We had few hours to kill before heading to the airport, so decided to explore street food of Purani Delhi (Old Delhi) and munched bit of everything (well almost, everything) you see in the pics. We took Ola Cabs from Connaught Place and reached Chandni Chowk area after passing through historic landmarks and cleaner & greener part of New Delhi.   Once we reached red fort and old delhi territory, we saw zillion folks on the roads which were busy bustling with street vendors.  There was tons of mouth watering food options.  We started Alu Tikki Chaat and Pani Puri @ Bablu’s food cart.  Then we took an electric powered rickshaw ride and cycled through narrow lanes until we reached tiny street which is named as Paranthe Wali Gali (Paratha’s Street).

We did take a stroll around Paranthe Wali Galli (the lane reminded me of street in Melbourne with street art) to try much discussed / hyped Parathas which were deep fried in Ghee.  We tried cream of milk topped with various nuts and brown sugar, samosa and kachori chat.  We asked one of the local guy, “What’s the best paratha place to eat here ?”.  He said, “All are good.  Infact all 4 of them are owned by single family”.  Not sure, if that’s true.  But he recommended going to Kanhaih Paratha. It was a tiny restaurant which seats about dozen folks, and there was a waiting queue.  It took about 20 minutes to get our turn.

Meanwhile while waiting in the queue, my brother  Ramesh interviewing Paratha shop owner which you can see in the below video link, on the making of the ghee fried paratha and details of his business.  I felt as if we are going to dark side, by eating such a calorie ridden food, so powered the video with Darth Vader sound track (just for fun).   We ordered 3 plates of paratha (one with cashew, one with potato, and one with mixed vegetables) and shared it amongst five of us.  I felt we consumed enough calories for the day.

Making of Paranthas here is very similar to how Dosa is made at Laxman Dosa,  Govind Dosa, and Ramki Bandi Dosa in Hyderabad, which I had blogged earlier

We thought of trying Delhi Metro to return back to the hotel.  However looking at the crowd at the metro, we decided to take Ola Cabs once again.  I have never so much crowd at a single place in a long time.  It would take an hour or two just to get the metro ticket.

My Verdict on Delhi’s Street Food:  I am unlikely to try it again.  I felt nothing beats like street food of Hyderabad.

Here are few pics and the video

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