Lucknawi Kakori, Galauti Kebabs and Biryani - Al Kauser

I had often come across a tiny, easy-to-miss stall right in front of the Kautilya Marg red light, besides Assam, Puducherry Bhavans, it always had it's shutters downed during the day, but in the night a food stall operated from the premises, it seemed like a take away only joint, with no place to sit, but a regular line of cars (especially sedans) convinced me that there must be something special about this nondescript joint.

So one fine evening, I stopped my car and got down to check it out, the place has an open kitchen and you get the mouthwatering sight of kebabs grilling as soon you approach the joint. The place seems to be run by 5 men, of whom 3 cook and 2 take orders and manage money. I asked for the menu card, and what surprised my was the number, or the small number of dishes on it, too used to seeing even roadside fast food stalls operating from a trailer having a multi page menu comprising breakfast, Indian, Chinese, Continental.... I was a little taken aback. The place prided itself on it's Kakori Kebabs, so that's what I tried out. Subsequently I have also tried out Galauti Kebabs, Lucknawi Dum handi Biryani, Mutton Qorma and Varqi Paranta. The awards displayed, gave me a feeling the food is gonna be good.

The Kakori Kebabs look like your regular seekh kebabs with a mud brown color, but that's where the similarity ends. They literally melt in your mouth, I mean it! Mildly spiced (Al-Kauser proclaims the secret recipe has 59 spices), they gently tease your taste buds, unlike other kebabs you don't get the strong meaty flavor. Personally, I prefer having them on their own, the bland roomlais spoil the texture and the spicy chutney pollutes the taste.

The Galauti Kebabs are melt-in-your-mouth too, but they are spicier, they have a fiery taste and you can definitely taste the meat, I prefer them to the milder kakoris. Like the kakoris, I prefer them on their own.

The Lucknawi Dum Biryani, simply put is the BEST biryani I have ever had. It is unlike every
other biryani I have eaten (including the famous Matka Peer one, more on that some other day), it is light, no very light, don't be surprised if you end up eating 3 platefuls and still having room for more, it is not oily, and it doesn't sabotage your palate with spices. The spices are mild and the real flavor comes from the meat, it has a wonderful meaty taste in every spoonful of rice. The mutton pieces themselves are few, about 4 small ones, it is the pale orange colored (due to saffron) r thaicet does the magic here. The biryani comes in small matka, which is about 4 platefuls, the rice is filled to the brim, garnished with a single chilly and then the matka is sealed shut with atta. The biryani is cooked in the matka itself, and the matka is presented to you with a sling attached, it is still very hot, so be careful. The biryani goes great with the chutney, so be sure to ask for extra chutney when ordering.
The mutton qorma was as it should be, spicy,heavy with the meat well cooked, but it was nothing extraordinary. It went great with roomali rotis. The only disappointment I've had with Al Kauser was their Varqi Parantha, it tasted a bit like the sheermal, but looked like a regular parantha, I found it too oily and heavy, but maybe I was a bit too full by then.
Al Kauser also has an outlet near R K Puram, but the one on Kautilya Marg seems to be the original one, they also do home delivery within 2 KM. If you do go there to pick up your food yourself, you'll find the service quick and courteous.
So finally, whether or not you are a big fan of lucknawi cuisine definitely give this one a try, their kebabs are to die for and the biryani is simply yum.

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Foodie trip to old delhi on Dusshera

I have been living in Delhi for 7 years now and I had (till recently) never been to a Ramlila on Dusshera. Yearning for the sight of chaos,fire and a mela, I decided to embark upon a Dusshera trip to Old Delhi, with two of my buddies - Joshi (Amit Joshi) and Benji (Anurag Benjwal). Old Delhi Ramlilas are the grand daddy's of all Ramlilas in Delhi, with some of them going back to Mughal times, and of course we had full intention to not let go of this great opportunity to indulge our appetites.

As soon as we got down from Chandni Chowk Metro station we headed straight for our glass of 5-bucks-mango-juice, made from fresh mangoes, this is one of the best things that a 5 rupee coin can get you. We then walked to the Red Fort entrance, where we were greeted by the sight of the Ramlila Maidan. The place was super-crowded with thousands flocking in to catch the burning of Ravan and the final chapters of the 10 day festivities.There were joy rides - merry go round, Columbus, revolving chairs, the well of death, etc. at 30 bucks a ride, we decided to give these a skip, having had enough of Adventure Island. Then there was food - 70% of these were dedicated to the dish that signifies the modern booming India - Chowmein. Chhole Bhature, chaats nd kulfis also had a massive following, we decided to give all these a skip, lest we offend the culinary delights of purani dilli. We instead picked up 3 Rs 5 Sonu Super softies, which were utter rubbish, think what milk powder mixed with water,frozen and then piled on a stale cone would taste like.....now you know how bad they were, disgusted, Joshi flung his onto the grass, while the foodie in me and Benji compelled us to finish ours. Next we fought a rude and sweaty mob of bodies to emerge at the other end of the mela, there were two melas back to back which were exactly same except for the color of Ravan and his three brothers, they were pink in the first one and green in the next.
Next we were greeted by the sight of India Gate, built to exact proportions it looked an exact copy sans the inscriptions and Amar Jawan Jyoti, we walked right through it to emerge on the main road.



