India: Old Delhi Food Tour With Delhi Food Walks
Early October. Just a week and a little more before Diwali. It’s also the beginning of the colorful wedding season in India. After exploring the street art in Lodhi Colony, we took a taxi to Chandni Chowk. Our driver refused to go inside and dropped us off at the main road. Since it was pre-Diwali and wedding season in India, the bylanes of Chandni Chowk were insanely crowded. We somehow managed to walk to Gurudwara Sisganj Sahib, A Sikh temple in Old Delhi. At five, we met Anubhav from Delhi Food Walks (he’s the foodie-in-chief of Delhi Food Walks) and the CNN crew who filmed a bit of our tour before they left.
You, me, everyone has a dream place. A place we love and yearn to see so much once before we die. For Nathan, it was the Taj Mahal which we saw in our real eyes. For Zin, it’s the chaotic busy streets of Chandni Chowk. And here we are, in Purani Dilli (Old Delhi), exploring the alleys of Chandni Chowk. The market is nothing but a brimming pot of culture. It’s a demonstration of the life of an average Indian. The forgotten, ignored local lifestyle a lifestyle blog, or a fancy magazine never talks about. It’s a heaven for foodies and another heaven for shoppers in all kind. From beaded earrings for Rs.10 to sarees in hues brighter than you could ever imagine, the market has them all.
Five past five in the evening. Anubhav guides us to our first stop of the tour. Soon, we have a crispy, piping hot aloo chaat in our hands, an aloo tikki dunked in chutney(s). We then walk to the oldest paratha restaurant existing in Chandni Chowk. Paranthe Wali Gali is home to parantha shops/sellers dating back to 1800s. It doesn’t get authentic than this. As we busily devour paratha we’ve never tasted before, some stuffed with condensed milk, we talk about the Ceylonese cuisine with Anubhav as he’s eager to find out how diverse things are in our tiny island. Surely, it isn’t as diverse as its big neighbour.
And boy, that was just the start of our food tour. From five in the evening to ten at night, for five long hours, we roamed around the busy alleys of Chandni Chowk with Anubhav and his colleague, Mudit who was a wee bit tired of all the walking and endless food (he blogs about his foodie adventures here on Instagram). We stopped by nine places. And Anubhav didn’t forget to remind us that paratha was just the starters. We had most authentic nankhatai in town, warm and freshly baked. Nankhatai is sort of like a snack, shortbread cookies spiced with cardamom. For the first time, we had samosas a bit different than the ones we’ve eaten before. These samosas are a well-known speciality of Purani Dilli: stuffed with green peas. No boiled potatoes or lentils.
Z’s face brightened as she saw large, thick jalebis, juicy and straight out of ghee. Hot, crispy and crunchy, the North Indian delicacy is a little treat if you’ve a sweet tooth. Before we entered into our big main meals which of course was meaty, we walked into the most serene place in Old Delhi. It’s a small alley. An alley with nine old havelis. They are named as Naughara Mansions in Kinari Bazaar. Nine old havelis and no shops. It’s as if you walked into a whole new world. It’s serene. It’s peace. It’s quaint. And quiet.
Before we had our main dishes, we walked hurriedly down the lane and visited a wholesale flower market. Thousands and thousands of flowers lying on the floor before they are turned into a chain – a string of flowers linked with each other by their stems – used for weddings and temples. The fragrance of fresh flowers were in contrast to the smell of warmly cooked food we earlier had. As we walked upstairs, we could get a bird’s eye view of the busy lanes. Thousands of people. Shopping. Buying things. Selling. Selling sarees. Leather handbags. Jewellery. Candles for Diwali and bangles so pretty. Hundreds of cycle rickshaws. Auto rickshaws. Even cars. Cars of all kind. It’s as if one tiny part of whole India lies here in Purani Dilli. Other side of the street houses a mosque. With golden Sikh temples and mosques in one single space, it reminds us of the diversity India is home to. (Also read: No. 1 Dewmini Roti Shop – our favourite place to eat in Mirissa)
We then walk into our favourite part of the tour. The chai shop. “This is our Starbucks,” Anubhav jokingly says as we sit on a bench placed by the side of the street. A few minutes later, we have a freshly brewed chai in our hands. We slowly sip our chai as Anubhav tries to hear more of Nathan’s Hindi. This, my dear, is certainly better than Starbucks. As we take a cycle rickshaw to our next stopover, Anubhav reminds us of the beauty in chaos. Next to our driver was a guy who sits on the same seat and talks about the daily life. About the business. The weariness during the wedding season here in the markets.
Bismillah was one of our favorite stopovers during the food tour. Quite luckily, we not only had the chance to have butter chicken. We also had malai tikka and kebab from Bismillah. Warm creamy tikkas with fluffy naan, onions and all mixed with a bit of lime. It soon became our new favourite dish. We were also greeted with a dish of authentic Mughal biryani. We then went to Old Delhi’s most popular place: Karim’s. The restaurant runs back to the period of Mughal Empire and they are still one of the hearty places of Delhi’s street food scene. We were there only to have authentic shish kebab. But then Zinara became a Zinara and was overjoyed when she found out that “Nahari” on Karim’s menu was exactly the same dish called Nihari. She’s heard a lot about Nihari from her Pakistani friends and could not resist to try it out.
By the time we finished our main meals, needless to say we were so full. But hold on to your stomachs, we aren’t finished yet. It’s half past nine and we are at a roadside sweet shop/restaurant, trying out phirni for the first time. And then at last, we take a cycle rickshaw to a kulfiwala – from authentic kulfi to fancy ones, we share more than five varieties of kulfi. By the time we ended our tour, one by one, the souls of Chandni Chowk, the souls of Purani Dilli, young and old, was bidding farewell to another weary day. Some are taking shelter on roadside payments. Most shops were already closed as we walked past them to take the metro.
When you travel, or in life, you chase experiences. Experiences that shape you and make you the person you truly are. The food tour with Delhi Food Walks turned into one such beautiful experience. The streets of Purani Dilli are extremely safe to wander alone. We are just a little bit (a lot, obviously) happier that we had the opportunity to learn and embrace a place, and walk into vibrant corners of it we never could have observed on our own. And even for five hours, we could live in it.
We would like to thank Delhi Food Walks for providing us a complimentary tour, but as always opinions are honest and entirely our own.
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That looks good! I love Old Delhi, but I’ve never been on a food tour. I think i might have to do that next time!
Love the authentic cuisine so much. We are glad we went on this tour. Pretty sure we wouldn’t have tried some of the food here if we went on our own.
I love trying food I’ve never had before, and India is perfect for that – so many hundreds of new dishes!
India is really the heaven if you are a foodie 🙂
I am, and a vegetarian one, too. India is perfect!
I love to travel and try different foods. I would love to go on a Delhi Food Walk. It would be a great way to see the local culture.
Highly recommend this tour if you visit India x
Wow this Delhi food tour sounds amazing! I am loving all the colourful foods you captured. I need to venture out and try more Indian dishes!
Exactly! Indian cuisine doesn’t have an end. There are so many varieties of food.
Wow this looks like an amazing food tour! Everything looks so good.
Thank you <3
What a nice festival to take part of. I am such a foodie and so I would enjoy this immensely. I would really like to explore the Indian culture. Seems beautiful.
Highly recommend Delhi Food Walks if you visit Delhi x
My family and I loves Indian food and these looks like food heaven. The curries and desserts are making my mouthwatering. I’ve always want to visit New Dehli and hope to visit this place someday.
Make sure you visit Chandni Chowk and try Old Delhi food when you visit Delhi. You can get the authentic Delhi food in Old Delhi x
You must have had a really interesting and satisfying food adventure. Btw, there’re so many cool dishes, and they look so tempting through your photos. I wish to go to India once in my lifetime.
Hope you are able to go to India soon xx Thank you for your lovely words!
The pictures are simply mouthwatering! Such a great idea to go on a food tour in Delhi I don’t think there would be much I wouldn’t like, I’ll have to try one some time.
Exactly! We are so happy we took this tour. And we loved all the food. All of them.
A person like me would love to do a food tour. I would have never thought to plan a trip around the food and festivies. I can almost smell the food from here.
That’s something we love to do – plan our trip around the cuisines of the country we are visiting <3
The food looks amazing! what a wonderful tour!
Thank you, Belinda <3
My dear – your photos are divine – I feel as though you have taken me there! I agree with you that as travelers through life, its all about experiencing this existence as human. Going to Old Delphi is one of them, exotic, delectable and abundant with colors (which activates all my senses!) and because of this post, it is going on my bucket list. <3 Gratitude & many blessings!!
Thank you so much for your nice words Evelyn. Yay, so happy you added this to your bucket list! Let us know when you are visiting Delhi 🙂 xx
This looks like an exotic vacation the food and colors are inspiring.
All these dishes look delicious – I’m just a little afraid of the very hot and spicy dishes!
The food looks amazing but I bet the environment and culture was just amazing. Was the stuff spicy?
Wow those foods are amazing and they all look tasty, It reminds me of a blogger that I know who features tons of different kinds of food in Asia, I think you should collaborate her blogs name is Life&Spice or maybe you know her already. You guys would make a perfect combination. cheers!
Hey, thanks for the tip. We found her blog: Lyf&Spice.
This is one of the reasons I need to visit India, they all look so colorful and inviting. Thanks for sharing your experience.
India has amaaaaazing food!
It looks so fun to take a food tour! I have always had a fascination with India and the culture and I would love to taste authentic food from there. It looks like fun!
Such an interesting experience! I would love to sample some of these cuisines!
I think I need to start taking food tours! Although I really like to find out for myself places abroad, these tours can give you some special locations only locals know about.
Need to visit Taj Mahal as well! 🙂
I love learning about a culture through food. I hope to make it to Delhi one day! Maybe next year when I’m on the other side of earth. 😉
Oh my world! The colours of the food, such bright vibrant colours, i have never been to india. The food tour is such a great idea when you can boast such colourful and delicous dishes
Wow!! Lots of delightful and tempting food here in Delhi. I’ve been there here before and I say that Delhi is such a wonderful and amazing place which I’ve been to.
These photos scream Dehli and the food markets are one of the main reasons I want to visit India. Coming from an African background, I’ve always appreciated the richness of Indian food and cannot wait to try somethinf authentic! Thanks for sharing!
Delicious! Old Delhi is a must visit for foodies.
Check out my latest upload on my visit to delhi. I’ve shared my pics and some information about my visit.
My tour included the huge trade fare held in Delhi, India Gate, Akshardham Temple, Humayu’s Tomb and returning back to chandigarh having dinner at the Famous Amrik Sukhdev… Don’t forget to like and comment and tell me about your views about delhi…Waiting for your reply.!
Hey Abhi, thank you for your comment! We went to Safdarjung’s Tomb when we were in Delhi and it was a beautiful place. We also walked around to see the street art in Lodhi Colony. Glad you had a good time in Delhi. Your blog is great. Keep up the good work! You can see more about our time in Delhi on our Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/natnzin