Tag: travel

Posted on October 9, 2017

De Paris Bakers, a Hidden Gem in West Shalimar Bagh

A crispy, crumbly, butter-soaked patty, which is baked to perfection to get that lovely golden brown coloured crust, and makes a crunch sound as you bite into it. Isn’t that enough to make one’s mouth water? Moreover, if it is stuffed it with some of your favourite food items like pasta or pizza ingredients well, then who can say no to that?

De Paris Bakers, located in North West Delhi’s Shalimar Bagh area, is a small outlet that sells various bakery items like pasta, pizza, fries, shakes and patties. On the outside, this bakery looks plain and simple, in other words, not appealing. Yet, it manages to stand out from the various fancy and expensive bakeries in Delhi. De Paris Bakers was established around 20 years back and is now run by Saurabh, a polite and soft-spoken guy. The bakery is popular in the neighbourhood for selling scrumptious aloo patties and other unconventional ones filled with macaroni, tandoori pasta, mushroom, and pizza toppings which are served with ketchup. These patties are filled with mozzarella making them taste heavenly and just a look is enough to make your mouth water.

The bakery lacks an organised seating area and can be a little hard to find as it is located on the backside of BP Market in West Shalimar Bagh. All the bakery items are priced at a reasonable cost starting from Rupees 20. They also have various types of burgers and special combos consisting of burger or pizza, with coke and fries which are quite filling. The bakery can be easily reached by metro or, those living close by can also have their food home delivered.

This year, De Paris Bakers are trying to broaden their horizons and at the same time leave a lasting impression on their customers by selling these varieties of innovative patties at the NBT Flavour Fest- Street Fusion Food Court taking place at Baba Kharak Singh Marg on the 14th and 15th of October. If you consider yourself a food enthusiast, then you cannot miss this. The festival is curated by Delhi Food Walks and aims to bring to the forefront the talented minds behind the various fusion food items.

Address- BP 66, Club Road, West Shalimar Bagh

Contact Number- +919911700887, +919811156704

Posted on October 7, 2017

Samosa’s Authentic Indian Food Making Samosa’s Great Again

Be it a rainy day or just a craving for something “good”, aloo samosa with dhaniya and imli chutney is the go-to snack for almost every Indian. Just when you think everything that could have possibly been done to and modified about a samosa, has been done for, you couldn’t be more wrong. Samosa’s Authentic Indian Food, located in the bustling lanes of South Delhi, is here to revolutionise the basic aloo samosa.

Situated in the J block of the Amar Colony area of Lajpat Nagar 4, amidst the honking cars and the crowded lanes, Samosa’s Authentic Indian Food may seem like a regular shop on the outside, however, you’ll be assured of its uniqueness once you take a look at its menu. This samosa outlet has broken away from convention in just a period of 4-5 months. Samosa’s Authentic Indian Food offers upto 38 varieties of vegetarian and non-vegetarian samosas having fillings of paneer tikka, chicken keema, malai mushroom, creamy corn, and even a newly introduced samosa desert or ‘samoert’, stuffed with khoya and Dairy Milk Silk. One also has the option of two different types of samosa base, either aata or maida.

Rajiv, the owner of the outlet has collaborated with Swiggy and Ubereats to provide a swift and efficient home delivery experience to his customers and even has a website dedicated to the same. The different samosa stuffings are prepared every morning but no samosa is cooked beforehand. They are freshly prepared, using little marking of food colouring for differentiation, as per the orders received, in a small kitchen at the back of the shop. The samosas are served with the staple dhaniya and imli chutney. These golden brown crispy samosas start at rupees 10, going high up only till rupees 60. The outlet opens up at 11 in the morning but receives huge crowds only in the evening around 4-4:30.

This year, Samosa’s Authentic Indian Food is trying to expand its reach and “make samosa’s great again” by being a part of the NBT Flavour Fest- Street Fusion Food Court taking place at Baba Kharak Singh Marg on the 14th and 15th of October. The festival is curated by Delhi Food Walks and aims to bring to the forefront the talented minds behind the various fusion food items.

Location- J-9, Shop No 2, Amar Colony, Lajpat Nagar 4

Contact info.- +919650673039

Posted on October 6, 2017

Rajiv Bhai ki Spl. Pizza Omelette, a Speciality of Dwarka Sector 7

Omelette, etymologically a French word, has since been modified and its variants, like the frittata or the Greek omeleta, can be found across the world. In India too, the vendors of Delhi, have taken the omelette up a notch. The staple ingredient of every household has been spruced up to give us the pizza omelette.

