Delhi Foodies

Lucknawi Kakori, Galauti Kebabs and Biryani - Al Kauser

noreply@blogger.com (Delhi Foodies) — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 21:14:00 +0000

I had often come across a tiny, easy-to-miss stall right in front of the Kautilya Marg red light, besides Assam, Puducherry Bhavans, it always had it's shutters downed during the day, but in the night a food stall operated from the premises, it seemed like a take away only joint, with no place to sit, but a regular line of cars (especially sedans) convinced me that there must be something special about this nondescript joint.

So one fine evening, I stopped my car and got down to check it out, the place has an open kitchen and you get the mouthwatering sight of kebabs grilling as soon you approach the joint. The place seems to be run by 5 men, of whom 3 cook and 2 take orders and manage money. I asked for the menu card, and what surprised my was the number, or the small number of dishes on it, too used to seeing even roadside fast food stalls operating from a trailer having a multi page menu comprising breakfast, Indian, Chinese, Continental.... I was a little taken aback. The place prided itself on it's Kakori Kebabs, so that's what I tried out. Subsequently I have also tried out Galauti Kebabs, Lucknawi Dum handi Biryani, Mutton Qorma and Varqi Paranta. The awards displayed, gave me a feeling the food is gonna be good.

The Kakori Kebabs look like your regular seekh kebabs with a mud brown color, but that's where the similarity ends. They literally melt in your mouth, I mean it! Mildly spiced (Al-Kauser proclaims the secret recipe has 59 spices), they gently tease your taste buds, unlike other kebabs you don't get the strong meaty flavor. Personally, I prefer having them on their own, the bland roomlais spoil the texture and the spicy chutney pollutes the taste.

The Galauti Kebabs are melt-in-your-mouth too, but they are spicier, they have a fiery taste and you can definitely taste the meat, I prefer them to the milder kakoris. Like the kakoris, I prefer them on their own.

The Lucknawi Dum Biryani, simply put is the BEST biryani I have ever had. It is unlike every
other biryani I have eaten (including the famous Matka Peer one, more on that some other day), it is light, no very light, don't be surprised if you end up eating 3 platefuls and still having room for more, it is not oily, and it doesn't sabotage your palate with spices. The spices are mild and the real flavor comes from the meat, it has a wonderful meaty taste in every spoonful of rice. The mutton pieces themselves are few, about 4 small ones, it is the pale orange colored (due to saffron) r thaicet does the magic here. The biryani comes in small matka, which is about 4 platefuls, the rice is filled to the brim, garnished with a single chilly and then the matka is sealed shut with atta. The biryani is cooked in the matka itself, and the matka is presented to you with a sling attached, it is still very hot, so be careful. The biryani goes great with the chutney, so be sure to ask for extra chutney when ordering.
The mutton qorma was as it should be, spicy,heavy with the meat well cooked, but it was nothing extraordinary. It went great with roomali rotis. The only disappointment I've had with Al Kauser was their Varqi Parantha, it tasted a bit like the sheermal, but looked like a regular parantha, I found it too oily and heavy, but maybe I was a bit too full by then.
Al Kauser also has an outlet near R K Puram, but the one on Kautilya Marg seems to be the original one, they also do home delivery within 2 KM. If you do go there to pick up your food yourself, you'll find the service quick and courteous.
So finally, whether or not you are a big fan of lucknawi cuisine definitely give this one a try, their kebabs are to die for and the biryani is simply yum.

View Al Kauser in a larger map

Foodie trip to old delhi on Dusshera

noreply@blogger.com (Delhi Foodies) — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 12:53:00 +0000

I have been living in Delhi for 7 years now and I had (till recently) never been to a Ramlila on Dusshera. Yearning for the sight of chaos,fire and a mela, I decided to embark upon a Dusshera trip to Old Delhi, with two of my buddies - Joshi (Amit Joshi) and Benji (Anurag Benjwal). Old Delhi Ramlilas are the grand daddy's of all Ramlilas in Delhi, with some of them going back to Mughal times, and of course we had full intention to not let go of this great opportunity to indulge our appetites.

