
City Food – Om Pal’s Parantha Cart, Satsang Vihar Road
Life of a cart. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The two peepal are picturesque, but he didn’t chose the spot 25 years ago for these eye catchers. Back then, the trees anyway must have not been as luscious….

City Hangout – 20 Hyperlocal Chai Spots, Around Town
Trees of Kasturba Gandhi Road. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] Here are Delhi’s 20 hyperlocal chai spots. Each of these places deserves a page-length praise but the detailing has been kept minimal. Sequenced randomly. 1. Zina Tea Stall…

Julia Child in Delhi – Reuma Mantzur’s Lockdown-Era Hummus, South Delhi
Delhi’s best hummus perhaps. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] It is tough to find a tastier hummus in the entire Delhi region than hers. But that’s the limit of her kitchen expertise. She guiltlessly admits she’s otherwise a…

Julia Child in Delhi – Colleagues wali Curry, Hazrat Nizamuddin East
Experiment with fish. [Text and picture by Mayank Austen Soofi] Rotis are ready, as well as the rice. Dinnertime is nearing. Eggs have been boiled and shelled. The small portion of yellow arhar dal is only for the two vegetarians….

City Food – Nadeem’s Cream Rolls, Sadar Bazar
Street rolls. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] The stuff he hawks is rustled out in Ghaziabad, UP, and sold miles away in Gurugram, Haryana. The two places are bridged by the bulk of Delhi. According to Municipal Corporation…

City Food – Sitaram’s Jaljeera Cart, Sadar Bazar
Taste of a shifting time. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] The memory of a particular image is but regret for a particular moment. Some writer said that. It perhaps implies that what we are seeing in front of…

City Food – Ushop Veg Spl. Thali, Manipur
A food stall in Dilli Haat. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The tables are empty, though it is lunchtime. Manipur is one of the many food stalls in Dilli Haat craft bazar, where each eatery in the food…

City Food – Tea Places, Gurugram
Chaigram. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] A longtime chai place in Gurugram has been lying shut for 20 days. Showing his carefully preserved original copy of the municipal corporation’s “Certificate of Vending,” the stall owner attributes the reason…

City Food – Proust’s Paape, Diamond Bakery
Proust for Old Delhi. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] Seven volumes, 3,000 pages, 1.5 million words. Naturally nobody has time for In Search of Lost Time. Why read the novel anyways when you can live it, and so…

City Hangout – Dining Hall, India International Center Annexe
The lesser-known IIC. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] The rainy day’s subdued light deftly streams through the misty windows, filling up the interiors with a diffused illumination. While the framed artworks on the walls glisten with the reflection…
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