In the Bylanes of Chatori Gali:Paranthe Wali Gali:Chandni Chowk

Name of Shop: Any of three shops in Paranthe Wali Gali:The bylane of fried bread ;)

Type: Street Food

Location: Parantha wali gali katra shah,chandni chowk, new delhi

Ambience:  It is a crowded dingy place

Price:  Rs:35-50 per parantha, two paranthas min/plate

Taste: 4.3/5

Service: 3.5/5(You have to wait for sometime)

Timings: From 8am to late night hours

Armed with a bird’s eye aim to go straight to paranthe wali gali,I marched with an empty stomach cris crossing through the ever packed wholesale market of Chandni chowk.I went on and on.. first temples came, then some shops then Gurudwara followed by few more shops .But still I could not spot any such street . Puzzled I turned back and walked in opposite direction. Still couldn’t spot one. Finally I decided to again traverse the same route, this time asking people about its whereabouts after every 20 meters. And there I was, standing in front of a narrow lane, where no vehicles can enter. Still determined I went ahead, after a turn or two; three similar looking shops greeted me with an aroma of paranthas getting fried. Which one to choose was a tough decision, but atlast I settled for first one where I could see the framed pictures of famous people having paranthas.

The place was surely dingy like the street, so one might have to share table with others in the name of compromise for food. One look around and you know it all. One person is continuously frying the paranthas and two others are alternating between filing the paranthas with desired mixtures and serving people . Two boards served as menus with same types of paranthas’ name but different spelling and both wrong. :D

The range is wide and varies from regular ones like aloo,pyaaz,paneer,mooli,matar  to rare ones like green chilli,karela,rabdi,mawa,dry fruits,cheeni,lemon,pudina,bhindi ,tamatar  and list goes on.I zeroed on bhindi and dry fruits one. The paranthas had good amount of filing and you can feel its taste in every bite. Here a minimum of two paranthas are mandatory per plate. The plate consist of a sweet banana chutney,aloo ki sabji and setaphal one. In the dry fruits one, there was an excess of kaju which was surprising to find. I have earlier tried even karela and though it was little bitter but still tasty. In rabdi parantha,rabdi just oozes out when it is served on a plate.

Paranthas here are different from rest because of such rare and wide variety as well as fried in hot ghee rather than on tawa. Popularity is such that it has found its mention on Wikipedia and a must stop in the Old Delhi Food walks itinerary.

 Though immensely popular in Delhi, some term it as over rated owning to ambience and extra oily nature. Paranthas are priced on a little higher side owning to may be such hype and small in size. But I would still recommend it to have a flavor of old Delhi tradition and be adventurous in having little different dishes. Can team it up with a kulhad full of lassi, sold in these shops only or rabdi in neighboring shop. A few rare trips to calorie rich food won’t harm in an awesome food experience.

My only tip here is to try the rare varieties and don’t go with the usual ones.

Today’s Food for Thought :

Too much worry for calories will only add more worries than gorging on and being happy!!

(Just to be ignored by the cholesterol problem people :P )

Happy Gorging!!