As soon as we got down from Chandni Chowk Metro station we headed straight for our glass of 5-bucks-mango-juice, made from fresh mangoes, this is one of the best things that a 5 rupee coin can get you. We then walked to the Red Fort entrance, where we were greeted by the sight of the Ramlila Maidan. The place was super-crowded with thousands flocking in to catch the burning of Ravan and the final chapters of the 10 day festivities.There were joy rides - merry go round, Columbus, revolving chairs, the well of death, etc. at 30 bucks a ride, we decided to give these a skip, having had enough of Adventure Island. Then there was food - 70% of these were dedicated to the dish that signifies the modern booming India - Chowmein. Chhole Bhature, chaats nd kulfis also had a massive following, we decided to give all these a skip, lest we offend the culinary delights of purani dilli. We instead picked up 3 Rs 5 Sonu Super softies, which were utter rubbish, think what milk powder mixed with water,frozen and then piled on a stale cone would taste like.....now you know how bad they were, disgusted, Joshi flung his onto the grass, while the foodie in me and Benji compelled us to finish ours. Next we fought a rude and sweaty mob of bodies to emerge at the other end of the mela, there were two melas back to back which were exactly same except for the color of Ravan and his three brothers, they were pink in the first one and green in the next.
Next we were greeted by the sight of India Gate, built to exact proportions it looked an exact copy sans the inscriptions and Amar Jawan Jyoti, we walked right through it to emerge on the main road.

The normally busy Ring road looked deserted today, it had been sealed off for security purposes. We made our way to Meena Bazaar and up-to the stairs of the Jama Masjid.

There we found a man and his son selling buff tikkis, they looked inviting and so we ordered a plate, just then I heard a loud boom as one of the three Ramlilas reached a concluding point. I could make out a cloud of smoke rising behind the trees, I hurriedly ran to the main courtyard of the masjid to find a throng a of people watching a ten headed Ravan explode into flames, the sound could well have been mistaken for a bomb blast - but the look of amusement on the face of young kids wearing skullcaps clearly proved this was an occasion to have fun. Apparently, the Ravan which had just blown up was not among the two we had seen on our way up, I felt alarmed - I might just miss seeing the burning of Ravan up close!. I ran down to find Benji holding our ordered plate of buff tikkas, i tried one - yuck!, it didn't taste good, not at all!, i think the meat was under cooked, way under cooked, I felt nausea rising up, even Joshi couldn't take it, Benji alone managed to negotiate a few pieces before we put the plate down and paid 20 bucks. I desperately needed something to soothe my taste-buds and lo! i found it right in front of me - Roohafza - at 5 bucks for a large glass, it was dirt cheap, but it tasted delicious. It was cool, fresh, sweet (but not overtly), somehow it tasted better than what I generally make at home, even Benji doubled that.

We made our way back to find a serpentine que, obviously, this was not the way in for us. We found a back entrance at the parking lot, and even here there was que (after all, this is India), but it was a small one and we were at the checking post in 10 minutes, the policewalla seemed to take a particular liking to Joshi, asking him to half strip......to check him out. We walked into a couple of tents we had not seen before, a peek inside revealed dressed up girls dancing on a stage in front of hungry male eyes, we moved on. Then I spotted sugar candies, and without thinking twice we bought ourselves a stick each, as I bit into the frothy, hairy, pink sweet strands - childhood memories came back where i had one almost everyday.

We jostled our way to the main Ramlila maidan, but by now the crowd was ginormous, it was impossible to get in. So we found ourselves a good spot and waited, and waited......minutes passed by with nothing happening, then my elf-like eyes caught the sight of two warring chariots, they move back and forth, their occupants trading blows on each other. Nearby, a police havildar was caught up in a pickpocketing case . Finally, Meghnaad, brother of ravan burst into flames, he was soon followed by kumbhkaran and ravan himself. Each of them started with a massive chakri and quickly exploded with numerous firecrackers - the massive figures were turned into ashes in a matter of seconds.

