Heritage Walk -Chandni Chowk, New Delhi

After coming to Delhi, we have been to Chandni Chowk quite a few times - but mostly as foodies to enjoy a great breakfast at Karims and then back home. Once we followed it up with a visit to Red Fort, but other than that hadn't done much exploring in the famed streets of Old Delhi. Till I signed up with a couple of friends last year for a Heritage Walk organised by INTACH.

So, one February morning the three of us met up, parked our cars at the nearest Metro station and took the train to Chandni Chowk. A short cycle rickshaw ride from there and we reached the starting point of the walk - opposite the Gurdawara Sisganj. Below are some of the sights we saw - To be honest, I wouldn't call all of them beautiful, but the walk certainly did a lot to gain an insight on life in times bygone.

Below - The Gurdwara Sis Ganj Sahib is built at the site in the Chandni Chowk area of Old Delhi, where the ninth Sikh Guru, Guru Tegh Bahadur was beheaded on the orders of the Mughal emperor in 1675 A.D., Aurangzeb, for refusing to convert to Islam. Before his body could be quartered and exposed to public view, it was stolen under the cover of darkness by one of his disciples, Lakhi Shah Vanjara, who then burnt his house to cremate the Guru's body. This place is marked by another Gurdwara, Gurdwara Rakab Ganj Sahib. The severed head ("Sis") of Guru Tegh Bahadur was brought to Anandpur Sahib by Bhai Jaita, another disciple of the Guru. It was cremated by the Guru's son, Gobind Rai, who would later become Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth and last Guru of the Sikhs. The Gurdwara at this place is also called Gurdwara Sis Ganj Sahib. Courtesy wikipedia



One of the many heritage buildings from a different century; and Ghantewala, the famed sweet shop - we had the most amazing ras malai ever and also packed some more sweets to take home.

















Parathewala Galli - a sore disappointment after all the stories we had heard about it - we even came back after the walk ended just to have breakfast there. While we could have taken the deep fried parathas in our stride as part of an old tradition, there was hardly any stuffing whatsoever inside the parathas!


















Anyway, the better part of the tour was seeing some of the remaining samples of the lovely architecture of that era - painted tiles, arched doorways, carved jharokhas; some of it had been painted over in garish colours....


















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But then there were the others who had lovingly added to the architecture by furnishing the inside with antique pieces.























Some more pics from the walk - including a Jain temple from the 19th century with some lovely inlay work and tiles.














































We ended our morning by climbing up the stairs of the Jama Masjid for a splendid view of the Old City resplendent in the morning sun.

The guide for our walk wasn't very impressive and most of his commentary seemed aimed at the foreigners in the group. But while we tuned out most of what he said after the initial half an hour, we did enjoy the experience of being taken around one of the oldest marketplaces - something we may have had trouble negotiating on our own.

Also since we were there early one Saturday morning, most of the shops were closed - it was only when we were on our way out after breakfast, that we saw some of them open - like this amazing shop selling only bangles!

The harsh truth about a heritage area in a country fighting for space, is that one can't simply cordon it off to preserve it. It houses many, many people and is the workplace for even more. Its preservation is fraught with complexities and has to be balanced with the needs of the existing owners of the havelis who may want to sell out to builders of commercial buildings and shift to more spacious quarters in the suburbs.

Besides INTACH, the India Habitat Centre also organises walks to most of the important landmarks in Delhi - log on to their website and keep abreast of their planned walks. There is also this place I found quite recently - I hope to be able to join one of their walks and will report back when I do.

White Chocolate Muffins (Eggless) and a Breakfast Picnic

Yes, you heard that right! A Breakfast picnic is what we did a couple of weekends back - the weather had been absolutely brilliant in the early am that whole week, so four families with 6 kids and a dog set out at 7 30 am to Lodhi Gardens (Delhi).
We have "our" spot, right under a big old tree with some benches nearby, which we use during the winters (we did two last year and one the year before) but since it was so early in the morning, that was taken over by people doing yoga and stuff. Winters we normally reach around 11 30 when the sun is out and there are fewer people at that time.

