The board caught my eye on the busy main road in front of Defence Colony. Purani Dilli ki mashoor kachori – Old Delhi’s famous kachori – it said, and I almost screeched to a halt. If some words catch my attention, they are Old Delhi and kachori. But I was on a high-speed road and had already passed the stall with the sign. So I decided that I would come back soon just to stop by for Old Delhi’s mashoor kachoris.
I did so some days later. If you are moving towards Moolchand (from, say, India Gate), take the U-turn from under the flyover near the hospital. You’ll find Shiva Kachodi (Phone numbers: 9899011162 and 8130176917) to your left by road, in front of a market called the Moolchand Flyover Complex. I realised that Shiva’s kachoris were worth the drive when I saw a car parked right there, and a gentleman gorging on a plate of kachoris with his wife. By the time I had parked my car, he had gone back for his samosas. And when I returned, he was eating bread pakoras.
Shiva Kachoriwallah’s assistant tells me that the shop has been there for a while, and the owners originally came from Sitaram Bazaar. The place opens at 8 in the morning, and closes at 9 in the evening. Kachoris (two per plate) with aloo sabzi are sold for Rs.25, as are two samosas served with the same potato curry. Bread pakoras are for Rs.15. Behind the stall, I could see people at work, getting ready to fry kachoris and stuffed bread pakoras.
I asked for a few plates of kachoris and samosas and carried them with me to share with some friends. The kachoris were quite like the ones you get in Old Delhi – the mashed potato curry was runny, and had been topped with methi ki chutney, the tart fenugreek sauce that goes so wonderfully well with the curry. The heady smell of hing (asafoetida) came from the kachori and the aloo sabzi (and, incidentally, from my car), and added to the taste of the food. I like the samosas, too, though I did think that the potato stuffing was a bit too tart.
But the crispy kachoris indeed reminded me of the snacks of Old Delhi. I suppose once you’ve eaten the Purani Dilli ki kachori, you find it difficult to get used to other kachoris elsewhere. I am, of course, fairly eclectic when it comes to kachoris. I love Gopal’s kachoris in Kamla Nagar, and ones that you get in a small stall in Jangpura in front of Eros. But I must admit that I just can’t have enough of the kachoris of Purani Dilli. Shyam Sweets, the kachoriwallah at Gali Anar and the hing kachoris that you get in Khari Baoli will be forever etched in my heart.
And that’s why the fact that old Delhi shops are now finding their little spots in other parts of Delhi never fails to cheer me up. It may or may not be ‘mashoor’ in Purani Dilli, but it sure deserves to make a name in Defence Colony.
