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It’s not easy looking for a restaurant when you have the name all wrong. I was under the impression that the place I was in search of in bustling Zakir Nagar was called New Delhi. It turned out that it was actually called Purani Dilli. A friend had told me about the restaurant. Then one day last week I got a call from Feroz Bakht Ahmed, a columnist, social worker and a fellow-foodie. Ferozbhai was all praise for the food, and urged me to try it out. I said I would, and landed up there one evening.

All that I knew was that it was somewhere near the Rehmani Masjid, a well-known landmark in the area. I took the road to Zakir Nagar, but I would suggest that if you are going by car, park at the New Friends’ Colony end. From there, take a rickshaw to Zakir Nagar. And do what I did — ask everybody you meet on the way for directions. It’s somewhere between Rehmani and Jama Masjid, another mosque in the area. And remember the name.

Purani Dilli, which is open only in the evenings, is run by a family from Matia Mahal. I was happy to meet Hannan and his two nephews, Salman and Shakeel. It’s a nice looking restaurant, well-lit and functional. There are special cabins for family, and I could tell that quite a few people there were regulars. The chicken changezi of Purani Dilli is apparently rather famous, though I could also see a lot of diners digging into fried chicken. The restaurant uses only goat meat, apart from chicken. I, of course, didn’t go anywhere near the chicken when I saw that the menu had such delicacies as haleem and nahari. The haleem was delicious — an aromatic gruel of mashed meat, lentils, cereals and spices. The haleem was brought to my table in a small bowl. Crispy fried onion slices were sprinkled on top, along with small bits of green chillies and slivers of ginger. I added a wee bit of lemon juice to my haleem and ate it with relish.

Then came my nahari, which is a dish of shanks cooked over slow heat for long hours. The meat was tender and the gravy thick and rich. I had this with some fluffy and soft khamiri rotis. The kheer at the end of the meal was not bad, but I have had better in Old Delhi. The prices are reasonable. A full chicken changezi is for Rs.240, the mutton haleem and the nahari are for Rs.130 a plate. Chicken biryani and mutton korma are for Rs.120 a plate.

They have an interesting dish called haleem biryani — which is a nice mix of rice and haleem. Khamiri and rumali rotis are for Rs.3 a piece. For the vegetarians, there is shahi paneer (Rs.80 for a full plate) and dal makhani (Rs.70).

It’s a good food, feel-good restaurant. Uniformed waiters bustle around carrying hot rotis from the kitchen, and in one corner of the restaurant I could see the chefs frying chicken on a big tawa. Next to them were shiny containers with meat dishes. The aroma was appetising. I had a good meal, and then ate some more when I reached home. That’s called an encore.

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