Delhi Delights- Chandni Chowk DIY food walk in pictures

Budget Travel Guide.

Discovering and sampling interesting albeit yummeh grub is one of the things that excites me about travel to dizzying levels. And this time around, I absolutely came to love Delhi for its abundance and variety of super affordable yet utterly drool worthy, exceptionally scrumptious food. There is no other way to describe it.

My friend, the dashing young gentleman and upstanding Delhi citizen Avichal Pathik volunteered his worthy services to act as guide for the day . I was pleasantly introduced to a wide array of culinary delights of Delhi’s historical Chandni Chowk area, reputed for its palate teasers.

A veritable storehouse on interesting tidbits on Delhi and its surrounds, he is always more than happy, eager even to re-explore and rediscover the Chandni Chowk vicinity. He says that he never tires of it. After the extensive food walk we started at 10 am and ended at 3-pm, (the blistering sun hampering our progress a wee bit) I can now see why.

I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves.

I’ve also (at the bottom of the post) attached an easy to follow route on google maps of the very same we took, and places we visited to satiate our ravenous appetites and my somewhat cursory interest in history. Why pay for exorbitantly priced food walks when you can do it yourself in the reasonable price range of Rs 500-600 eh?

If you are using the convenient metro, get off at the Chawri bazzar station (A on the map) which is on the yellow line, to start the walk. Kuremal Kulfi (B) is an easy walk from the metro station (follow map). Their frozen stuffed kulfis are their speciality. Pick from apples, oranges, mangoes or other fruits stuffed and bloated to the brim with delicious kulfi. Though a little pricey at Rs 200 a piece, it is totally worth every bite!

Kuremal Mahavir Prasad's stuffed mango kulfi

Next Stop: Sudarshan’s flavoured milk (C) on the corner of Nai Sarak. Prices range from- Rs-25-30. We tried the rich and flavourful kesar-badam milk.

Sudarshan's flavoured milk

Move on to the area’s most well-known Paranthe wali gali (D) or the by-lane of fried bread for a variety of dangerous-for-your-arteries but just perfect for your taste buds deep fried paranthas (Indian flat-bread). There are a series of shops selling more or less the same fare. You can choose from a wide selection, including more quirky fillings like rabri or badam or kaju. A plate comes with two paranthas and is normally served with sweet tamarind chutney, mint chutney, vegetable pickle, cottage cheese potato curry and some sort of tempered sweet pumpkin mash. Price-Rs 50-60 a plate.

We stuck to the tried and tested mint and green chilli paranthas.

Paranthe Wali Gali

Take a breather as we did and amble along Dariba lane which is the designated silver and artificial jewelry market in the area. You will come by several interesting ancient and colourful wall to wall houses/buildings in the by-lanes.

At the end of which is Jalebiwala (E). The name says it all. He sells fat and succulent jalebis at Rs 50 for 100gms. Minimum purchase 100 gms.



Jalebis at Jalebi Wala



Daryaganj is a ten minute rikshaw ride away. This area houses ‘Aap ki pasand’ (F), a tea house that sells an eclectic selection of teas. Also, check out Moti Mohal Restaurant. We skipped these as it was a weekend and we got distracted by the (every) Sunday second-hand book market that runs along a long stretch of the road. After which it was time to check out the historical Jama Mashid, reportedly the largest mosque complex in all of India. A short but strenuous climb up one of its towers (entrance Rs 30 for desis and and Rs 100 for aliens) will afford you sweeping views of Old Delhi and particularly the nearby majestic Red-Fort. This one’s a not to miss. You will be denied entry if not dressed appropriately i.e. knees and shoulders must be covered. You will also be charged Rs 300 if carrying a camera.

Pop into the nearby Karim (G) for its known far-and-wide non-vegetarian delights. I was informed that the forefathers of the family who run it have been in the business from the Mughal era. They were apparently culinary artists of such standing to be in the contented employ of the royal family.



Karim

All the walking and clambering helped us work up a fresh appetite. We doubled back to Chandni chowk via the back of Jama Masjid and onto Nai Sarak once again. We stopped to cool off at the been- there- forever generations old Pandit Ved Prakash lemon wale (H) for refreshing nimbu (lemon) soda. Cost- Rs 12 a glass.

