A nice aroma of fried onions and spices tickled my nostrils when I was walking through the little market square in my neighbourhood one day. I stopped — as one does when embraced by the fragrance of food — and looked around. I found that next to a meat shop (where you also get good kababs), a small eatery had sprung up. The gentleman in charge saw my interest and came up to me. "What’s cooking," I asked him. Biryani, korma and nihari, he said — and offered me a spoonful of both the gravy dishes. And I was left smacking my lips, for it tasted quite like the meat dishes that you get in Old Delhi.
This little eatery is in the Vardhman Plaza market in Mayur Vihar Phase 2 — the untidy arcade that hits you when you enter Phase 2 from the highway. The shop — called Delicious Mughlai Food — is at the back of the market (Phone numbers: 8800131231 and 9599413191). The cooks, I was told, have learnt the trade from bawarchis in Old Delhi. They only serve chicken dishes, and if and when they are in the mood, they add chicken ishtu to the menu.
I liked the taste of the gravy so much that I called some friends over. And I asked for some nihari and korma, and khameeri rotis (₹15 each). The friends who were invited were a motley crowd – some who love meat, some who can’t have heavy food and a few vegetarians. So our table had quite a mix of cuisines, too.
I must say I enjoyed the local korma and nihari. Both were rich, but the masalas had been fried well with the chicken – the way it should be – giving both the dishes a nice flavour. The dishes were not hot, and the spices were just right – not too much, nor too little. What was also nice was the consistency of the gravy – the korma was thick, and the nihari just a little thin and glutinous.
My friends who were there said they enjoyed the food, and the fact that the chicken had been cooked just right. It wasn’t falling off the bone, but wasn’t too chewy or hard. My friend Amar, who is a good cook (apart from a great academic), said what he liked about the two dishes was that it had the predominant fragrance of cardamom and clove. What also added to the taste was the fact the chicken had been slow cooked, and possibly fried in some thick, hydrogenated oil.
The food, the eatery owner (Ravinder) tells me, is cooked in Kala Mahal near the Tiraha Bahram Khan area in Daryaganj. It is supposed to be open for lunch and dinner, but on two occasions, I found that the food had not reached until well after 1.30 p.m. But it is open till late evening – or as long as the food lasts -- and is closed on Tuesdays. Every dish there (barring the roti) costs the same – ₹125 for half a plate, and ₹250 for full.
Visitors who drop by at night are now going to be fed korma and nihari, Purani Dilli style. I must say I am happy to find a little corner of old Delhi in my own neck of the woods.
The writer is a seasoned food critic
