Half the fun of eating at Old Delhi’s Paranthe Wali Gali, is getting there.
The other half, is of course, the food.
Slotted in the ancient narrow alleys of Delhi, India is the legendary series of restaurants serving North Indian parathas; The lane is famously known as Paranthe Wali Gali.
There are quite a few different restaurants to choose from, all claiming to be the best and the original, and all equally busy with customers (I assume they are all actually quite similar, but if you know otherwise please let me know!).
I chose Babu Ram Paranthe Wale.
Though it appeared to be packed with customers waiting in line outside, somehow they managed to cram us in at a corner table without having to wait more than a few minutes.
THE PARATHA KITCHEN
Outside, where armies of people pass by, is the kitchen, where all the action and food preparation takes place.
One man rolls out dough and fills them with topping at a mind blowing speed, while another guy fries the parathas in oil that’s so hot it looks like lava. Within just a few moments the raw dough is transformed into a crispy golden flatbread.
Now that, my friends, is a menu!
I’m guessing decades of greasy hands have touched that artifact, and I’m sure that if a scientist got his hands on that, he could probably find some pretty interesting things.
In my opinion, that’s always a sign of a not so healthy, yet a quality eatery!
At Babu Ram Paranthe Wale there are probably about 30 different kinds to order, They came on a metal saucer with pumpkin curry, a peas curry, and a red sauce that tasted just about like the American version of Chinese sweet and sour sauce (sour tomato sauce)
While I did think the parathas were tasty and delicious, they were a little too greasy for me. I definitely couldn’t eat my fill of parathas, I’d just be too greased out. 2-3 were perfect.
Paranthe Wali Gali is the type of place people are willing to wait to eat, a food locals consider special and maybe comforting.
Sitting at the table next to us (which was actually only inches away from us) was a group of ladies who were originally from Delhi, but had been living in the United States for over 10 years – they too came to get a taste of that all familiar paratha and to savor the tasty pieces of fried dough they had remembered.
And like I mentioned at the beginning of this article, the parathas are good, but in this case the atmosphere of the chaotic maze of Chandi Chowk is part of the fun!
references-https://www.herzindagi.com/hindi/reviews/delhi-chandni-chowk-gali-paranthe-wali-food-article-7880
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