  

Pandit Ved Prakash's cooling nimbu soda

We then took a small detour to take a dekko at renowned Urdu poet Mirza Ghalib’s residence- Ghalib ke haveli which is currently being restored.

 If you voluntarily subject yourself to long sermons on history, you sure do deserve a treat. It was time for dessert. After squarely hitting Fatehpur Masid at the very end of Chandni Chowk, we turned right, into Church Mission Marg till we got to Giani (I) for thick lassi and heavenly Rabri Falooda ( a fusion dish of rabri, an Indian sweet made out of yogurt mixed with vermicelli, one of the main ingredients of falooda). Though not a big fan of falooda, I give this one full marks. It was A-awesome ! Giani was established in 1956 and has stores across Delhi. The one on Church Mission Marg is their original store.

Next door is ‘Kake di hatti’ (J) that sells a variety of massive stuffed naans to be eaten alongside daal and sabzi (curry).

Rabri falooda- Rs 50 a glass. Stuffed nans from Rs 20 onwards.

Giani's rabri falooda.Look at the joy on the boy's face! Bottom right- Kakke di hatti. 

In spite of food almost coming out of our ears we managed to make room for the dahi-bhalle king Natraj’s (K) delectable dahi balle and  aloo tikki (Rs 40 each). This joint is back on Chandni Chowk, a stone’s throw or maybe two away from the conveniently located Chandni Chowk Metro (L) station which is where we finally made our way to. It was time to head home thoroughly sated.

Natraj's dahi balle and aloo tikki

 Other foods to be tantalized by while here. Chole Bature at Giani. This one is also allegedly fantastic in shops in and around Sadar Bazar. For kachori, try the small alley next to Natraj that leads to a square where you will find a cart selling these little treats. Ashok Chat Bhandar at the beginning of Chawri bazzar is well known, as its name aptly suggests, for its chats. For those with a sweet tooth try Ghantewala sweet shop. Their karachi halwa and paneer pakoda come highly recommended.

Chole Bature. Inset-kachori

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Having fun is hard work!

The whole plan and then some

The plan is to do a three month South America trip in a loop starting from Quito, Ecuador and ending in Bogota, Colombia covering three other countries- Peru, Bolivia and Brazil (maybe). The trick is in getting your visas at just the right time. I need three visas. Ecuador and Bolivia have a visa on arrival provision. All the visas, I’m given to believe expire if they are not validated within 90 days of issuance. This means that I need to get my Colombia visa last as it is the last country I’m visiting. I also need to factor in the one month I’m spending in the US before heading to South America, to ensure that I have a valid visa to get in.

Getting the balance just right is key. All the travel agents I approached in Bangalore refused to get it done as it was shuttling between one too many consulates for them and complicated as South America is not a popular area with Indians in general. And so I packed my bags and flew into Delhi to get the visas.

Most visas are multiple entry and valid for 90 days in a year.

 Estimated processing time times and, cost-

Peru visa- 3 working days. Cost- Rs 1,800 for any nationality

Brazil visa- 10 working days.    Cost- Rs- 1,200 ( + another 1,200 if doing it through a third party like a travel agent or friend/relative)

Colombia visa- 3 working days. Cost- Rs 2,508+ Rs 2,850 visa processing fee

Allow for weekends and other delays such as requests for additional details and bookings. In all, it will probably take me a month in Delhi to get it all together. Other information-

Vaccinations required- yellow fever vaccination (especially for getting out of Brazil, and Leticia in Colombia)

Vaccinations recommended – Tetanus, Hepatitis A, Typhoid, Rabies

The Peru Visa experience

How to get a Peru visa in India? Delhi is the only place to get it.

The process is quite straightforward.

General requirements for tourist visa ( as listed in the embassy website verbatim)

1.     Valid passport for at least one year.

2.     Two DGC-005 forms dully typed in block letters.

3.     Two passport size colored photograph with White background.

4.     A Photocopy of the passport is required at the time of submission.

5.     Return ticket or reservation from Peru.

Additional requirements ( as listed in the embassy website verbatim)

1.     Letter from your company indicating the purpose and the time of your stay.(In case of retired, house wife, student, minors etc covering note is required for the sponsorship of the trip and all expenses).

