weighed by using a tarazu (balance scale).

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What intrigued me most was the Pineapple burfi, which I had tasted for the first time at this sweets shop. It turned out to be excellent because it was just the right amount of sweet. It was prepared adding pineapple syrup to roasted khoya.Another Bengali sweet, Rasbhari which are small rasgullas were different from the ones we usually get. Rasbhari was not soaked in sugar syrup, it was dry from the outside and the centre was filled with thickened sugar syrup so that as soon as one bites into it their mouth fills with the sweet syrup. Other sweets, cham cham, lauki burfi, and nariyal burfi were equally amazing.

 I am delighted to add Bhaiya Lal’s sweets to my list of favorite Sweets shops in Chandni Chowk!

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.