Features: Magazine | Literary Review | Life | Metro Plus | Open Page | Education Plus | Book Review | Business | SciTech | NXg | Friday Review | Cinema Plus | Young World | Property Plus | Quest |

Puris in Purani Dilli

The sages have said – and I give them full marks for the observation – that you have to make the most of adverse situations. My situation wasn’t all that adverse, if you ask me, but it was certainly irritating. I had to go – bang in the middle of a hot day – to Asaf Ali Road for some bank work. I wasn’t looking forward to it, for the traffic there on the best of days is quite a nightmare. But then it struck me that since I was going there anyway, I could try out some of the old eateries of the Walled City. I hadn’t been there in a while, thanks mainly to the weather, and it was time I did a recce.

So I finished the boring work I had to do and left my car parked at a stand. From there I took a rickshaw to Gali Arya Samaj. This lane is behind the Hamdard Building on Asaf Ali Road. The lane goes all the way up to Sita Ram bazaar. If you go down this lane to the end, you’ll find people selling Daulat ki chaat in winter, and khurchan and kulfi in the summer.

But just about 500 yards down the lane you will find a sweet shop on your left. That’s Kailash Halwai , though there is no sign to indicate the name. On the other side of the road is an extension of the same shop. But while on the left they sell sweets, the right side is the place for savouries. I went to the shop on the right when I spotted four people making samosas. The owner, Manoj Sharma, was sitting there, in front of a small wooden plank where people were busy eating. On the menu were bedmis, puris and kachoris. The place was buzzing with activity. One man was rolling out the puris, another was frying them and a third man was placing them in a container in front of Sharma. They make the puris and bedmis – and some kachoris – in the mornings, and in the afternoons they focus only on kachoris.

I was there just when the last of the puris and bedmis were being rolled out. So I asked for four plates of bedmi and puri each. Interestingly, the puris were made not with atta but with maida – the kind that you get in Bengali homes. It was a bit oily, however, unlike the bedmis which were heavy and crisp, but weren’t soaked in oil. Each plate of two puris or two bedmis is for eight rupees.

The vegetable curry that comes with the bedmi and puri was interesting. It was essentially a potato curry, but it had a soft dal ka kofta in it. They had added a helping of methi (fenugreek) ki chutney on top of the sabzi, which gave a tart taste to the curry. And all this was served with rye-stuffed green chillies. I enjoyed the meal. All in all, I was glad – despite the weather – to be back in Old Delhi.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail