Street Food in Delhi

Decided to go explore the street food in old Delhi. Happened to be just the weekend when the temperature dropped with a chilly wind blowing in from the North but anyways, here we were, exploring Chawri Bazar at noon, walking along narrow and crowded streets full of old buildings dating from the middle of the 19th century. Only a few of these have been maintained properly but there are lots more such as these elaborately carved gateways and canopied balconies on brackets suggest, the brackets definitely drawing inspiration from the 17th century fusion architecture visible in Fatehpur Sikri, especially the Ibadat Khana of Emperor Akbar

First stop, Hiralal's Chat, for a leaf plate of slow fried potato patty embellished with a variety of sauces, syrups and spices. Also available in scooped out potatoes and tomatoes as a filling!

And then, for another plate of fruit chat, mixed fruit slices served with a liberal dunking in spices. One can ask for the degree of hotness one would like to have of course, and we preferred the lighter version.

Omkar is from Rampur in the State of Uttar Pradesh. He was almost invisible, squatting on the roadside with his pot of boiled gram, boiled to perfection and served with a mixture of chopped herbs and green chutney

Finally, "Daulat Ki Chat" which is uniquely available only during the cold season and only in these places. Made by whipping milk with cream at night, there is an interesting resource about Daulat Ki Chat here

This tastes like milk foam, and just disappears in the mouth. And after all this stuff, we had to skip lunch!