Old Delhi Food Walk

Every photo below is a real photograph of the dish — this is what your plate should look like.

1. 1

   Stuffed parathas

   Paranthe Wali Gali

   Chandni Chowk
   Veg Mornings to evening A full thali for street money

   Paranthe Wali Gali has fried parathas since the 1870s, and the operative word is fried — here they go into a kadhai of ghee, not onto a dry tawa. The surviving shops, run by the same families for five generations, stuff them with everything from dal and paneer to banana and papad, and serve each with sabzi, pickle and a banana-tamarind chutney. Order two fillings and share.

   

   

   

   

   

2. 2

   Mughlai kebabs, korma & nihari

   Karim's

   Near Jama Masjid
   Non-veg Lunch or dinner Mughlai cooking without the Mughlai bill

   Karim's opened by Jama Masjid in 1913, founded by a family that traces its kitchen line to the Mughal court, and it remains Old Delhi's most famous address for seekh kebabs, mutton korma, and marrow-rich nihari mopped up with khameeri roti. It is loud, fast and unglamorous in the best way. Go hungry and order more than feels sensible.

   

   

   

   

   

3. 3

   Dahi bhalle & aloo tikki

   Natraj Dahi Bhalle

   Chandni Chowk
   Veg Afternoons Two dishes, small change

   Natraj Dahi Bhalle Wala, near the Chandni Chowk metro gate, has sold exactly two things since 1940: dahi bhalle — soft lentil dumplings drowned in chilled sweet curd and tamarind chutney — and aloo tikki, fried crisp on the outside and molten inside. The menu's brevity is the point. Watch the counter for thirty seconds and you'll know why the line never shortens.

   

   

   

   

4. 4

   Ghee-fried jalebi

   Old Famous Jalebi Wala

   Dariba Corner
   Veg Evenings; winter is prime jalebi season Sold by weight, worth its weight

   Old Famous Jalebi Wala has stood at Dariba Corner since 1884, frying jalebis that are deliberately thicker than the street-corner kind — piped into desi ghee, soaked in syrup, and sold by weight while they're still hot. One fat coil is a serving; the khoya-heavy winter version is a rite of passage.

   

   

   

   

5. 5

   Stuffed kulfi

   Kuremal Mohan Lal Kulfi

   Sitaram Bazaar
   Veg Afternoons; the stuffed mango rules the summer A showpiece dessert at corner-shop prices

   Kuremal Mohan Lal Kulfi Wale in Sitaram Bazaar took kulfi somewhere no one else did: whole fruit, hollowed, filled with kulfi, frozen, and sliced open at the counter. The stuffed mango — a whole frozen mango revealing a creamy kulfi heart — is the showstopper, but the plain malai and rabri kulfis explain the century of business.

   

   

   

   

6. 6

   Khari Baoli spice walk

   Khari Baoli

   Old Delhi
   Mornings, before the carrying crews own the lane Free to wander; hard to leave empty-handed

   End the walk at Khari Baoli, Asia's largest wholesale spice market, trading on this lane since the 17th century. Chillies, turmeric and dried ginger rise in fragrant mounds, dry-fruit shops stack to the ceiling, and porters shoulder sacks through the crowd as they have for centuries. Breathe carefully near the chilli stalls — everyone sneezes, locals included.