Pizza omelette, a crossover between a pizza and an omelette, has become a speciality of Dwarka Sector 7. One can find many street food vendors selling the same, however, the one sold at Ramphal Chowk by a stall named Rajiv Bhai ki Spl. Pizza Omelette is truly a delicacy. The stall is owned by Shiv Kumar who has been doing the same for the past 3 years. People from the neighbourhood start lining up at his stall as soon as it opens. He also sells various other sorts of omelettes including cheese, chicken, paneer and even dry fruits. Shiv Kumar sets up his stall at 3 pm and serves till 11 pm, making for a great evening snack. The stall is easy to spot, being quite popular in the locality and can be easily reached by metro.

The pizza omelette is prepared live and its price varies from rupees 80-240, depending on the number of eggs used to make the omelette, going upto 10 eggs. The omelette is first cooked in large quantities of butter, either in Amul butter or its healthier alternative Nutralite, then stuffed with tomatoes, onion, ginger, and chillies, and later 4 slices of bread attached to it while cooking. So far, the dish looks pretty basic and simple, however, what follows, makes it stand apart. The omelette is finished off with toppings of liberal quantities of grated cheese, cream, beetroot, paneer, pomegranate, and fresh coriander. The finished product truly looks like a pizza and as you dig in, you’ll discover the variety of ingredients used in the making. The pizza omelette is served with two types of chutney, and a little salad on the side. If you are looking for an indulgence and do not mind the calories, this is the dish to go for.
This year, Rajiv Bhai ki Spl. Pizza Omelette is trying to give every Delhite the taste of their special pizza omelette by being a part of the NBT Flavour Fest- Street Fusion Food Court taking place at Baba Kharak Singh Marg on the 14th and 15th of October. The festival is curated by Delhi Food Walks and aims to bring to the forefront the talented minds behind the various fusion food items.

Location- Rajiv Bhai ki Spl. Pizza Omelette, Ramphal Chowk. Dwarka Sector 7, Delhi

Contact info.- +919015062819

Posted on October 6, 2017 October 6, 2017

K.B Chaat’s Famous Moonglet

Some call it the “Vegetarian Omelette” or the Indianised Pancake, but it is popularly known as the ‘moonglet’. Moong dal and Omelette, two food items that seem to not fit well together have been combined by the vendors of Karol Bagh to give us the super delicious ‘moonglet’. In simple terms, ‘moonglet’ is a moong dal cheela, but at the same time, it is so much more than that.

K.B. Chaat, located in Karol Bagh, is known in the neighbourhood for its scrumptious butter soaked ‘moonglets’. One can find multiple vendors selling this delicacy in this area, but it is for K.B. Chaat’s ‘moonglets’ that people line up and wait patiently. Located opposite the Stellato’s showroom, the stall is set up at 3 pm and keeps serving its various chaat items till 10 at night. Apart from the ‘moonglet’, they also sell other basic chaat items like Gol Gappe, Aloo Tikki, Chole Kulche, among others. KB Chaat first came into service in 1970 and was initiated by the father of the present owner. The owner, Dinesh Kumar, introduced the ‘moonglet’ in the stall’s menu about 6 years back. Since then, this dish has become popular across Delhi and has become synonymous with the stall’s name.
The cheela moonglet is prepared live and the process is a visual treat. It is made from moong daal, stuffed with onion, capsicum, sweet corn, etc and is cooked solely in layers and layers of butter, later topped with beetroot and coriander. Watching the moonglet being prepared is truly mouthwatering and makes it taste a lot more delicious. One can enjoy the cheela with 3 different types of chutneys, imli, mint, and a special one made out of khajoor. The price of the cheela varies from rupees 50-70, depending on the quantity of butter.

K.B. Chaat is easy to reach, the nearest metro station being Karol Bagh on the Blue line. The ‘moonglet’ is entirely made from vegetarian ingredients, yet it still manages to imitate the texture of an omelette. It makes for a perfect and relatively healthy evening snack.

This year, K.B. Chaat is trying to expand its reach by being a part of the NBT Flavour Fest- Street Fusion Food Court taking place at Baba Kharak Singh Marg on the 14th and 15th of October. The festival is curated by Delhi Food Walks and aims to bring to the forefront the talented minds behind the various fusion food items.

Address- K.B. Chaat, Opp. Stellato’s, Karol Bagh
Contact info.- +919873469437

Posted on October 4, 2017 October 4, 2017

Raju Idli Wala, A Gem in Noida’s Sector 34

An internet search about South Indian food stalls in and around Delhi will give you a multitude of options to choose from. One can find a thela serving a range of South Indian dishes in almost every neighbourhood of Delhi or NCR. However, no amount of Google searches will help you find this place. But once in this neighbourhood, this food stall is hard to miss.

