The Comfort Food of Every Delhiite

By  NEERU SINGH

Just like any Punjabi kid, my Sunday mornings would start with a big, round stuffed aloo parantha. My mother would serve the paranthas with ghee or home-made butter to which I would object. However, my siblings loved having parathas with ghee. I was lectured on how the taste of paranthas are enhanced with butter or ghee.

As I grew up, I realised paranthas are integral to most Delhiites’ breakfast or late night after-party meals. People love eating these big wheat flour disks whether they are fried or shallow fried as long as they are served with dollops of butter. It is the ultimate comfort food that everyone enjoys at any time of the day.

It is not a surprise that Delhi has many eateries dedicated only to paranthas and some of them operate till the wee hours.

Here’s my pick of famous paratha places in Delhi NCR:

Paranthe Wali Gali

The legendary Paranthe Wali Gali in Chandni Chowk has eateries which have been serving paranthas since 1875. The gali offers endless variety of vegetarian paranthas like cauliflower, paneer, dal stuffed ones to the unusual ones stuffed with bitter gourd, raw banana, rabri, almonds and lady fingers. The parantha are deep fried and served with pickles.

Kake Di Hatti

Famous for serving naan-like stuffed parantha, this eatery is located at Fatehpuri Chowk in Old Delhi. The paranthas are cooked in a tandoor and are gigantic in size. Though strictly vegetarian, interesting fillings like matar aloo (peas and potato), hariyali paneer, lauki (gourd), cheese capsicum mushroom, and spicy dhuandaar are available here for you to explore.

Moolchand Paranthe Wala

This place is a saviour of sorts for a lot of people living by themselves in and around South Delhi. The signature egg and potato parantha is served with fried chillies, chaat masala and raita (curd). They have made chur chur naan (a broken and crushed naan, filled with types of stuffing and fried in butter for the crunchy texture) a household name. This paranthe wala also serves classic combinations like aloo pyaaz, gobhi, mixed vegetable, egg paranthas and more.

Laxman Dhaba, Qutub Institutional Area

Midnight hunger pangs or after-party hunger, this place is a mecca for the youngsters in Delhi. The chicken parantha, aloo pyaaz, keema parantha, egg parantha, family mix paranthas are served here with chutney, pickle and butter cubes. Located opposite IIFT Campus, this place has a picture of actor Ranbir Kapoor dining here.

Not just Paranthas

The new entrant, Not just Paranthas, offers over a hundred types of paranthas. The paranthas are available in various forms and shapes such as pocket paranthas, chur chur paranthas, Italian pizza paranthas and continental sandwich paranthas. For dessert, one must have their Rabri parantha (milk pudding parantha).

After savouring great meals at these place, now even I don’t object to the cubes of butter or ghee on my parantha. I have realised that some dishes must be enjoyed the way they’re meant to be.