After some toing and froing between our guides we met up with Rajeev and JD from Food Tour in Delhi http://ift.tt/1HnDt6X at about 3.00pm. Exuberant Rajeev and the quieter JD were to lead us through the most extraordinary NINE hour food adventure through some of the oldest (and scariest) parts of Delhi, introducing us to some of the most authentic food tastes and experiences we could never imagine. It's now almost 24 hours after we concluded the tour and no gastric upsets yet - so it proved to be a completely successful food experience in every sense!! We set off in rickshaws through the crowded, gridlocked streets and laneways of heritage listed Old Delhi. And the first stop was at the award winning Shyam Sweets (Watar Kachori Wale). Chef Rajeev encouraged us to identify flavours and learn how combining sweeter flavours and pastry based "sides" can intensify and round out spicy flavoured dishes. We loved the lassi served in clay pots at this "joint". Deep in the laneways, next we found ourselves in the "Jain Coffee Shop". Because Jains practise non-violence towards all living things they do not eat any meat, fish, eggs or any vegetable grown below ground. We tried sliced mango, honey and paneer sandwiches at this joint and found them much more interesting and tasty than they sound. The laneways of Delhi have every enterprise imaginable crammed into every available space. Like traders (hardware, cooking equipment, jewellery, dental supplies, shoes etc etc) are clustered together, but the food joints spill out onto the crowded narrow walkways, millimetres away from the passing traffic. And overhead there are festoons of fearsome looking electrical cabling and colonies of (Rhesus) monkeys playing with death in amongst the wires. This kulfi trader is renowned in Delhi & often travels overseas to provide desserts for rich people's parties - but you wouldn't think that from the location of his little trading space in this crowded laneway. But his saffron and pistachio kulfi was just to die for (as was his berry and pomegranate seed flavoured kulfi). These mangoes were filled with mango flavoured kulfi and topped with a hard biscuit mixture which you break open to reveal the treasure within - a very special treat. Water buffalo milk is the basis for many yummy Indian desserts. These guys were boiling down cream made on buffalo milk, until the cream becomes so thick it sets hard and then they flavour it with spices - yum! This guy sitting in his cooking pot hire shop looked very photogenic I thought! The Delhi spice market is the largest in Asia. The chili fumes are so strong here it catches you in the throat. It was a hive of energy as the sun was setting over old Delhi. The spice and tea shop of Mehar Chand and Sons was a haven of calm refinement in amongst the mayhem. The most up market rickshaws offer fanciful lighting effects once the sun goes down. By now we'd made our way out of old Delhi into Connaught Place for vegetable puffs at the venerable Wengers and flavoured milk drinks around the corner from there. The main Sikh Temple in Delhi, off Connaught Place, serves food to the poor people of Delhi - all day. The massive kitchens of this luminous white, gold domed temple are the last word in efficiency and cleanliness. Hundreds of volunteers come to the temple each day to help in the kitchens - to feed the poor. I loved the atmosphere of this place - so purposeful, respectful and well organised and clean - and lots of women and girls around (unlike other places we've been in Delhi). The girls in this lovely family were very friendly to me and engaged me in quite a lively conversation. (We all had to have our heads covered in the Sikh temple - that's why I'm wearing the funny yellow cap.) My camera ran out of battery life at this point so I missed out on pics of our kebab stand course and the huge banquet meal at Kake De Hotel (two of the more confronting food experiences of this tour, with the possible exception of the roadside chaat (snack) joint), but it was close to midnight before we were finished - without forgetting our stop off at the ice cream stand at the India Gate! An amazing unforgettable Day 1 in Delhi! http://ift.tt/1GIsgda
from Agra Food Tour http://ift.tt/1HnDt6X
Indian Food Tour in Delhi | A tour of authentic Indian street food in Delhi
No comments:
Post a Comment