The normally busy Ring road looked deserted today, it had been sealed off for security purposes. We made our way to Meena Bazaar and up-to the stairs of the Jama Masjid.



There we found a man and his son selling buff tikkis, they looked inviting and so we ordered a plate, just then I heard a loud boom as one of the three Ramlilas reached a concluding point. I could make out a cloud of smoke rising behind the trees, I hurriedly ran to the main courtyard of the masjid to find a throng a of people watching a ten headed Ravan explode into flames, the sound could well have been mistaken for a bomb blast - but the look of amusement on the face of young kids wearing skullcaps clearly proved this was an occasion to have fun. Apparently, the Ravan which had just blown up was not among the two we had seen on our way up, I felt alarmed - I might just miss seeing the burning of Ravan up close!. I ran down to find Benji holding our ordered plate of buff tikkas, i tried one - yuck!, it didn't taste good, not at all!, i think the meat was under cooked, way under cooked, I felt nausea rising up, even Joshi couldn't take it, Benji alone managed to negotiate a few pieces before we put the plate down and paid 20 bucks. I desperately needed something to soothe my taste-buds and lo! i found it right in front of me - Roohafza - at 5 bucks for a large glass, it was dirt cheap, but it tasted delicious. It was cool, fresh, sweet (but not overtly), somehow it tasted better than what I generally make at home, even Benji doubled that.

We made our way back to find a serpentine que, obviously, this was not the way in for us. We found a back entrance at the parking lot, and even here there was que (after all, this is India), but it was a small one and we were at the checking post in 10 minutes, the policewalla seemed to take a particular liking to Joshi, asking him to half strip......to check him out. We walked into a couple of tents we had not seen before, a peek inside revealed dressed up girls dancing on a stage in front of hungry male eyes, we moved on. Then I spotted sugar candies, and without thinking twice we bought ourselves a stick each, as I bit into the frothy, hairy, pink sweet strands - childhood memories came back where i had one almost everyday.

We jostled our way to the main Ramlila maidan, but by now the crowd was ginormous, it was impossible to get in. So we found ourselves a good spot and waited, and waited......minutes passed by with nothing happening, then my elf-like eyes caught the sight of two warring chariots, they move back and forth, their occupants trading blows on each other. Nearby, a police havildar was caught up in a pickpocketing case . Finally, Meghnaad, brother of ravan burst into flames, he was soon followed by kumbhkaran and ravan himself. Each of them started with a massive chakri and quickly exploded with numerous firecrackers - the massive figures were turned into ashes in a matter of seconds.

We made our way out and started waling towards Jama Masjid once again, we stopped by for a refreshing glass of ganne ka ras, for 5 bucks a glass. we entered this time, through Aruna Asaf Ali Marg, I was tempted to try out the fried chicken being sold at many shops, but Benji and Joshi were not in the mood. I finally persuaded them to try out buff kebabs - seekhs, the thela had a throng of people around it - always a good sign!. We had to wait 15 mins for our plate, all the while the small chap kept replying "ek minute", to my "kitna time lagega". The kebabs were delicious - juicy,tasty with a nice meaty taste, they were different from any seeks i had ever had before, even Joshi who was hesitant to even try out a speck gobbled down two, they only cost 20 bucks for 5 kebabs.

Noticing a crowd in front of a stall selling phirni in claypots, we decided to try them out as well, we initially ordered two as Benji wasn't feeling so hungry, but one spoon later, he quickly ordered one for himself, we wolfed down the delicious phrini in seconds - it was perfect, not to sweet, light and garnished with dry fruits all for 10 bucks.