Angel South Indian Food better known as Raju Idli Wala, is a small food vendor located in Noida’s Sector 34 who is quite popular in the neighbourhood for making delectable dosas at an affordable cost. As the name indicates, he sells wonderful, light as air idlis. However, refusing to confine himself to just this, he also makes a range of South Indian food like Uttapam and Vadas and serves them with sambhar and delicious nariyal chutney, all at an affordable cost ranging from rupees 40-50.

Raju, the owner and the head chef, sets up his thela at 6 in the evening and closes only when every one of his last customers has been served. He has a team of two who help him with the cleaning and the management of his affairs.

Raju’s story goes as follows. Before being a small business owner, he used to work at an office canteen, making the very same things, until the company was shut down and he was out of a job. This was probably his wake-up call to do greater tastier things. He named the food stall after his daughter Angel, but the shop is synonymous with his name.

As soon as this place opens, it starts humming with activity, witnessing a line of hungry people all eagerly waiting for their order. Raju makes the best of what he has in order to accommodate them. The thela serves as a cooking station and also doubles up as a table. Everything, from the cooking to watching people indulge in the food is a visual treat. The option of “Take Away” is also available. But the locals say the food is more enjoyable and seems tastier when you eat it there, surrounded by fellow foodies.

Raju Idli Wala’s thela is easy to spot, located opposite the B12 Market, next to a huge park, and close to the Wave City Centre metro station. This is a must try for the locals, and worth hopping onto a metro and travelling the distance, just to gorge on some delicious Vadas and Uttapams.

So the next time you are in town, do not forget to grab a plate of your preferred South Indian dish at Raju Idli Wala.

Location- Opposite B12 Market, Captain Shashi Kant Marg, Sector 34, Noida, Uttar Pradesh
Timings- 6 pm onwards, except Friday
Contact Number- +917503611520

Posted on February 15, 2015

Nand di Hatti

By Anubhav Sapra

There are a few landmark eateries in Delhi that continue to sustain their authentic taste, one generation after the other. When it comes to Delhi’s classic Punjabi dish – chole bhature, only few have retained the original taste. Out of these few establishments, one of them is Nand di Hatti in Sadar Bazar. I went there with my parents the other day. My parents had the first bite and proudly gave their verdict, that the taste and quality is still the same even after thirty years.

The complete name of the eatery is Nand di Hatti. The address is 829, Paan Mandi, Sadar Bazar, Delhi – 110006, and their phone numbers are 9582105678, 9958717192, and 9811480566.

The family is originally from Rawalpindi in Pakistan, where they had a chole, kulche and roti shop in Raja Bazar. After partition, they migrated to Delhi in 1947 and started selling chole kulche in Sadar Bazar on a cart. In 1960, Nand Lal ji bought the shop at the corner of Paan Mandi and introduced his chole bhature made in desi ghee. Currently, Om Prakash ji, son of the late Nand Lal ji runs the shop with his two sons. There is one more shop by the name of Nand di Hatti, owned by his brother.

The dough of bhaturas is prepared with suji (semolina), maida (white flour), dahi (yoghurt), namak (salt), cheeni (sugar), hing (asafoetida), baking powder, and yeast. Their addition of suji to the bhatura dough took me by surprise. The bhaturas are soft and even crispy, with no oil dripping out. The chole was a mix of delectable flavours. Owing to the few most important spices used quite commonly in our Indian dishes like hing (asafoetida), jeera (cumin), ajwain (carom), saunf (fennel seeds), and mirch (red and yellow chillies). They also do not add any onion and garlic. The best part is that you will never feel that you are missing out on them. The accompaniments served with the dish include amla ka achaar (gooseberry pickles) and green chillies achar. Spicy, enough! It was a real street treat! A plate of chole and bhature costs Rs. 90.

The bhaturas, chole, and pickles are all made in desi ghee. The dish is certainly not for health conscious and faint-hearted people. My parents without worrying about the cholesterol gobbled the dish. I, too, happily wiped down the plate of chole bhature.

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.

Posted on December 20, 2014

Yahya Tea Stall

Everyone always ignores the small tea stall on the side of the road or at the corner of a street. No one knows the history behind a small tea stall. Even Shah Rukh Khan’s father had a tea stall and served tea at a very well known drama company in Delhi, and if it was not for the star, we would probably never have known that such a tea stall existed.

