City Food – Muhammed Rafi’s 40-Year-Old Rooh Afza Drink Stall, Turkman Gate
Summer’s great hero. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The arrival of Delhi summer can be ascertained in a number of ways. A poetic way is to look for the yellow flowers of Amaltas trees. The Delhi Walla’s summer…
City Food – Kashmiri ‘Noon’ Chai, Around Jama Masjid
The pink tea. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] A freezing morning certainly, but no snow, no mountain, and no valley. Yet, you see people of Kashmir snugly absorbed in their traditional breakfast of the noon chai and lavassa…
City Food – Daulat ki Chaat, Walled City
The snow of Delhi. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] An abstraction, Daulat ki Chaat is more an idea than a dessert. A white froth, pop a spoonful of it into the mouth and it disappears. The lingering sweetness…
City Food – Daal Chaat, Around Town
The zesty health punch. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Shocking. It is not deep-fried and yet it is a popular and cheap street food of Delhi. What’s the appeal? Served in a leaf bowl, daal chaat is sprouted…
City Food – The Morally Appalling Carrot Cake, The Big Chill Cakery, Khan Market
Disgracefully delicious. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It is morally appalling. The carrot cake at The Big Chill Cakery bakery in Delhi’s Khan Market has to be the most politically incorrect dish in this city of vast disparities….
City Food – Budiya ke Baal, Green Park
Sweet magic. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Spun out of sugar, ‘Budiya ke baal’–the old woman’s hair–is also known as cotton candy and candyfloss. The Delhi Walla met vendor Rajpal Singh near Green Park. All day long the…
City Food – Laura Marzano’s Spritz, Venice
Local but not local. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] There is nothing purely local in the world. Not even spritz, the local drink of watery Venice, a touristy city without virtually any nightlife leaving its endangered locals with…
City Food – Papdi Chaat, Around Town
Spheres of delight. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] In a time when divisive leaders such as Donald Trump become mainstream politicians and the idea of a multi-religious, multi-racial society seems like a nightmare to many people, one option…
City Food – Chinjabi Chow And Date Pancake With Vanilla Ice-Cream, Daitchi Restaurant, South Extension-II
Delhi’s comfort cuisine. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] 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…
City Food – The Final Link of Delhi’s Best Bakery, Wenger’s Cake Shop
The cake’s end. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It is a truth universally acknowledged that a starving Delhi man in want of sugar will always head to Wenger’s Cake Shop in Connaught Place. The capital’s best patisserie is…
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