Don’t get me wrong – I like eggs. I have one almost every morning. But at the same time, there are days when you just don’t want to see or smell an omelette. It happened to me some days ago. I was up and about, feeling nice and perky, when the thought of an eggy breakfast hit me. I decided right then and there that I was going to have something else for my morning meal – and set out resolutely in the direction of Daryaganj.
Actually, much as I like eggs, I have always been interested in the breakfasts served in the four regions of the country. On occasional Sundays, we breakfast on idlis and vadas, and once in a blue moon, we have poha or the Bengali luchis with a light potato sabzi. But what I love the most is the northern breakfast – bedmi aloo or puri sabzi, or even parathas and dahi.
When I went towards Daryaganj that morning, I was in search of aloo puri. And I found what I was looking for in a small shop on Ansari Road.
How to reach
If you are at Daryaganj, with Golcha Cinema on your left, turn right into the lane that hits Ansari Road. Turn right from the T junction. You’ll see a board that says Juneja Dairy. Jeha Caterers is opposite the dairy (Phone numbers: 9717031008 and 9971808875). The shop is better known as Sadarji’s puri chholey shop. Sardarji is no more, and his son Kukoo now runs it.
I took several plates of aloo puri home, and then had some for an early brunch. The puris had a beaten dal pithi in them – not like a heavy bedmi, but more like a thick puri. I get a little intimidated when I am served puris the size of dinner plates. These were small – and therefore easy to handle. The puris had been fried very well too – they were not soaked in oil, but were puffy even after the 30-minute journey home. The aloo-chholey sabzi that came with the puris was excellent. Tempered with cumin seeds, it was spicy, but not hot. It even had some slender dal pakoris in the curry, which had been served with a pumpkin relish and sliced onions mixed with finely chopped coriander leaves.
A plate of two puris and sabzi is for Rs.30.
If you have your breakfast there, you can down it with a glass of lassi, which Sardarji’s shop is known for. And if you have a sweet tooth, you can end your meal with a barfi or two, which is sold there as well.
I like Daryaganj for its breakfast fare. You can have your bedmi aloo, pakoras, sabzi, lassi, samosas and a lot of other stuff in the small eateries that dot the region. I went back there after quite a while and found the neighbourhood humming. I think I’ll have to go off eggs another day to check out what’s happening in the city.
Rahul Verma is a noted street food connoisseur.