We made our way out and started waling towards Jama Masjid once again, we stopped by for a refreshing glass of ganne ka ras, for 5 bucks a glass. we entered this time, through Aruna Asaf Ali Marg, I was tempted to try out the fried chicken being sold at many shops, but Benji and Joshi were not in the mood. I finally persuaded them to try out buff kebabs - seekhs, the thela had a throng of people around it - always a good sign!. We had to wait 15 mins for our plate, all the while the small chap kept replying "ek minute", to my "kitna time lagega". The kebabs were delicious - juicy,tasty with a nice meaty taste, they were different from any seeks i had ever had before, even Joshi who was hesitant to even try out a speck gobbled down two, they only cost 20 bucks for 5 kebabs.

Noticing a crowd in front of a stall selling phirni in claypots, we decided to try them out as well, we initially ordered two as Benji wasn't feeling so hungry, but one spoon later, he quickly ordered one for himself, we wolfed down the delicious phrini in seconds - it was perfect, not to sweet, light and garnished with dry fruits all for 10 bucks.

We started off towards Chawri bazaar metro station on Chitli Qabar, nearing the metro station we saw a couple of stall drawing huge crowds, although all 3 of us were quite full, we just couldn't miss such an opportunity - I poked my head into the crowd to find roomali rotis with a sabji on everyone's plate, after asking around one gentleman told me the sabji is called Kathi Kabab made out of soya bean, this was totally different from the traditional kathi kabab roll. He also urged me to try out the chaat stalls, saying all of them are excellent. We promptly ordered a plate for 20 bucks, the sabji was spicy and delicious and went amazingly well with the roomali rotis, even Joshi joined in and we quickly mopped it up.

Our next stop was the famous Ashok Chaat bhandar right in front of the metro station, we got a plate of bhalla papri for 25 bucks. The dahi was sweet and the papris were soft, they had been soaked in the dahi, this gave the chaat a unique taste which was yum.

Now there was just one thing left - Kuremal's Kulfi - The legendary kulfi maker just could not be missed. As soon as we entered bazaar sitaram, we were overwhelmed by a huge crowd, the street was lined by stalls selling everything and the place resembled the over crowded ramlila maidan we had just come from, after fighting our way into the gali where kuremal sits, we were pleasantly surprised to find kuremal's other shop, the one closer to the main gali open . A crowd was already devouring the frosty delights, we ordered chikoo, phalsa and aam.....the phalsa and aam as usual were great, but chikoo was fabulous, it not only retained chikoo's flavor, but also it's unique texture, Benji took a particular liking to it.

We finally walked back to the metro station satisfied and satiated. Mission Accomplished.

Bhelpuri

noreply@blogger.com (Amit Patnaik) — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 19:33:00 +0000

Along with Maggi, Bhelpuri has always occupied a special place in my......stomach. It was so simple to make, and could be whipped anywhere and in no time.... I have fond childhood memories of mixing together murmura, onions, dhania, tomatoes,potatoes (of course mummy did the chopping), oil, namkeen and lotsa tomato sauce in a big patila, and then devouring it for an early dinner. The recipe would vary depending upon the namkeen - sometimes salted peanuts would do , and sometimes I'd just add alu bhujia.
In Delhi, there is a bhelpuriwalla everywhere, selling chana and moongfali side by side...but unfortunately most of the Bhelpuri is pretty ordinary,easily ignored for samosas and burgers.
It is when I entered Delhi University, that I heard about a very popular bhelpuriwalla, being the foodie I am, my stomach led me straight to him. He is an old bald guy, maybe around 50-60 years old and always wears a white kameez. His stall is band opposite the Jai Jawan Stall or the entrance to the botany department, and the big garden, he is adjacent to the entrance to the Holistic Food canteen, the usual place where the U special stops. His stall is especially crowded during lunchtime, with students , teachers and old timers and you may have to wait, as he can prepare only so many plates of bhelpuri at a time, he also happens to be the guy you want to turn to for a gyaan on the ways of the University. He will take a big patila, put together murmura, peanuts, namkeen, chopped dhania,onions and boiled potatoes, then he will ask you "mirchi?"- you are supposed to say kum,zyada or normal, and after dousing required quantities of his homemade hari and meethi chutney, he will squeeze a lime on top and give it a good churn. The moment he dishes out the bhelpuri in your plate, the smell entices your appetite, and you know something that smells this good, must taste good as well......and you are not dissapointed!, the bhelpuri has a different taste that what you get elsewhere, there is the sourness of lime, the hotness of green chillies, just the right amount of sweetness to mitigate it, the papri is crunchy and the peanuts taste great. No wonder the man does great business all day, as you sit on the side of the road, enjoying your bhelpuri you can see his loyal clientele - from old teachers, to young 19 year olds, i have seen many mercs stop by to collect their packed bhelpuris. He does a great job at packing them - either sukhi or bani hui. If you choose sukhi, he will separately put all the ingredients into poly bags(I guess Green laws don't apply to good bhelpuriwallas), so that you can go home and prepare it fresh, but he can also just put the prepared thing into bag if you want to, but do take care that the bhelpuri gets soggy after about 15 minutes.
one day, I asked my self what makes his bhelpuri so good, so I got a sukhi one packed and dissected each component at home.....the peanuts were ordinarily fried, even the namkeen and murmura were nothing special, and the veggies were the same as those in my fridge.....the difference makers were the chutneys. Both of them were totally different from the usual hari and meethi chutneys served at most restaurants with samosas and kachoris. The hari chutney, was very hot and tangy at the same time, your mouth burned with the green chillies yet the tang enticed you to have more...it was amazing, the meethi chutney wasn't too sweet, it was mildly sweet and tangy and when both the chutneys were mixed together, the taste was heavenly! Obviously, the guy must have his own secret recipe for these, but as long as he keeps churning out mouthwatering bhelpuris who cares???
He also does other chaats, but I have never tried them in the 3 years I have been visiting him, a plate sets you back by 18 bucks.

