A Random Outing – Part II

Those who have missed Part I can read it here.

I said we had a single destination in my last post. But we were led astray by sis who wanted to satisfy stomach’s call. No, she did not have a running tummy.  But outings can never be complete without satiating the taste buds.

So, we landed at Nathu’s in Bengali Market.

Bengali Market is famous for street food like chaat.

This one is aloo chaat , made of boiled  potatoes, which are later roasted till crisp and brown. The chutney is mixed when the potatoes are ready. The dish is tangy and crispy and delicious. Chutney or the sauce is made up of Pudina or mint leaves ground to a paste with ginger and chillies. The spice level of the chutney is as per individual palate. The garnishing is of ginger, radish, carrot and beetroot jullions. It’s lip smacking, I tell you.

However, we started with chhole bhature. I was craving for these fried puffs for long. Chhole is the side dish which is nothing but chickpeas cooked with lots of spices. And it’s yummy. The dish is supposed to be had fresh and the bhatures right out of the hot oil filled wok. You cannot have bhatures alone. It has to  be paired with the chhole. Bhatures are crisp fried flour balls but the making is entirely different. It can be stuffed with paneer or cheese or daal ki pitthi , that is, certain lentils boiled and  ground to paste with spices.

A few seasons back when I was on a diet spree I used to have mid-diet yearnings for chhole bhature. It was a surprise for the dietician. Being a carnivorous Bengali she had assumed that my on-diet cravings will be for chicken tikkas or fish cutlets. 

But no! It was always chhole bhature!!

One great or not so great thing about street food is that you cannot stop at one. So, the next was aloo tikki – potato chops fried crisp served with spicy curd, chutney or chhole. We preferred chhole.

In between B-I-L ordered malpua with rabree – a desert.

Salivation over, there were takeaways for home.

Oh! I forgot. Before leaving, we also tasted a plate of Dahi Bhalla – a digestive, even recommended by gastros! Bhallas are made up of ground lentil served with curd or dahi. It’s served cold.

The chutneys are ubiquitous.

Nathu’s is a food chain found all over Delhi. It was established somewhere in 1939.  A humble beginning in Bengali Market which soon spread all over the city and today boasts of experience of four generations. However, quality differs from place to place. I have a liking for Bikanerwala – another local brand for street food.

Bengali Market is situated in Central Delhi and visited by celebs and plebians alike.