WP_20141117_037 Likewise, there is an old tea stall in the lane of Gali Qasmijan, right at the entrance of Phatak Luharu in Ballimaran. This tea stall was started by the late Haji Mohammed Farooq in 1969, carried on by his son the late Mohammed Yahya. It has been forty-five years since the pouring and serving of tea has been going on here. Now, the grandchildren, Mr. Farhan and Mr. Faizan, who are reporters with a newspaper, are still taking care of their family business. Their father, the late Mohammed Yahya, also owned a dairy shop named after his wife, Sabra and a hotel where the tea famously known as “Haji ki Chai” was served. Since the grandchildren did not have the same aspirations as their father, they gave up the place for rent and but have still kept the touch and name of their father through the tea stall.

When I looked at the boys preparing the tea, I was completely amazed at how it was being prepared. It was nothing like the way we prepare it at home.

The tea leaves are boiled in water in an aluminum kettle for a long time and on the other side, the milk is kept boiling, letting it form a layer of cream, commonly known as malai. The first step is to put a spoonful of sugar, a teaspoon of milk and boiled tea, and a spoon of malai. It is then stirred well and served hot. If you desire for a strong cup of tea, they add a spoon of fresh tea leaves, while pouring the boiled tea, in the strainer to give it that dark look and a strong kick. Mostly it would look like filtered tea that is served at a fancy tea shop.

There is a lively history behind this tea stall. Believe it or not a hundred and fifty cups of tea were made and served at a time which impressed me so much since there are so many different steps to get a perfect cup of tea. It definitely did not taste like the regular tea that one drinks every morning.

Nearby the tea stall, there was once a college named Tibbia College which has been shifted to Karol Bagh. This college offers education in medicine, and therefore, numerous and frequent doctors, professors, and students would be attending this college. Now a morning without a tea would not be complete and Yahya Tea Stall completed the mornings of a lot of people in the college and around. Tibbia College ordered six hundred teas almost every day, and without fail they were served with the same quality and standard.

For a couple of days, the tea stall had been shut down but by popular demand of the people living there and expressing their love for the tea and the family, the stall was back with a bang, serving tea with as much as dedication as it did when it first started.

The grandchildren besides being modernized and familiar with the media profession did not leave their ancestral house and believed that living there would keep the culture and history of the place alive. Surprisingly, the haveli that they reside in was once the haveli of Ghalib Mirza’s second wife. It definitely must be exciting to live in a house with intricate Mughal style designed pillars, doors, windows, and houses. Farhan Yahya said that the love and the respect of the people could not make him leave the place where he spent his childhood.

A must visit if you want to have a perfectly made hot cup of tea.

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.

Posted on October 16, 2014

Roller Kulfi

Roller Kulfi

By Anubhav Sapra

‘Jugaad’ is the word that comes to my mind whenever I see ‘roller kulfi’ during Ramnavmi celebrations in Old Delhi. It is the only time in a year where one can savour the roller kulfi or disco fruit kulfi, called by many.

I was delighted, also amazed to see the two roller kulfiwalas in Kamla Nagar, namely, Bablu Kulfi and B.K. Variety Kulfi. You will be able to find them both at Chota Gol Chakkar, near Geeta Mandir. Let me tell you first about the equipment that is used to make roller kulfi. A huge iron cylinder is filled with crushed ice. This cylinder is then put in a stand that has a pedal on one side. It is important to roll the cylinder using a pedal; otherwise the same will melt away. This is taken care of by the two men every time: one who does not lose a single minute to roll the cylinder; and the other who prepares the layers of kulfi by crushing fruits and pouring rabri and milk. All different kinds of fruits – mango, banana, papaya, orange, pomegranate, etc. are added one after the other and interspersed with rabri. The ice inside the roller freezes the juices and with a knife, layers of frozen kulfi are collected in a ‘dona’. The kulfi is fresh and ready to eat before it melts.

Besides the fruit juices, B.K. Variety kulfi pours khus and roohafza syrup too. Thus out of the two, I would recommend Bablu’s( 9810246203) as the flavours are completely natural. The freshness of fruit juices with rabri, without added flavour makes the kulfi truly delectable.

I believe it should be named as ‘Galaouti Kulfi’ as ‘Galaouti’ means ‘melt-in-your-mouth’ and roller kulfis simply disappear in your mouth. The only thing it will leave you with would be its fresh taste.

For all those who missed it during Ramnavmi, this is a last chance to savour the same in Kamla Nagar till Diwali between 5 p.m. to 11 p.m., for only Rs. 50.