Chandni Chowk famous Street Food
Who hasn’t heard about the Chandni Chowk famous Street Food. Of course its a different matter that you need to know what to try and where to tryIf you are an Indian reading this or if you have ever been to Chandni Chowk, you know what I am talking about. Hawkers blowing out their lungs, haggling ladies, shops with Indian ethnic wear and world’s best chat (read savoury snacks, an Indian delicacy) jostling for space, honking cars, cycle rikshaws (yeah we still have them in some parts of the developing world), crowded streets, skyview interrupted by the heavy criss cross of electric wires…
None of these images seem child friendly at all…I know…
But I wanted my children to experience this Chandni Chowk, Indian street food and what better than the Chandni Chowk famous Street food, to know what magic great food is. So on one of my relaxed trips to Delhi with my kids I decided to take them to Chandni Chowk. The night before we all watched this video to zero in on the places we intended to visit the next day and to make a semblance of a route map.
Most of the people who come to Chandni Chowk end up going to the big restaurants like Bikanerwala or Haldirams. But the real Indian street food in Chandni Chowk is in some of these smaller eateries in the gully koochas (inside lanes). These places serve some of the freshest food as most of it is finished by afternoon and cooked fresh again for the evening.
“We never know what hidden gems lay…along the paths we fear to take”
The places and food we finally tried:
| S.No. | Shop | Food we tried | Day of visit | Things to note |
| 1. | Kedarnath Premchand Halwai
The shop in front on Kedarnath Premchand Halwai | Nagori Poori and Halwa (sweet and savoury, usually meant for breakfast)Kachori with Aloo Sabzi (savoury and spicy, meant for breakfast) | Sunday
Friday | Opens early morning and finishes by 12noon
Closed on Sunday |
| 2. | Hazari Lal Jain khurchan wale | Khurchan (dessert made with full fat milk and sugar) | Sunday | Morning time is better as its fresh |
| 3. | Ayush Chole Kulche | Kulche Chhole (bread made with fermented dough, served with spicy dried white peas dish) | Sunday | It’s not a fixed shop but you can find his number on the video link above |
| 4. | Jalebi wala | Jalebi (dessert, sugar syrup filled dumplings) | Friday | Made with pure desi ghee, one is enough to be shared between 2 |
| 5. | Natraj Dahi Bhalle wala | Papdi chaat and Dahi bhalla (savoury curd snack) | Friday | It is so packed at all times that there is almost no place to stand |
| 6. | Tiwari ji Bhature | Chhole Bhature (fried bread made from fermented dough served with a spicy curry of chickpeas) | Sunday | This shop and Kunwarji’s are next to eachother. |
| 7. | Kunwari ji sweets | Samosa and Dal kachori (dry snacks – Indian delicacy) | Sunday | Kunwarji is a famous shop since my grandparent’s generation. Best to pick up Indian snacks like Samosa, kachori, namkeen etc |
| 8. | Giani’s di Hatti | Kulfi falooda (milk based dessert) | Friday | In Khari Baoli. You need to take a cycle rikshaw to reach there. Everyone knows Gyani di hatti so don’t bother with Google Maps |
Now, how did I manage it:
- We split the trip in 2 days (one weekday and one Sunday). If you don’t intend to do any shopping and are going there just for Chandni Chowk famous street food, Sunday may be a good idea. Although note that some eateries also close on Sunday
- We were 5 of us, 3 adults and 2 children (6yrs and 1.5yrs). We would usually order just 1 or 2 portions of all Indian street food dishes and share it to make sure we had appetite to try the other things too
- On Friday I carried my baby in the baby carrier and on Sunday I took the stroller. Also, on Friday we took the metro to sample Chandni Chowk food since parking is a big challenge and walking can take you places much faster on a typical day there. On Sunday, however, ample parking is available so we took our car.
- Order of visit on Friday: We had a heavy breakfast at home and came by metro. Our first stop for Chandni Chowk food was Natraj Dahi bhalla. The next destination was Jalebiwala and then we headed towards Paranthe wali gali and areas close by for some shopping (traditional Indian décor, gift packing things, ethnic wear etc).
During our shopping travails we ate kachori and aloo sabzi at the shop in front of kedarnath premchand halwai.
To keep kids from getting edgy and bored, we bought some trinkets on the way (there are enough trinket peddlers on the pavement). We then took a rikshaw to Gyaniji’s kulfi shop. Rikshaw ride was a highlight of the day for them. - Sunday: This was a purely foodie trip.. all we did was sample Chandni Chowk food. We reached early morning (8am) and started with nagori and halwa. Moving to khurchan and then kulche chhole. Both the kids loved halwa and then chhole kulche. Younger one was settled in his stroller, after eating and so we peacefully walked to Tiwari ji chhole bhature. That’s another of my daughter’s favorite so we tried one and got one packed for her for later. On our way back we also got some samosa and kachori packed from Kunwarji sweets.
- For washrooms, you could go in one of the big shops (jewelers or saree/ lehnga shops). Carry wet wipes, travel body wash/ paper soap and sanitizers. In a place like Chandni chowk it will come in very handy.
- Most of these places will give the food in disposable options: plastic or pattal(plates made of dried leaf, it doesn’t get any better). Where they don’t, you can ask for it and they usually manage. If not just wipe the plate with a wet wipe before they put the food in it – if you are not high on street food. I do feel that some of it just helps in increasing the immunity which you totally need for travel!
In short, Chandni Chowk is a foodie’s heaven.. why leave the kids out!!
Need help with planning your trip. Feel free to reach me on theglobetrotmom@gmail.com and you can expect a reply within 24hrs.
