Chandni Chowk Street Food Walk

Chandni Chowk has always been the center of Old Delhi conundrum. You can find absolutely anything that you are looking for in those shops that sprawl across the entire stretch of Chandni Chowk. I visit Delhi often as the boyfriend lives there. So this time when Adil, a dear friend and a great food enthusiast from Hyderabad was in Delhi - the three of us decided to hop the streets and have a flavor of the typical Delhi delicacies. We started off by visiting the Natraj Dahi Bhalla Counter. This is located right next to Central Bank of India and next to the Chandni Chowk metro station. I must say that the Dahi was fabulous. It was creamy and blended perfectly with the sweet chutney. The bhallas just melted in our mouth. I wanted to have more but stopped as there were numerous other places on our list.

Our next stop was the Bishan Swaroop Chaat Bhandar. If you keep walking straight from Natraj Cafe you will reach this place. They have a variety of chats at prices starting from Rs. 50. The most expensive one is the Fruit Chaat which costs you Rs. 80. Not only is this the most expensive one but the most popular one too.

I have consumed fruits in a variety of forms but I have never tasted such a fruit chaat. The fruits were all mixed with a variety of masalas and also had aloo and mattar alongwith it. And for the price that they were offering I must say it was really good.

Keep walking in the same direction and you will come across another small shop known as Shree Balaji Chaat Bhandaar. This is right before the Gurudwara starts.

We ordered the Dahi Bhalla Chaat here. This had an interesting presentation - one side had the sweet chutney while the other side had the spicy chutney. So either you could mix it up all together and enjoy it or decide to choose whichever side you prefer.

Being a Bengali I can never resist enough of sweets. And so our next stop was the Old Famous Jalebiwala. This is on the same road right after the Gurudwara ends. The minimum amount that you can order is 100grams. I am never satisfied with one so I wanted the Jalebi with Rabri combination. I must say it was finger licking good. If I wasn't worrying about the extra calories that I was putting, I could have hogged on for a whole lot more.

Our next stop was the Paranthe Wali Gaali. Yes, this is the famous lane in Delhi that is filled with the best paranthas that you can ever taste. This is actually closer to the Natraj Dahi Bhalla Chaat so you will have to traverse the entire stretch backwards. I was more than happy to walk after having stuffed my tummy with so much food. The gali is literally stuffed with people and you will hardly have any space to walk. And if you can't decide which shop to visit in the numerous shops there stop at Pt. Babu Ram Devidayal Paranthewale. Its more than 100 years old.

Although most of the paranthas here are oily, the one that is a must try here is the Rabri Parantha. Yes! you heard that right. The Rabri parantha is literally Rabri inside the parantha. While you tear the soft parantha, rabri oozes out into your plate. Such pleasures in life are seldom found! Oh and also this place doesn't parcel food. You literally have to wait in the queue till there is a place for you to sit and enoy your meal so be prepared for the wait time.

If you go further ahead into the lane, you will come across the JB Kachoriwala. It is reviewed as the Best Kachori in Delhi NCR by Mouthshut.com. It is a small corner shop with hundred of Kachoris being deep fried in the corner. You will hardly find any space to stand and that is exactly how you are supposed to eat your Kachori.

I was slightly disappointed with the Kachori though. The filling wasn't much and the curry was tangy in taste - although I am not sure if that is how it is supposed to taste. But for 20 bucks a piece I wouldn't expect too much.

What do you need after a good meal? You need a good amount of dessert. And when on the streets what better than to quench your thirst with a glass of lassi? Our next stop hence was the Amritsari Lassi Walla which is right at the end of Chandni Chowk.

We started by ordering one glass of Malai Lassi which was thick and creamy and wholesome. Post that we ordered the Baadam Lassi which was garnished with almonds. It was so thick that you could simply scoop it up with a spoon. Taste wise both were delicious.

You must be wondering that now we are done with our sojourn. But we are true foodies you see and for us it was time for lunch now. Yes! We still had enough space for that. Where better to have lunch that at the fabled Karim's near Jama Masjid? So we took an auto that dropped us at Karim's which by the way has just started in Hyderabad as well. Karim's is listed as No.2 in the best places to eat in Delhi, second only to Bukhara by ITC. This place is run by the fourth generation of the chef family who used to work for the Mughal family that ended with Bahadur Shah Zafar. We started off by ordering the Sheekh Kebab which is 50 bucks a piece. It was so good that we ended up ordering 6 of them.

For the main course we first ordered the Mutton Korma which looked and tasted delicious. The mutton chunks were big and were cooked well enough so they were really soft.

We had also ordered the Chicken Jehangiri. This dish was less spicy. Being in Hyderabad, and being used to spicy food I didn't quite like this though. The chicken was really tasty and tender.

We enjoyed both of these with the Khamiri Roti. I don't get these in Hyderabad and they were absolutely lovely with the gravies. The bread was big soft and cooked really well in the Tandoor.

And who can miss dessert after a hearty meal? So we ordered kheer. They come in mud pots and taste absolutely like the firni - except the color.

We were more than full after our food journey and it took us quite sometime to come out of Chawri Bazaar to get a Metro/Cab to reach our respective destinations. In the end though the troubles were totally worth the amazing food!