Guides ·Food & drink

Butter chicken and dal makhani: born in Daryaganj

Two of the most exported dishes in Indian cooking were created within a few hundred metres of each other in post-Partition Delhi. Kundan Lal Gujral, who brought his tandoor from Peshawar, opened Moti Mahal in Daryaganj and, faced with drying tandoori chicken at the end of service, tipped it into a tomato, butter and cream gravy. Dal makhani, black urad lentils simmered overnight with butter, came from the same kitchen. Moti Mahal still trades on Netaji Subhash Marg; a plate of butter chicken runs ₹550–₹750, dal makhani ₹350–₹450.

For the polished version, Gulati and Havemore on Pandara Road Market serve the same repertoire to a Delhi crowd until well past midnight, with butter chicken around ₹700 and mains generally ₹400–₹800. Purists argue about which is best and the argument will not be settled. The important thing is to order the pair together with a garlic naan and eat them the way they were designed to be eaten — the dal doing the heavy lifting, the chicken sweet and smoky against it. Pandara Road is a ten-minute auto from India Gate and worth booking on weekends.

Mughlai kebabs and nihari in Old Delhi

The lanes behind Jama Masjid are the deepest kebab territory in the country. Karim's, in Gali Kababian since 1913, is the famous name: mutton burra, seekh kebab, mutton korma and its winter nihari, with most plates ₹250–₹500. Al Jawahar, a few doors along, has a quieter dining room and an excellent mutton stew. For a purer street version, Qureshi Kabab Corner and Aslam Chicken on Matia Mahal serve butter chicken tikka that arrives swimming in melted butter and cream for around ₹300 a half plate.

Nihari is the specialist order: shank meat slow-cooked overnight in a spiced gravy, traditionally a dawn breakfast eaten with khameeri roti. Turn up at Haji Shabrati Nihari Wale or one of the small Matia Mahal counters between 07:00 and 09:00 and you will pay ₹150–₹250 for a bowl that will hold you until evening. Old Delhi's Muslim quarter is at its most animated during Ramadan, when the Matia Mahal food street stays open until 02:00. Reach it from Jama Masjid station on the Violet Line, five minutes on foot.

Chole bhature, parathas and the Punjabi breakfast

Delhi's defining breakfast is chole bhature: spiced chickpeas with a football of deep-fried leavened bread. Sita Ram Diwan Chand in Paharganj is the pilgrimage, open from around 08:00 and often sold out by early afternoon, at ₹90–₹130 a plate. Bengali Sweet House in Bengali Market does a more genteel version alongside its sweets. Chache Di Hatti near Kamla Nagar is the student favourite. Order the accompanying pickled carrot and green chilli, drink lassi, and accept that lunch is now unnecessary.

Paranthe Wali Gali off Chandni Chowk is the other institution — a narrow lane of shops frying stuffed flatbreads in ghee since the 1870s. Pt. Gaya Prasad Shiv Charan is the oldest surviving stall; a paratha with the standard four chutneys, pumpkin curry and dal costs ₹80–₹150. The fillings run well past potato: rabri, papad, banana, mixed nuts. Two per person is enough. Go before 12:00 to avoid both the crush and the heat of the lane, and take the Metro to Chandni Chowk on the Yellow Line rather than attempting to drive.

Chaat: the city's national sport

Chaat is Delhi's contribution to snacking and it is a whole grammar rather than a single dish. Golgappa, the hollow puri filled with spiced water, is sold everywhere from ₹40–₹60 for six; Prabhu Chaat Bhandar near UPSC on Shahjahan Road is the connoisseur's stop. Aloo tikki, a potato patty crushed and drowned in chutneys and yoghurt, runs ₹60–₹100. Papdi chaat, dahi bhalle, ram laddoo from carts in Lajpat Nagar, and kachori sabzi from Old Delhi counters all sit in the ₹40–₹120 band.

Two specialists are worth a detour. Natraj Dahi Bhalle Wala on Chandni Chowk serves lentil dumplings in whipped yoghurt with tamarind and pomegranate for around ₹80, and Shree Balaji Chaat Bhandar nearby does the definitive aloo tikki. In winter, look for daulat ki chaat, a saffron-flavoured milk foam whisked overnight in the dew and sold from head-carried trays in Chandni Chowk between December and February at ₹60–₹100 a portion. It exists nowhere else in India in the same form and disappears entirely by March.

Regional India in the state bhavan canteens

Delhi is the only city where you can eat the food of a dozen Indian states cooked by government canteens for civil servants. Andhra Bhavan on Ashoka Road is the most famous: an unlimited thali with rice, sambar, rasam, three vegetables, pickle and curd at around ₹250, with Andhra chicken or mutton curry added for ₹150–₹200 more. Queues at 12:30 are long and move fast. Karnataka Food Centre in Sector 4, RK Puram, does idli, vada and bisi bele bath for ₹60–₹150 and stops serving when it runs out.

Others reward exploration. Bihar Niwas serves litti chokha, Nagaland House smoked pork with bamboo shoot for those who can get in, Kerala House on Jantar Mantar Road plates appam and stew for ₹120–₹250, and Sikkim House does a good thukpa. These are canteens, not restaurants: shared tables, steel plates, no alcohol, cash useful. The Sunday lunch service is the busiest and the best. For South Indian without the queue, Saravana Bhavan on Janpath serves a reliable dosa for ₹180–₹300.

Kathi rolls, biryani and the Nizamuddin table

The kathi roll — kebab and onions rolled in a paratha — is Delhi's great walking meal. Khan Chacha in Khan Market charges ₹250–₹400 for a mutton seekh roll and has done since it was a hole in the wall; Nizam's Kathi Kabab in Connaught Place's H Block is the other claimant, at ₹200–₹350. Al-Kauser on Kautilya Marg in Chanakyapuri makes the kakori roll that Delhi food obsessives argue is the city's single best mouthful, around ₹250, sold from a roadside counter with no seating.

Nizamuddin Basti, the lanes around the dargah, has its own kitchen tradition. Ghalib Kabab Corner sells mutton seekh and chicken changezi in the alleys leading to the shrine for ₹120–₹300, at their best on Thursday evenings when qawwali brings crowds. Delhi biryani is less codified than Hyderabad's, but the Old Delhi style — heavier on spice, lighter on saffron — is served at Babu Bhai and small counters around Matia Mahal for ₹200–₹350. Eat, then walk into the dargah courtyard for the music, shoes off and head covered.

Where the classics get reinterpreted

Delhi's fine-dining scene takes these dishes seriously rather than ironically. Indian Accent at The Lodhi runs a tasting menu around ₹5,500–₹6,500 that plays with daulat ki chaat, blue cheese kulcha and pork ribs; book several weeks out. Bukhara at ITC Maurya has been serving the same North-West Frontier menu since 1978, with the dal Bukhara and sikandari raan at ₹1,800–₹3,500 and a no-cutlery policy. Dum Pukht, in the same hotel, does Awadhi kakori and biryani at similar prices in a far quieter room.

For something between street and starched linen, look at Comorin, Dhilli at The Oberoi, and the modern Indian kitchens around Mehrauli where mains land at ₹800–₹1,600. If you only have one splurge meal in Delhi, the strongest argument is Bukhara for the raan and the theatre, or Indian Accent if you want to see where Indian cooking is going next. Either way, book, and either way, arrive hungry — portions at both are built for sharing between two.

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