Vegetarian meals in Old Delhi: breakfast, lunch, dinner and late, a treat around every corner
- In the shadows of the Red Fort in the Indian capital, street stalls and pushcarts dispense delights such as paratha, halwa, kachoris, chaat and kulfi
- Brought by Persian, Afghan and Turkish invaders, and by northerners, Delhi has made them its own. Do as the locals do and follow a spicy dish with a sweet one
The middle-aged man picks up a ladle full of boiled peas and dunks them into a mixing bowl. Using the same ladle he then picks spices – ground cumin, red chilli powder, dried mango powder – and rock salt.
With the accuracy of an expert and agility of a child, he mixes the spices and peas in one swift movement. Next, he distributes the mixture in pattals, bowls made of dried leaves, and serves them to eager customers.
Not far away, on a pushcart, a young man carries a tray of white frothy foam. Adorned with fresh rose petals, this large mass of foam turns into the most delectable dessert once mixed with powdered sugar and khoya (reduced milk). Eaten with wooden spoons from small plates, the dessert, daulat ki chaat, melts the moment it touches your tongue.
Right across the street, about half a dozen men prepare for the daily feast: kachoris (a fried snack) come out of smoking oil; cauldrons of spicy potato bubble on a burner, and halwa, a thick sweet pudding of semolina, steams in a corner.
Thriving in the shadows of the Red Fort, the tight lanes of Old Delhi are home to flavours unknown to the world outside. And today, I am here to uncover some more. The only catch – I am looking for vegetarian flavours.