Qorma and Crowd – A trip to Old Delhi

-      By Sunandita

A visit to Old Delhi during the Muslim fasting month of Ramzan is a must if you are a food connoisseur and do not shy away from either meat or gravy with oil content high enough to trigger an invasion by a superpower.

As I am a ‘shudh’ non-vegetarian and do not think much about what oily food can do your stomach or heart, on the day before Eid I ventured out for a trip to the area near the iconic Jama Masjid. The congested locality houses a bunch of well-known restaurants, the most famous of them being the Karim Hotel and Al-Jawahar.

Trying to avoid endless traffic jams and serious parking issues in the older part of the city, me and two of my friends took a Metro to Chawri Bazar station. From the Metro station, you can get a rickshaw which will take you through the busy old Delhi lanes to your destination. But beware! Don’t dare undertake this treacherous journey if you are in a hurry or allergic to chaos. Your rickshaw-puller, like the driver of the Knight Bus in Harry Potter-3, will manoeuvre through thousands of other rickshaws, cars and what-not while cycle vans carrying huge load will partially block your path from both sides.

I anticipated that the lane housing the restaurants will be crowded as it was the day before Eid. And how crowded it was! We jostled through hoards of last-minute shoppers and ‘sawaiyan’ buyers to reach Al-Jawahar restaurant. Situated just beside the by-lane of Karim Hotel , it attracts a large number of food revellers despite being less famous than its illustrious neighbour.

Rather than going for exotic-sounding names like Chicken Jehangiri, we selected the tried and tasted Mutton Qorma and Roomali Roti for the main course.

As starters, we ordered half a plate of Chicken Afghani. The juicy and tender pieces aroused our taste buds, while the delicious Mutton Qorma that followed soon after made us savour every bit. As accompaniment, I personally like Roomali Roti more than Tandoori but don’t know if the Lucknawi Paratha, an oilier and softer version of Roomali, is sold in any Chandni Chowk restaurant. (You get that in Jamia Nagar, though)

A word of caution: If you want your restaurant to have hi-fi ambience and super-cleanliness, do not eat near Jama Masjid. But please note the positive aspect. The price of food here is quite low compared to most parts of Delhi. Food for three plus coke plus water bottles cost us only Rs 525, which left enough money in our wallets to tuck in sweet and tasty ‘phirni’ in traditional flat ‘kulhads’ from the footpath.

So, if you are ready to brave the chaos, you will be aptly rewarded in old Delhi. :D