City Food - Chicken Samosa, Maxim's Bakery, Kailash Colony

City Food – Chicken Samosa, Maxim’s Bakery, Kailash Colony

Samosa with a difference. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] We all know that the samosa is the ideal graveyard for the potato. But there have been experimental rebellions now and then. A few eateries in Chandni Chowk serve…

City Food - The Best Cocktail Samosas, Scindia Lane

City Food – The Best Cocktail Samosas, Scindia Lane

Taste of the street. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Who doesn’t go greedy for those yummy greasy finger foods doled out in glamorous Delhi cocktail get-togethers. While waiters in bow tie mill around in these swish gatherings carrying…

City Food - Best Rusk, Diamond Bakery

City Food – Best Rusk, Diamond Bakery

The best tea-time dip. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Just about any Old Delhi resident will pronounce the same verdict. The very best rusk, or ‘paapey’ as it is popularly known, have always been created at the family-owned…

City Food - Bel Sherbet, Connaught Lane and Around Town

City Food – Bel Sherbet, Connaught Lane and Around Town

The summer comfort. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It’s time to acknowledge the walker-friendly Connaught Lane linking Kasturba Gandhi Marg to Barakhamba Road in Connaught Place as a spoilt-for-choice food street. The alley is lined with stalls hawking…

City Food - Guptaji's Poetry Kulfis, Bhogal and Nearby Areas

City Food – Guptaji’s Poetry Kulfis, Bhogal and Nearby Areas

Summer’s treat. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Amar Singh Gupta not only makes delicious milky kulfis—such well-controlled sweetness—but also pens thoughtful verses emblazoned on his cart. Although forever on the move, you’re likely to catch up with him…

City Food - Homely Punjabi Khana, Rajauri Garden

City Food – Homely Punjabi Khana, Rajauri Garden

The taste of home… on the street. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] If you’re feeling so homesick, why don’t you try Sardarni Manjeet Kaur Dehal’s pavement food stall? Aptly named “Ghar ka Punjabi Khanna”, this pavement eatery in…

City Food - Rishabh Bhai's Veg Biryani, Anand Vihar

City Food – Rishabh Bhai’s Veg Biryani, Anand Vihar

An unusual adaptation. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Over The Delhi Walla‘s many expeditions into Delhi drawing rooms, not an evening passes without having to witness yet another heated debate on the relative merits of Delhi biryani versus…

City Food - Shambhu Nath's Oriya Snacks, Hauz Khas Road

City Food – Shambhu Nath’s Oriya Snacks, Hauz Khas Road

The faraway flavour. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Even if you choose the superfast Purushottam Express it’ll take you a good two nights and one day from Delhi to reach the great Jagannath Temple of Puri in Odisha….

City Food - Chandelier Tea, United Coffee House

City Food – Chandelier Tea, United Coffee House

Reflected taste. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] There’s something about chandeliers. They evoke a kind of nostalgia for past grandeur even if that grandeur never existed. It is to soak in such a feeling that The Delhi Walla…

City Food - Dalbir Singh's Egg Stall, Outside Pragati Maidan Metro Station

City Food – Dalbir Singh’s Egg Stall, Outside Pragati Maidan Metro Station

The magic-realism of leaves. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Though The Delhi Walla loves lounging around this omelette stall I was hesitant to talk about it. For one thing, the owner, Dalbir Singh, isn’t very keen. “Sorry, I…