Delhi’s comfort cuisine. This is restaurant food for those who get unsettled by the new – especially when it comes in the form of Manipuri or French cuisine, or some other similarly unfamiliar provincial/global style of cooking that becomes a star of the season. Since 1975, Daitchi...
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A poet’s muse. The mango season in Delhi lasts from late April to early July. It is a time of the year when a devotee of Mirza Ghalib could offer at his tomb in Hazrat Nizamuddin Basti a tribute that would make our Urdu poet the happiest...
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Best at any hour. There is one thing paratha enthusiasts will agree upon — the wheat flour disks fried on a shallow pan have unlimited versions. At its simplest, a paratha is crisp and a little salty or flavoured with azwain. It grows in complexity as it...
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The bite that cools. Literally translated as ‘cumin water’, jaljeera’s name is deceptive. There is more than just the jeera in this cool spiced drink that is traditionally sold in summer from earthen pots. During the hot months of May and June, jaljeera walla bhayyas line the...
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The great chef’s life in Delhi. Meet the Julia Child of Dwarka, an expansive settlement of residential apartments, bleak-looking malls and many many metro stations. In her 30s, Ruchira Hoon lives with her husband, Snehesh Philip, at a book-lined house in Sector 7 — most books are...
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The physiology of taste. Dal makhani is as critical for the survival of Delhi’s food & beverage service industry as India’s aspirational middle class is for its capitalist economy. Not a single North Indian specialty restaurant in the capital can afford to exclude the calorie-filled dish from...
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The sins of our fathers. It is extremely creamy and is embellished with canned pineapple. Its bulwark is of stale white bread. The Kwality Special Pudding is served in a restaurant of the same name. Opened in 1939 in the Regal Cinema building in Connaught Place, Kwality...
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Delhi’s dosa. Delhi has not succeeded in corrupting the dosa, the south Indian pan-fried dish of urad dal and rice batter. The classical masala dosa – so pervasive across the country that it could be termed India’s national dish – is stuffed with spiced mashed potatoes and...
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Winter warmer. In the winter, the alleys of Chitli Qabar bazaar in Shahjahanabad present a fascinating sight in the morning. Along with street vendors selling objects as varied as Urdu newspapers, eggs, cloves of garlic and ginger, fresh fish from Punjab, live chickens, namkeen packets, gas-filled balloons,...
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Spheres of delight. If Delhi were to be a city of a single faith and culture, it would be as dry as papdi, the almost bland, deep-fried, round maida wafers. But souse them with cold whipped yogurt, deep brown tamarind chutney and piquant, green coriander-mint chutney, and...
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