Cakes & Shakes - Wengers and Keventers

noreply@blogger.com (Delhi Foodies) — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:56:00 +0000

First lemme start off with Wengers - The Pastry Shop: Imagine a pastry factory, not your regular pastry shop when you think of Wengers, 'cuz that's the first feeling you will get when you walk in, feast your eyes and salivate on 45 types of pastries, a dozen varieties of cakes, handmade chocolates, quick bites and breads, confused with what to eat, trust me, you will not be the only one who thinks, I wish i could eat it all. The Store has a regal feel to it and still exudes the classic old world charm of Lutyen's Delhi, from the twin Doormen pull apart the door for you, to the staff dressed in identical white coats, the place seems from the bygone era. Wengers was established in the Raj Era by a Swiss couple, sometime later they sold the shop to its Indian manager, whose family has been running the store since then. The shop is especially decked up for festivals like Christmas, Easter and Valentine's Day with their trademark plum cakes, Easter eggs and heart shaped pastries being sought after by revelers. Throughout the year, the shop keeps innovating and coming up with new pastries, and most work. I have probably tried out every pastry there and around 80 % of them were delicious, some of my favorite ones are Tiramisu - The coffee and cream tango perfectly giving and great aftertaste, Doughnut - Just perfect, chocolatey and hard outside and soft and spongy inside, Mille Feuillet - A wonderful hard crust pastry.....the list goes on, the only thing i haven't liked is the fruit bar, it seemed chewy and pretty tasteless, trust me one can safely pick up whatever catches the eye here and not be disappointed. Now moving onto their cakes, they are best tried out with a group of friends or obviously on occasions, the butterscotch and but you must try their Plum Cakes on Christmas, they are simply amazing, I finished one all by myself, just couldn't stop eating it. The superstar of the snacks menu is the Shammi Kebab, fried and seasoned just right it's delicious, the quiches and baguettes are good too, I haven't tried out the others yet. Wengers makes some good handmade chocolates and cookies, which although a bit expensive make for perfect gifts to family and friends, but I've eaten better chocolates at Chocolatiers in CR Park. If you have never tried out fresh oven baked gourmet breads, forever satisfied with those Plastic packed, square cut ones which you smear with butter and jam before gobbling up mindlessly then this is the place to start. Choose from around 8 varieties of breads some of which are spiced, embedded with dried veggies and some sweets breads, my favorite is the Olive and Sun Dried tomatoes Foccacia, it makes for the most delicious midnight hunger killer, just eat it straight out of the fridge, health freaks will like multi grain and farmhouse bread, the best part is that all these are a steal for around 25 to 30 bucks. Most pastries are between 30 to 40 bucks and cakes start from around 200 bucks. Guess what goes best with a nice, sweet n' gooey pastry........a big, frothy and chilled bottle of milkshake. Although there are many branches of Keventers in the city, but the Connaught Place one always remains the most crowded, being a haven for thirsty CP dwellers and of course it makes the perfect complement for next door Wengers. Post noon time and especially when CP is crowded, the place is qued up, with the line of humans stretching well into the road. The shop is generally manned by a middle aged guy who (I think) has super quick hands – he takes your money, opens up his drawer, hands out your change – all in 5 seconds, flat and he does all this amidst the chaos of people shouting “ek butterscotch, do vanilla…..”. The menu includes milkshakes, ice creams and ice cream shakes all in the flavors of butterscotch, vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, coffee and pineapple. Keventers also has Sugar free shakes and Cassata slice. Something I found out from personal experience is that you can also have custom made ice cream shakes like strawberry milkshake with a slice of chocolate ice cream, and that too for the same price as a regular ice cream shake, just tell the guy at the counter exactly what you want.

Snacks available are limited to chips, patties, pizza sandwich, bread pakora and veg seekh kebab roll, I personally have never bothered with them, especially with Wengers next door, but they’ll do just fine if you need something cheap and filling.
Prices : Ice creams and Shakes are for Rs 25, while ice cream shakes come for 45 bucks, all snacks are under 30 bucks.
Location : Just ask anyone in CP.
Wengers also has a nice website, where you can order your stuff.
http://wengerspastry.com/

Nirula's - Ice Creams n' More

noreply@blogger.com (Delhi Foodies) — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 19:36:00 +0000

It bought fast food and quality ice creams to Delhi, and it still holds its own against the Mcdonalds and KFCs.
Nirulas started out as.....
I have been going to Nirulas ever since I have been living in Delhi, and it continues to be best choice for some great ice cream and with branches all over the city it's easy to find one. The restaurants themselves are lively and have an indianised feel about them, with the walls covered in typical Delhi culture. The staff is generally quite nice, and have been quite patient with me as i try out 3-4 flavors of ice cream before choosing one. The food consists of essentially three sections, the now ubiquitous burgers,pizzas and foot long; indian thalis and kebabs and the desserts like ice creams, shakes and pastries.
Of the first section, their omlette burger and aloo grill burger stand out, the former because Nirulas is the only fast food joint offering an omlette burger and the latter as the aloo is actually grilled, not deep fried patties as in McDonalds. The Big Boy burger and the innovative Nutribyte burgers are good too, the rest of the fare is essentially the normal fast food stuff, nothing special. In the Indian section, the north Indian dishes are comparable to what you'd get at a decent north Indian restaurant, but do try their naan and dal makhni mini meal, it's great value for money at 30 bucks, but if you are looking for quality north indian cuisine, there are better places.
Ice Creams - Now this is what's good, real good!, to even compare Nirulas to kwality walls and mother dairy would be worse than an insult, if you have never tried anything other than the thelewalla fare, then you have been missing out on some of the best ice cream in delhi.
My personal favorite flavors would be Delhi Delight, Butterscotch Crunch, Tooti Frooti, Thandai and the Jamoca Almond Fudge. Wait, ain't I missing something?......hell i am!, The Hot Chocolate Fudge(HCF)!, arguably the best ice cream sundae I've ever eaten, I've heard of people coming to niruals only to sample this beauty. Served in a tall glass, with three scoops of alternating vanilla ice cream and chocolate fudge sauce and topped with roasted cashew nuts, this is simply divine!, these days they even serve a single and double scoop version at lower prices of around Rs 50 and Rs 75, the real thing comes for around 100 bucks, I'd definitely recommend you go for the triple scoop, trust me 100 bucks is worth it for the experience of digging into 3 layers for gooey chocolate swirling with vanilla ice cream. Also noteworthy (though not one of my favorites) is nutty buddy, which as you can guess from the name is full of nuts, it's essentially a nut coated scoop of chocolate ice cream, i personally feel that the nuts are in excess and kill the whole crunchy-nuts-in-soft-ice-cream experience, but a lot of folk absolutely love it, so give it a go. A great new addition is chillo, a low cost mango-vanilla/strawberry-vanilla cone for just 15 bucks - great when you feel guilty for shelling out 40 bucks for good ice cream.
The shakes, i feel, are over priced at around 70-80 bucks and the pastries ar limited in variety but passable in taste, it's the usual chocolate,black forest, pineapple fare.
They also sell home made cookies, chocolates,sauces and condiments, though as i have never bought them so i can't comment on them. Even though Nirulas has got some competition with Baskin Robbins setting base here, but the HCF and the indigenous flavors keep it a favorite for ice cream fans. I plan to do Niruals vs Baskin Robbins Ice Cream shootout, the Ice Cream Wars in the future.
A personal Tip to get great HCF at home : Get a tub of vanilla ice cream, from Nirulas, this is the secret to their great HCF, these days they have offer of getting a vanilla tub free with a premium flavor tub, all for 150 bucks - sweet!, so once you got your ice cream, get some chocolate - dairy milk will do fine, but nestle works better, now google for hot chocolate fudge recipe, sort around till you find one which suits your kitchen inventory, you generally need milk, sugar, butter and maybe cream - all readily available, then follow instructions on the website and prepare your own fudge sauce, trust me it's quite easy, took me 15 minutes to get a great sauce, just keep in mind to melt the chocolate in a microwave or a double broiler. Finally, chop some cashew nuts and roast till brown, now all you need to do is take a tall glass and dish out some great home made HCF!, you can easily get around 3-4 glasses and end up saving 250 bucks and hey you get a tub of premium flavor ice cream too, now that is value for money!
Directions: Well no need for map and directions, it's hard not to spot a Nirulas somewhere in Delhi!
They have got a great website from where you can even order your food, www.nirulas.com

