City Food – Rasgulla Sandwich, RM Vats Marg
A dish less celebrated. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The blinding white April afternoon is hinting of the looming heat waves. Auto rickshaw driver Sajid stops by a pavement stall, here on south Delhi’s RM Vats Marg, close…
City Food – Ramzan Khajla, Hazrat Nizamuddin Basti & Elsewhere
The fasting snack. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] An almost fully round moon is hanging in the 10pm sky. But its enigmatic majesty has been hijacked by a handful of similarly rounded things. They are hanging much lower,…
City Food – ANB Momos, Anand Vihar
Cart cuisine names. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] You have heard of paneer momos, chicken momos, tandoori momos, even chocolate momos. But ANB momos? It’s here in Anand Vihar, close to the site where attendants of the Gurgaonm-bound…
City Food – Inter-Generational Sherbet Stall, Turkman Gate
A rose-tinted landmark. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Things change with time. Things don’t change with time. One March afternoon, Muhammed Rafi was sitting at his rose sherbet stall beside the centuries-old Turkman Gate. He had reopened his…
City Food – Game wali Kulfi, Old Delhi
Taste of heritage childhood. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It’s gone. That’s how old people with clear memories of their childhood summers speak of it. But here is that same thrilling ice-cold treat, just around the corner, mobbed…
City Food – Zina Tea Stall, Near Chitli Qabar
Staircase chai. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] Staircase is obsolete. This is the experience of many of us living in places like Gurgaon and Noida. Days go by without spotting a sweeping flight of steps. The reason is…
City Food – “Factory” Cream Rolls, Sher Khan’s Glass Case
[Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Chasing a vendor. Evening, half past seven. The glass case almost empty of cream rolls. Only 10 left. Sher Khan had started at eight in the morning with 300 cream rolls. But no…
City Food – Ram Laddu, Lajpat Nagar & Gurgaon
Snack pilgrimage. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Is the best Paris-Brest in Paris? Is the best Mysore masala dosa in Mysore? Is the best Modi Nagar ki mashoor danedar shikanji in Modi Nagar? To get the answer, you…
City Food – Seasame Platter, Sonu Gajak & Namkeen
Taste for winter. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] There are many ways of telling the same story. Same goes for til. The seasame seed exists in many meetha adaptations. The sweet teeth-sticking gajak is the most common. Many…
City Food – Jaiveer Singh’s Tea and Bahikhata, Jacobpura
The world of a chai place. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] That book is back. One of the most noteworthy chai stalls in the entire Delhi region is in Gurgaon. Not because of its super-cool chai. Plenty of…
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