New Delhi is awash in good food. From the kitchens of upscale hotel restaurants in South Delhi to the famed aloo chaat vendor in Connaught Place, a reasonably adventurous eater on any budget can find myriad ways to explore North Indian cuisine with relative ease. But it’s within the walled, dilapidated confines of Old Delhi—the congested maze of narrow alleys where rickshaw pullers, mosque goers, shoppers, beggars, and vendors of every imaginable thing collide daily—where the very best food is found, as my husband and I found last summer while researching Delhi cuisine. The historic and symbolic heart of the city, Old Delhi has street stalls and sweets shops dating back 70, 100, 200 years, peddling the same popular delicacies now as then: spicy-tangy chaats (snacks), sugary jalebi, smoky mutton kebabs. There’s just one catch about eating in this part of town: It can be completely overwhelming.
Try and picture it: clamorous, winding, dirty streets. Humans, bikes, and auto rickshaws competing for limited space. Little English spoken. There’s a good chance it’s very hot or very wet. Now think about what you’ve heard about eating—especially on the street—in India. You’re not particularly keen to dive into that cream-topped lassi, are you?
About the Author: Laura Siciliano-Rosen is the co-founder of Eat Your World, a food-travel website dedicated to regional foods around the world, to which users can also contribute. On EYW she has covered Delhi cuisine in depth. A devotee of all Indian chaats, she counts herself lucky for living in a South Asian neighborhood in Queens, NY.
