Wednesday, June 17, 2009

One of the BEST Chhole Bhatures in Delhi! - Chache Di Hatti





Chacha's - Chhole Bhature Nirvana
I was never quite fond of this staple Punjabi dish, the thought of oily Bhaturas and spicy Chholes didn't quite tingle my tongue, but that was before Chacha's happened. It was my first year in Hansraj College, DU and the adjacent Kamla Nagar market or K-nags was the place to hangout, Chacha's had already built quite a reputation even among us freshers and one could always spot serpentine Que's around lunch time emanating from their hole-in-a-wall shop, so i finally decided to find out whether it was any better from my previous bad Chhole Bhatures experiences, and boy it was!
The shop proclaims itself and Chache Di Hatti, pindi wale, as the Chhole recipe is an original of Rawalpindi. It's a tiny shop with tables outside where you have to eat standing,at the counter you will find an old, burly man taking orders and dishing out plates of Chhole Bhature.
The chhole was spicy and zesty and the tangy chutney on top made it heavenly, the Bhaturas (go for the aloo wale), were not rubbery or heavy at all, they were soft and quite light, and that's when i became a hardcore fan of the dish. I have been going there regularly for two years now and the quality has been very consistent, the only thing i find bad is the lack of seating arrangement, come lunch time and hordes of locals, students and univ. staff descend upon the tiny shop, once you manage to negotiate the long Que, you have to compete with a dozen people for 3 small round tables, and don't try to edge yourself ahead, the shop has a couple of guys to maintain discipline, and here's a tip - there are separate Que's for men and women, if you have someone of the fairer sex accompanying you, request her to stand in line, the women's line is generally shorter and gets faster service.
The best way to finish of the meal is with a Banta from the numerous nearby Banta stands.
Directions: Walk on the bungalow road, which is bang in front of the Hansraj college hostel gate, keep walking until you see the Yamaha showroom on the left, pass a clothes shop and the a left turn along the rebook store, cross the road and keep walking until you see a narrow street on the left, the shop is just at the mouth of the galli, you should be able to make out from the long Que's.
Prices: everything's under 20 bucks.
Map:

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1 comment:

  1. I did B.A.(Hons) Maths from Kirori Mal College in 1960. We used to go to Chache Di Hati for Chole Bhuthare. One plate used to cost 25p, at that time bus fare was 5p from my home in Roshan Ara Road to Kamla Nager & 10p to Maurice Nagar. I can never forget Chache's Chole Bhutare. He used to make in front of us. I think it was dry Masala & he will add cooked Chole & mix and start serving. Have never been able to make chole like Chache Ke Chole.

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