We started off towards Chawri bazaar metro station on Chitli Qabar, nearing the metro station we saw a couple of stall drawing huge crowds, although all 3 of us were quite full, we just couldn't miss such an opportunity - I poked my head into the crowd to find roomali rotis with a sabji on everyone's plate, after asking around one gentleman told me the sabji is called Kathi Kabab made out of soya bean, this was totally different from the traditional kathi kabab roll. He also urged me to try out the chaat stalls, saying all of them are excellent. We promptly ordered a plate for 20 bucks, the sabji was spicy and delicious and went amazingly well with the roomali rotis, even Joshi joined in and we quickly mopped it up.

Our next stop was the famous Ashok Chaat bhandar right in front of the metro station, we got a plate of bhalla papri for 25 bucks. The dahi was sweet and the papris were soft, they had been soaked in the dahi, this gave the chaat a unique taste which was yum.

Now there was just one thing left - Kuremal's Kulfi - The legendary kulfi maker just could not be missed. As soon as we entered bazaar sitaram, we were overwhelmed by a huge crowd, the street was lined by stalls selling everything and the place resembled the over crowded ramlila maidan we had just come from, after fighting our way into the gali where kuremal sits, we were pleasantly surprised to find kuremal's other shop, the one closer to the main gali open . A crowd was already devouring the frosty delights, we ordered chikoo, phalsa and aam.....the phalsa and aam as usual were great, but chikoo was fabulous, it not only retained chikoo's flavor, but also it's unique texture, Benji took a particular liking to it.

We finally walked back to the metro station satisfied and satiated. Mission Accomplished.

Bhelpuri

Along with Maggi, Bhelpuri has always occupied a special place in my......stomach. It was so simple to make, and could be whipped anywhere and in no time.... I have fond childhood memories of mixing together murmura, onions, dhania, tomatoes,potatoes (of course mummy did the chopping), oil, namkeen and lotsa tomato sauce in a big patila, and then devouring it for an early dinner. The recipe would vary depending upon the namkeen - sometimes salted peanuts would do , and sometimes I'd just add alu bhujia.
In Delhi, there is a bhelpuriwalla everywhere, selling chana and moongfali side by side...but unfortunately most of the Bhelpuri is pretty ordinary,easily ignored for samosas and burgers.
It is when I entered Delhi University, that I heard about a very popular bhelpuriwalla, being the foodie I am, my stomach led me straight to him. He is an old bald guy, maybe around 50-60 years old and always wears a white kameez. His stall is band opposite the Jai Jawan Stall or the entrance to the botany department, and the big garden, he is adjacent to the entrance to the Holistic Food canteen, the usual place where the U special stops. His stall is especially crowded during lunchtime, with students , teachers and old timers and you may have to wait, as he can prepare only so many plates of bhelpuri at a time, he also happens to be the guy you want to turn to for a gyaan on the ways of the University. He will take a big patila, put together murmura, peanuts, namkeen, chopped dhania,onions and boiled potatoes, then he will ask you "mirchi?"- you are supposed to say kum,zyada or normal, and after dousing required quantities of his homemade hari and meethi chutney, he will squeeze a lime on top and give it a good churn. The moment he dishes out the bhelpuri in your plate, the smell entices your appetite, and you know something that smells this good, must taste good as well......and you are not dissapointed!, the bhelpuri has a different taste that what you get elsewhere, there is the sourness of lime, the hotness of green chillies, just the right amount of sweetness to mitigate it, the papri is crunchy and the peanuts taste great. No wonder the man does great business all day, as you sit on the side of the road, enjoying your bhelpuri you can see his loyal clientele - from old teachers, to young 19 year olds, i have seen many mercs stop by to collect their packed bhelpuris. He does a great job at packing them - either sukhi or bani hui. If you choose sukhi, he will separately put all the ingredients into poly bags(I guess Green laws don't apply to good bhelpuriwallas), so that you can go home and prepare it fresh, but he can also just put the prepared thing into bag if you want to, but do take care that the bhelpuri gets soggy after about 15 minutes.
one day, I asked my self what makes his bhelpuri so good, so I got a sukhi one packed and dissected each component at home.....the peanuts were ordinarily fried, even the namkeen and murmura were nothing special, and the veggies were the same as those in my fridge.....the difference makers were the chutneys. Both of them were totally different from the usual hari and meethi chutneys served at most restaurants with samosas and kachoris. The hari chutney, was very hot and tangy at the same time, your mouth burned with the green chillies yet the tang enticed you to have more...it was amazing, the meethi chutney wasn't too sweet, it was mildly sweet and tangy and when both the chutneys were mixed together, the taste was heavenly! Obviously, the guy must have his own secret recipe for these, but as long as he keeps churning out mouthwatering bhelpuris who cares???
He also does other chaats, but I have never tried them in the 3 years I have been visiting him, a plate sets you back by 18 bucks.