2.     Proof of financial capability - Last 3 month’s original Bank statement duly stamped.

3.     Latest income tax receipt of the applicant with Income Tax Department seal or notary seal.

4.     Hotel reservation from Peru. In case of sponsored trips:

a) Sponsor in Peru or India should present a written affidavit in which he/she states that he/she shall be responsible to bear all costs of boarding and lodging of the applicant or repatriation in case of traveler has acquired illegal status or does not have sufficient funds to return.

b) Identity and financial proofs of the sponsor.

Consular timings

Working days: Monday-Friday
Submission Time :  10:00 a.m. - 12:00 noon
Collection Time  :   04:00 p.m. - 05:00 p.m.

Here is the link to the Peru embassy in Delhi. You can download and print the DGC-005 forms from here.

http://www.embassyperuindia.in/visainformation.html

Embassy address-

Address: F-3/16 Vasant Vihar New Delhi -110057 Delhi

Phone:011 4616 3333

To get to the embassy-

The closest metro station to the embassy is Hauz Kaz. Take the yellow line; get off at Hauz Khaz station. You can either take a bus (Rs 10) from right outside Gate 1 of the metro station : there are  two of them going towards Vasant Vihar  (route 620 and 764  )or take an auto. An auto will set you back by Rs 50 one way.

Ideally you should have your visa in hand in 3 working days after you submit your application. Well, ideally.

3 working days after I applied for my visa I was at the Peru embassy on the dot at 4.pm. eager to collect my visa. But it was not to be. No passport fresh with visa awaited me. Instead it was the same rigmarole.

You are going to Peru?... and after a meaningful pause ...alone? and you are not flying in? You don’t know Spanish? How will you manage? And you don’t have a fixed itinerary? And no flight tickets in and out?
  
Sigh.

 I’m not unused to such interrogation.  Yet it continues to baffle me every single time.

 I patiently explained as I had already done in my cover letter that I was doing it by road from Ecuador and re-entering from Bolivia the same way. That I wanted it to be spontaneous. And that I did have tickets in and out of South America, just not from Peru. I also pointed out that I won’t be the first person to have done it and that there were lots of backpackers who do the same thing. That language has never been a barrier. Also, that I was old enough to do the trip by myself (I was hard pressed to keep myself from rolling my eyes) and that I have been doing solo trips around the world for a while now.

But to no avail. 

Groan.

I was told to make a detailed day-to-day tentative itinerary and mail it to the embassy for consideration which I have now done complete with hotel names and phone numbers. So what should have taken 3 days has now stretched to 7 days and still counting. I don’t really blame them though. It is not so much the color of your skin as much as it is the passport you hold is what I’ve realized. They are just not used to too many Indians from India travelling independently. And to top that, if it’s a woman travelling solo, it is something of a novelty and therefore by default arouses suspicion.

As more Indians enlarge their travel repertoire, that is bound to change.

But for now having fun is hard work. Seriously.

 The experience threw my mind back to a rather now- funny –but- then harrowing visa getting experience over two years ago. 
 

The not so new supercilious eyebrow raise

At the Kenya-Tanzania border applying for a Kenyan visa (on arrival) an Indian passport instantly produced a volley of questions - “Why do you want to travel in Africa?  And all alone? Who is there in Kenya? etc. I had to bite down the mild retort that usually hovers on the tip of my tongue. “Am I not too conspicuous for a terrorist or spy?”

Apparently the ‘T’ word is dangerous and back chat not a recommended approach or so I’ve been told. I stoically refrained.

After much repetition of patient answers, half an hour later I emerged outside smiling, clutching my passport with the precious visa in it. I had been relieved of an additional 25 dollars (the last of my money) by the wily passport officer but so what? I had the visa. The joy was short-lived. The bus I’d come in was nowhere to be seen. It had with all my belongings trundled on minus me. The border officials hurriedly put me on the next bus out and assured me that it would catch up with my earlier bus. That was absolutely no consolation. Distraught, I issued the driver an  erm  dire albeit tearful warning, “If I don’t get my bags, I’m going nowhere till you find it for me. I don’t know how you’ll do it but you had better.”

I suppose the threat ( or more probably the tears)  worked. I arrived in Mombasa penniless but nevertheless safe and sound... legally with a visa  and all my bags . I had to rely on the kindness of a stranger, a woman seated next to me on the bus to get me to my pre-booked hotel. But that my friend is a story for another day.