I love the city. The history and culture surprises and fascinates anyhow who draws near. Amidst the mess, there are places of rare beauty. Then there is the food – particularly, the street food and Delhi’s famous chaat. We’ve just returned from a few days in Delhi, staying in Hotel Tara Palace in the heart of Old Delhi. An affordable hotel in an ideal location. 5min walk to Chandni Chowk; 10min to both the Red Fort and the Jama Masjid … with chaat options abounding.
Aloo tikki is a favourite. Potato patties drenched in both mint and imli sauces. Yummy.
… with me then partaking thereof!
Another favourite is pani puri – or, gol guppa. On this occasion you tap-tap-tap on a small, hollow, crisp puri, creating a hole into which you spoon a mixture of vegetables – usually potato and a chickpea of some kind. A generous pouring of imli sauce follows. Then it is baptism by immersion into the green pepper water (pani) – filling the little puri to overflowing – before a quick and skillful transference of the entire entity into my open and willing mouth. This is repeated six times with one serving (for a cost of something less than one dollar).
In the words of the James Bond anthem of yesteryear – when it comes to chaat ‘nobody does it better’ than the Dilly-wallahs of Chandni Chowk.
nice chatting
Paul
PS. Barby’s favourite chaat is called raj kachori. Similar ingredients but then the whole thing is swamped in dahi (yoghurt). We’ve been travelling in India with our good friends from Invercargill days thirty years ago (Bill & Jan Dewar and Bonnie & Stephen Bond). Here they are about to be transported to raj kachori heaven…
About Me
the art of unpacking
After a childhood in India, a theological training in the USA and a pastoral ministry in Southland (New Zealand), I spent twenty years in theological education in New Zealand — first at Laidlaw College and then at Carey Baptist College, where I served as principal. In 2009 I began working with Langham Partnership and since 2013 I have been the Programme Director (Langham Preaching). Through it all I've cherished the experience of the 'gracious hand of God upon me' and I've relished the opportunity to 'unpack', or exegete, all that I encounter in my walk through life with Jesus.
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