So we picked another spot a little further away - we were shaded by the big tomb and some trees cool breeze blew all around us - it was perfect! We spread our dhurries, poured out the tea from the thermos and brought out the food. The cheese sandwiches and rava idlis with gun powder came out first along with a whole bottle of freshly squeezed orange juice. So fortified, the kids went adventure hunting looking out for tunnels, ponds and "secret hiding" places along with some of the adults and the dog. The rest of us, lay back and chatted looking at the blue skies and the spring flowers and almost dozing with our eyes half-closed.

The children were back in no time chattering on about all the "treasures" they had unearthed and dived right back into the food - aloo parathas and gobi parathas, bananas and grapes. Games of catch followed and then turned into a quest for finding ladybugs in the bushes and flowers accompanied by squeals of delight when one would land on a tiny hand. It was worth all the "effort" of waking up on a Saturday morning and getting the kids ready in time - and I treasure these times so much because I have never had the chance to do these things in Mumbai or Chennai. Delhi is blessed with these wide, open spaces which are so easily accessible and I'm glad to be making the most of it while we are here.

Besides the rava idlis, I brought along these white chocolate muffins which I had made the previous day. I made them without eggs since MIL is visiting and she doesn't eat eggs. I added the banana to make up for the moisture content and consistency. And to complete my itch for one weird ingredient per recipe I threw in some chopped candied amla (gooseberry) into the batter. The muffins were nice and moist; some of you might want to add a bit more sugar if you prefer your muffins sweeter. You could also chop more walnuts and add them right into the batter. Replacing the white chocolate with dark chocolate is another option.

This goes to Joelen's Tasty Tools event - where this month's tool of choice is Muffin Pans.

White Chocolate Muffins (Eggless)

Wheat Flour (atta) - 1.5 cups
Refined flour - 3/4 cup
Baking powder - 1.5 tsp
Baking soda - 1/2 tsp
Castor Sugar - 1 cup

1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/2 mashed banana
white chocolate - 100gms, chopped into pieces
1/2 - 3/4 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla essence

Walnuts - 6, broken into halves
Candied amla - 2 tbsp, chopped (optional)

1. Sieve both the flours with the baking powder, soda and the powdered sugar. Keep aside.
2. Melt the white chocolate pieces in a microwave at 30 second intervals till soft. You can also put the chocolate into a steel bowl which goes into another vessel half filled with water and then heat it on the stove, stirring till it melts.
3. When the chocolate cools a bit, add it to the mashed bananas along with butter and vanilla essence.
4. Mix the flour into this mixture and whip with a blender. Add the milk a little at a time till the mixture is thick and creamy, but not too runny.
5. Add the chopped candied amla, mix and drop spoonfuls of the batter into muffin covers or a greased muffin tray, taking care to fill only three fourth of the mould.
6. Place half a walnut into the top of each muffin and then bake for 14 minutes in a pre-heated oven at 180C. Cool completely.

Back to the Future - Breakfast at Karims

Ever since I moved to Delhi I have heard and read a lot about Old Delhi and its hoary past. It is variously known as “the walled city”, Shahjahanabad (It was built by the Mughal emperor Shahjahan over a period of 10 years) and sometimes by the name of one of its most famous streets - Chandni Chowk. It is probably one of the few “old cities” of the world which has a thriving residential and commercial population. The walls are crumbling and the 17th century havelis(mansions) have broken facades marred by shop signs, but it is still a hub of activity and home to about 5 million inhabitants.

Chandni Chowk, in particular, is very famous even outside Delhi as a hub of shopping, wholesale and retail trading and a place for great bargains;but in fact it is one of the principal streets of the area which leads from the Red Fort. Other than this, there are other lanes dedicated to different businesses – one for gold, one for silver, others for bangles and other accessories, stationery, spices, brass, copper, hardware – you name it. The labyrinth of lanes has havelis standing cheek-by-jowl and it’s impossible to negotiate a car in the narrow crowded streets. The preferred mode of transport is by cycle rickshaws, bicycles and two wheelers.

One of the most famous landmarks of Old Delhi is the Jama Masjid – a beautiful mosque built by Shahjahan in the 16th century, its azaans going out even today to call the faithful to prayer. It is actually Masjid -i- Jahan -Numa: “the mosque commanding a view of the world” and is popularly known as Jama Masjid referring to the Friday gathering for prayers (jum’a meaning Friday in Arabic). One of the largest mosques in Delhi, it's courtyard can accommodate 25,000 worshippers.