Chronicles of Gastronomia Contd.

noreply@blogger.com (Delhi Foodies) — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 16:07:00 +0000

Just an addition I'd (Amit) like to make to Adil's post.
Kuremals's Klfi Factory - This dingy room is where they churn out those delectable kulfis, they still do it the old school way as you you can see from the pics.
And i'm also attaching menu pics from Karim's, they also have a fine website at
http://karimhotels.com

THE CHRONICLES OF GASTRONOMIA

noreply@blogger.com (Delhi Foodies) — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 15:13:00 +0000

THE VOYAGE TO PURANI DILLI

After countless hours of calling and counter calling (mostly by Mr.Patnaik we had finally agreed to go to old Delhi. The entourage consisted of pattu,ajay ji,joshi, and yours truly.So we boarded the metro in the afternoon and got ready for debauchery(i had prepared by not eating anything for breakfast ,and by having a very frugal dinner last night ,and also by popping two Direx pills, to keep the old tummy in shape). Well we come out of the metro station into the horrible oppressing heat and come into the hustle-bustle, and congestion which defines old Delhi, and we all look up to Patnaik to ask him where we are going(since this was his plan, and he planned to stop at a shit load of places before the day got over(the only that would have happened would have been if we actually had stopped to shit at loads of place, if you catch my drift) ,and lo and behold he’s got his hands spread heavenwards as if asking for gods help, only after two minutes do we come to realize that he’s got a cell phone in his hands and is trying to catch a signal ,so that he can access his gps,and find the way to first stop(the kulfi place).

Now my take on old Delhi is that you wont realize what a great place it is if you use your gps, the only true way to do it is to meander through the maze of gallis and randomly chance upon some hidden treasures, but since it was bloody 45 degrees Centigrade! and since it was patnaik's plan in the first place we decide to humor him and we land up at the first stop on our journey-Kuremal kulfi bhandar
Now to be honest when u hear about kulfi’s having exotic flavours like rabri, pan, aijwain etc, you are bound to get your expectations up . So we decided to taste as many kulfi’s as we could, and we ordered mango, pan, litchi, phalsa,rabri,aam panna and some more. To be honest the famed mango kulfi did not seem to be too great to me, and mean it was good, but not something that blew my mind.I felt all the kulfis were deadened(with sugar) a bit too much, and all the fruit based kulfi were lacking the punch. The phalsa kulfi was very very crappy (I mean if ive had better phalsa kulfi at nathus near the zoo). Of all the available kulfis I liked the aam panna kulfi the best, it explodes in your mouth and I think it’s a must try if you go there, even the pan wali kulfi is interesting, however unlike the usual old Delhi fare, this was a bit heavy on the pocket with each kulfi costing about 30 bucks.

By this time I was very hungry, and I wanted to go to karims and eat. But on the way patnaik made us stop to eat some so called old Delhi specialty called kulle aloo ke(which is basically a hollowed out aloo filled with chat masala and garam masala) .Now after eating eat I think I have some idea of what ass would taste like I mean I have never tasted anything so vile in my life. This guy has the gall (as wells as the balls) to give us boiled potato and chat masala and ask us to pay 30 rs for it. I mean the only way I can imagine somebody coming back to eat there once more would be because the first time he did ,the huge amount of chat masala had burned off all his taste buds.

After eating the crapiest piece of crap ever we finally headed over to karims. Now anybody who has ever said “I love da chicken(or any other meat variate)” has eaten at karims at least once. So I won’t go too much into the nitty grittys. The mutton burra was fabulous as usual, the masala of that is amazing, though I think it’s better to avoid the chicken burra. The seekh kebabs as usual were just okay nothing out of the ordinary. For the first time in my life I found the korma lacking(actually it the opposite of lacking, It had too much mirchi ,a good korma due to the bhunni hui pyaz is supposed to have a sweet tinge to it which was washed away by the heavy mirchi),the mutton stew was totally on the ball,it was lovely. The khamiri roti could have been a bit softer ,but the sheermal(bakarkhani) was lovely . I did miss the lovely tandoori machili they do in the winters (it is a must have ,and I think is one of the best ways to eat machili,though some of my Bengali friends disagree(they prefer their own style(all I can say is that they are a bunch of boka chodas)))

Clockwise : Karims, Chicken Qorma, Khamiri Roti, Mutton Burra, Mutton Stew(Ishtoo).

After eating a shit load of good food, there was only one way to end this trip, and that was at a shit pot.
Until next time.

Directions:
Get down at Sitaram Bazaar, and follow the map(attached below, all the places are mentioned in this eoid recommendations maplet) if you can, otherwise after you enter S bazaar ask the shopkeepers for kuremal, he's well known in the ares, and here's the imp. thing, some shop keepers will direct you to a shop which has it's shutters down, but proclaims itself as kuremal kulfi bhandaar, this is not the place, keep going ahead in the galli and ask again, the real shop is a little way down, after taking a galli to the left, its located near a jain temple, and yeah there's no siting, it's literally a hole in the wall shop.
The Kuliya will fall on the left side of the road as you go from chawri bazaar metro station to jama masjid, and finding karim's is a piece of cake, every one seems to know the place.

View EOiD Recommendations in a larger map

Russian Food in Delhi - Bline

noreply@blogger.com (Delhi Foodies) — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 22:17:00 +0000

A Russian restaurant in New Delhi, now that's gotta be fun!

After reading a lot of good views about this place, i finally found myself walking though it's glass doors. Bline is located inside the Anand Niketan market complex and is fairly easy to locate. The moment i stepped inside, what surprised me was it's decor, i was expecting a cool cafe or summin like that, but the place seemed so old worldly and classy......regally painted interiors with arty paintings, clean linen on the tables with spotless silverware, tall cut-glass jugs....took me back to the formal dinners in army messes. There is TV playing Russian channels and a set of Russian movie DVDs kept neatly stacked underneath it.
The place has only 4 tables, seating a maximum of 16, so taking a large party may have some bottlenecks.
I had read that an old Russian gentleman runs the place, but he was nowhere to be seen when i was there, the place was manned by a north eastern lady.
The menu was quite limited( i am attaching some pics of the menu, but some pages are missing), and i hadn't heard of a few dished on it, i tried out Russian Bortz - a light appetizer, served with rice -, Mutton Capitan - Sort of a mutton stew, but the meat had a nice juicy and chewy feel to it, really good -, Bline( which is what the restaurant derives it's name from) with Jam - Russian Pancakes, they weren't much different from the regular ones and probably the worst thing i had there and Kompot - a fruit punch, it was nice and refreshing drink and makes a companion to the meal.
One bad thing about the place would be the meager portions, they were barely enough for a foodie like me, but I am surely gonna go back to try out more Russian delights.

