Posted on
March 9, 2025
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Growing up in the Midwest (many decades ago), about the only opportunity I had to sample "exotic" cuisine was our family's yearly visit to the MInnesota State Fair. Tom Thumb Doughnuts and funnel cakes do not quite compare though with phileasfogg's wonderful journal -- "Delhi: A Culinary Heritage."
In this journal, we begin her culinary tour with deep fried paratha (which is described as "a bread that’s almost a complete meal in itself. Sinfully fattening, of course, but delicious too"), followed with the sweet milk dessert called rabri, which sounds absolutely fabulous. Imagine milk and sugar boiled so completely, you are left with a treat "as really rich cream, perhaps a few shades thicker."
Next, she explains her luck in finding a small restaurant serving Puri-aloo, a breakfast bread favorite. "The puris, kneaded with a pinch of red chili powder and salt, are gloriously crisp. The aloo is a wonder. It’s served with chickpeas mixed in, and is very lightly spiced."
Lastly, rounding out this foodie adventure, we are introduced to the unique and rare delicacy, Daulat ki Chaat-- rare because it is made only in the winter months.
This sweet milk and cream treat would be the ultimate street food here in New York as it is not sold in shops, but from carts. "Finding Daulat ki Chaat can be a question of serendipity -- for us, it certainly was -- but your chances of getting to savor it increase if you go searching for it on a winter morning. The vendors usually vanish by afternoon, and as soon as the weather starts turning warm, they stop making Daulat ki Chaat: the man we’d bought it from told us that another two or three days, and they wouldn’t make it any more this season."
More Adventures in India on IgoUgo
Where to Eat in Mumbai
Where to Eat in New Delhi
Where to Eat in Bangalore
Posted by Nik’sMom (Terre Grilli)