The beautiful steps on all three sides are made of red sandstone and it is one of the few mosques built on high ground giving it a really majestic aura.

Pics from Wikipedia – read more there.

And tucked in a bylane (see map) opposite the mosque is another veritable monument – Karim.

Karim’s present day avatar started out as a roadside dhaba (local eatery) in 1913, almost 100 years ago. But their ancestors date back to the time of Mughal emperors for whom they were the royal cooks. They used to prepare their secret family recipes in the environs of the Red Fort till the last emperor fell in 1857 after the Mutiny and they went into exile to escape the British rulers. The family lived in hiding in Lucknow till 1911, when they came back and set up their dhaba here under the aegis of Haji Karimuddin the grandfather of the current owner. There has been no looking back since – their mutton gravies and chicken kababs, delicious biryanis and earthy rotis and naans have attained global fame. Karims has found mention in BBC, Lonely Planet, Time magazine and even the National Geographic.

Today, they are a family establishment owning a chain of restaurants in and around Delhi. The most famous one though, remains the one near Jama, tucked away in the same alleyway where they originated so many centuries ago.

So I was more than happy when our dear neighbor A came up with a “Sunday breakfast at Karim’s” plan. Now I’m not much of a meat eater and mutton is a no-no anyway, what with it being difficult to digest for me, but there was no way I was going to pass up an opportunity for a foodie adventure like this!

So off we set off one chilly November morning, 3 kids in tow and met up with another couple at the Ashoka Road Metro station, where we parked our cars. We then took the Metro line and got off at Chawri Bazaar station. This was the first time I was travelling by the Metro and I was really impressed at how clean and efficient the whole system was. There is still a lot of the city left to be connected and it won’t be fully complete before 2025 but if we manage to run and maintain the network as it is envisioned, Delhi will really get less congested as more and more people start using it.

From Chawri Bazaar station we took three cycle rickshaws and made our way to Karim’s – we passed by the Jama Masjid and our eyes were automatically drawn to its high domes and slender minarets. I remember going inside when I was on a visit to Delhi with my parents at age 15 and gazing at the marble flooring in black and white.It was like travelling back in time.....the crowded streets almost empty since it was a Sunday, the old buildings reminding me of similar looking ones in the older areas of Mumbai.....cows sharing equal space with dogs and goats. After a short drive we stopped at a non descript looking street.

Karim’s now also has lodging and it was a bit confusing with many signs saying "Karim’s" all around. We entered through a narrow passage and found ourselves outside the unprepossessing restaurant – just about capable of seating 50 people at a time. Formica topped tables scrubbed clean with functional chairs to match. A cash counter which had a board above proclaiming boldly that they didn’t accept any credit card!

We didn’t have to wait long for two tables to be joined to accommodate us and we placed our order of rotis, sheermal, paya and nihari – the only items on the menu at that time of the day. The rotis are these huge, soft, almost fluffy yet slightly crisp rounds of flatbread, made with flour and egg and baked in a traditional tandoor (clay oven).

Sheermal is another type of flat bread which is made with milk and sugar, leaving it ever so soft and slightly sweet and tinged with a caramel brown colour. It was simply delicious and one could keep eating those circles with the waffle like tiny square impressions, without a break.

Payaa is goat or lamb trotters cooked to perfection over several hours and served in thin spicy gravy while Nihari is a stew made from beef or lamb, the pieces being traditionally prepared with spices and then cooked overnight or for 6-8 hours till really soft and tender. Nihari is now very popular in Pakistan where it was taken by the Delhi Muslims and is also known as a breakfast curry; a delicacy once enjoyed only by the upper echelons of society, for its rich taste and subtle variations.

Payaa as made in the South is very different; either in a tamarind based gravy or in a coconut based gravy. Here it was spicier (which surprised me) and also had more of the rich mutton flavor than any overpowering spice. The Nihari was thicker and a bit creamier though I don’t think it was because of any additional fat, rather the mutton stock itself thickening and reducing as the pieces cooked in it.

The service was warm and friendly with our waiter gently prodding us on to order some more rotis to mop up the gravy and then some more gravy to finish the rotis, till everyone was so stuffed they could hardly breathe. All in all, a really great foodie experience!

I think it would be a good idea to do this kind of breakfast only once in 6 months ……but I will definitely want to come back to Old Delhi and Chandni Chowk to explore it’s other treasures.