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Great Chinese Food at Cheap Prices - Momos Point

noreply@blogger.com (Delhi Foodies) — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 19:43:00 +0000

The second lane of Kamla Nagar, adjacent to the main Bungalow Road is full of Chinese Eateries, who also serve Thai and Tibetan, all of them have almost the same items on the menu with the decor and the taste being the main distinguishing factor, and if taste matters more to you head straight to Momo's Point. Momo's Point is easily the most celebrated of the lot, you will rarely NOT be on th waiting list during eating hors on work days, it's Crispy Spicy Potatoes are legendary among college folk, i have had it 30 times back to back and i still can't get enough of it!
Once you do manage to get off the waiting list (a good thing is they take your order even as you wait for a seat), and get inside you will notice the rather spartan decor, which to put simply is just tables and chairs, thankfully the chairs aren't uncomfortable and they do have an AC, clearly food is the place's USP. The menu has a good variety of Chinese, Tibetan and Thai dishes, but not many dessert options. It goes without saying, that the above mentioned Crispy Spicy Potatoes are a must order, but what's funny is the momo's -chicken and veg are not that good at all- a little too hard and rubbery for my liking, but the pork momo's are scrumptious. The combo meals are a good too,and great bang for buck.
But probably the best thing about the place is it's super-duper-fast service, they are fast, really fast, you're ready to dig in around 5 minutes from placing the order!, but the staff ain't too courteous, clearly the emphasis is on efficiency.
Directions: Walk till Mcdonalds on Bungalow Road, take a left turn, walk a few steps and take the left turn into a narrow street, momo's point straight ahead.
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One of the BEST Chhole Bhatures in Delhi! - Chache Di Hatti

noreply@blogger.com (Delhi Foodies) — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 09:01:00 +0000

Chacha's - Chhole Bhature Nirvana
I was never quite fond of this staple Punjabi dish, the thought of oily Bhaturas and spicy Chholes didn't quite tingle my tongue, but that was before Chacha's happened. It was my first year in Hansraj College, DU and the adjacent Kamla Nagar market or K-nags was the place to hangout, Chacha's had already built quite a reputation even among us freshers and one could always spot serpentine Que's around lunch time emanating from their hole-in-a-wall shop, so i finally decided to find out whether it was any better from my previous bad Chhole Bhatures experiences, and boy it was!
The shop proclaims itself and Chache Di Hatti, pindi wale, as the Chhole recipe is an original of Rawalpindi. It's a tiny shop with tables outside where you have to eat standing,at the counter you will find an old, burly man taking orders and dishing out plates of Chhole Bhature.
The chhole was spicy and zesty and the tangy chutney on top made it heavenly, the Bhaturas (go for the aloo wale), were not rubbery or heavy at all, they were soft and quite light, and that's when i became a hardcore fan of the dish. I have been going there regularly for two years now and the quality has been very consistent, the only thing i find bad is the lack of seating arrangement, come lunch time and hordes of locals, students and univ. staff descend upon the tiny shop, once you manage to negotiate the long Que, you have to compete with a dozen people for 3 small round tables, and don't try to edge yourself ahead, the shop has a couple of guys to maintain discipline, and here's a tip - there are separate Que's for men and women, if you have someone of the fairer sex accompanying you, request her to stand in line, the women's line is generally shorter and gets faster service.
The best way to finish of the meal is with a Banta from the numerous nearby Banta stands.
Directions: Walk on the bungalow road, which is bang in front of the Hansraj college hostel gate, keep walking until you see the Yamaha showroom on the left, pass a clothes shop and the a left turn along the rebook store, cross the road and keep walking until you see a narrow street on the left, the shop is just at the mouth of the galli, you should be able to make out from the long Que's.
Prices: everything's under 20 bucks.
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