City Food – Pappu Bhai’s Snack Cart, Paharganj
A Main Bazar survivor. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Khanna cinema? Gone. Grand Sindhi Restaurant? Gone. Raja Bookstall? Gone. Appetite German Bakery? Gone. Imperial cinema? Gone, long ago. The list goes on. The Main Bazar in the backpackers’…
City Food – Basti Bakeries, Hazrat Nizamuddin Basti
Taste of a place. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The air in the galli embraces you with an aroma of fresh badam cakes, butter kaju paape, cream rolls and the crispy toasted suji rusks. The unnamed street is…
City Food – Upender Tea Stall, Shyam Bhawan
In silence and shade. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] On the tall slab: a stove, a (gigantic) kettle, a few jars filled with sugar, chai patti and other tea things. And there is a low table too, topped…
City Food – Rajbir’s Nankhatai, Turkman Gate
A stall of sturggles. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Rajbir is a bearer of two legacies. One is of a street delicacy with origins going back to the Europeans. The other is more intimate. It is the legacy…
City Food – Bhoore Yadav’s Aloo Paratha, Near Hauz Khas Village
Taste by the way. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The only missing element is a tie. Otherwise he is always dressed gentlemanly—in belted pants and long-sleeved shirt. The buttoned-up sleeves are never rolled up to the elbows, no…
City Food – Bhaijaan Chicken Shami Kebab, Chitli Qabar Bazar
Beloved brother’s offering. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] “Why did you fall in love? Why did you go away, away, away?” These words are pouring out like pangs of everlasting sadness from Mr Javed’s lips. The young man’s…
City Food – Jamun, Around Town
Season’s gift. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Go no further. Here’s the season’s talk of the town. They are everywhere. With vendor Sant Ram in south Delhi’s Jangpura, and with vendor Kailash at the deserted bus stop in…
City Food – Mr Hameed’s Roller Ice Cream, Rani Garden
Summer’s fresh. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] It’s not a common sight — well, the ice creams are but not the ice cream roller. On this hot muggy night, two men are stationed with their cart in a…
City Food – Sunny’s Sattu Ghol, Chitli Qabar Bazar
A hawker’s summertime life. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The light is so white that it makes the eyes hurt. The market street, here in Old Delhi’s Chitli Qabar Bazar, is always packed — but this afternoon the…
City Food – Mukesh’s Roasted Bhuttas, Anand Vihar
Taste of monsoon. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Are summers ending and monsoons knocking at the door? Yes. That’s what Mukesh feels. Three days ago this street food vendor started winding down his summertime business of icy chuskis,…
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