Food & Drink FINAL.qxd 7/16/2009 5:20 PM Page 36 Shahjahanabad coolers Street the heat Feeling a bit parched in purani Dilli, Sonal Shahquenches her thirst at various local institutions. Photography Taveeshi Singh Murarilal Inderjit Sharma Bikaner Sweet Shop The crowd outside Murari’s Compared to some surround- lassi, dahi, milk and paneer outlet ing vendors, this namkeen in Kinari Bazaar is relentless. shop is a newbie, having been Established about 60 years ago, established only 27 years ago. the dairy stall uses two of Delhi’s That certainly doesn’t stop Food & Drink classic “Sultan” machines to passers-by from availing of the churn creamy – but not excessive- shop’s convenient location in ly thick – lassi in kullars and steel Dariba, just out of the sun of glasses. Some of the area’s mer- Chandni Chowk. A bucket of chants bring their own silver cups ice holds bottles of kaju milk, to be filled. A squirt of kewra is pista milk and badam milk. added and the glass is topped with 255 Dariba Kalan, off Chandni a thin, creamy-crisp slab of malai Chowk (2328-1971). before serving. A namkeen ver- m Chandni Chowk. Rs 20. sion is also available. 2178 Kinari Bazaar (2327-1464). m Chandni Chowk. Rs 20. Sheher-e-sharbat Though the line of sharbats is manu- factured in the dusty industrial Amritsari Lassi Wala area of Lawrence Road and despite The thickest lassi we’ve found in the fact that most of the ingredients old Delhi is available at this well- listed involve preservatives, known neon-yellow shop. Very the objective of this implausibly much of the heartland, the lassi is coloured arsenal of mixers remains served with a spoon and plenty of the same: to cool you down. The Arora family, which owns the store, malai chunks. It’s also ice-cold manufactures bel, amla, kewra, and available in flavours like chandan (sandal), khus and rose banana, jeera namkeen, mango sharbats as well as mango panna – and rose. Amritsari Lassi Wale all priced under Rs 75 per bottle. has been around in Delhi since Perhaps the snazziest sharbat 1974 and is conveniently located line on the market, though, is the next to a number of chhola bhatu- Shri Guruji brand, also available at a ra walas. 295 Fatehpuri Chowk, few shops in Khari Baoli. Founded in at Chandni Chowk (2394-2260). Kolkata in 1970, the company drew m its inspiration from family patriarch Chandni Chowk. Rs 8-20. Shree Jagdeeshprasad from Shekh- avati, Rajasthan. The guruji is said to have once held a 16-day satsang, Oberoi Sindhi Lemonade during which he served 16 different Finding the rainbow connection in cold drinks. The company – now Khari Baoli. based in Indore – makes kesariya This neat little stall stocks thandai; sharbats in flavours includ- shikanji masala powder, bottles If, on a hot summer day, you happen ing badam kesar, chandan, kesar of banta and neat little bottles of to visit Harnarain Gokalchand’s pista, kesar, khus, rose and “pan- jeera masala soda. The concept murabba and pickle shop, you’ll be chamrit” (intriguingly, the bottle is identical to Pandit Ved offered a cup of bright green liquid, only lists gulab, kewra, chandan Prakash (see p38), with a scent like rain over dusty and kesar: what is the mystery fifth leaves. Khus (vetiver) sharbat is ingredient?); squashes like amla, but this stall is a lit- bel, jamun, lemon, lemon barley, tle quieter, cleaner just one of the elixirs stocked at this store, that is now more than lemony ginger, litchi, orange, and and almost next 70 years old. Though many of the pineapple; and fruit cordial. door. Nai Sarak. murabba-achaar stores along the Harnarain Gokalchand 6678 Khari Turn left on Nai wholesale spice market stock shar- Baoli (2399-2590). Mon-Sat 11am- Sarak off Chandni bat, Harnarain is one of the few that 8pm. Sharbat Rs 65-75. Chowk and the stall still manufactures it. Ram Lal Om Prakash (for Guruji is on your right. Of course, the manufacturing sharbats) 6542 Khari Baoli, m Chandni Chowk. process has changed a bit since the Fatehpuri (2396-7853). Mon-Sat shop first opened (it used to have a 10am-7pm. Sharbat Rs 85-140. branch in Connaught Place as well). m Chawri Bazaar for both shops. 36 www.timeoutdelhi.net July 24 – August 6 2009 Food & Drink FINAL.qxd 7/16/2009 5:01 PM Page 38 Jain Coffee House Pandit Ved Prakash Lemon Wale The Pandit’s progeny claim that their ancestor popularised the nimbu-soda banta. The family has been in the cold drinks line for about 150 years, according to Chi- nibhai, one of the brothers who runs the stalls in Dariba Kalan and near the Town Hall. Until the British introduced the Codd-neck bottle to India (it was invented by Hiram Codd in 1872), the family was in the sharbat business. In the early 1900s, they began focus- ing their efforts on banta, mixed with their own house masala. They also sell their own jeera Food & Drink masala soda. 5466 Chandni Chowk (2392-0931); 266 Dariba Perhaps better-known for his fruit-and-cream sandwiches, Pawan Kalan (2325-5259). m Chandni Kumar at the Jain Coffee House also whips up some sweet milk- Chowk. Rs 7-9 per glass. shakes. Available in seasonal flavours, the whole milk shakes are frothier than the little-girl party frocks on Chandni Chowk. Mango, apple and coffee were the choices when we visited. Raghu Ganj, Pink drink Chawri Bazaar (2391-8925). m Chawri Bazaar. From the station, Before Campa, there was kewra. together. They both set up universi- take the main road towards Jama Masjid. You’ll walk past a big shop ties and Said did a turn in politics as called Gujarat Namkeen Bhandar on your left. Watch for an iron gate If Delhi can claim any drink as its well. Eventually, he was assassinat- on the left side that says Raghu Ganj. Go through this to a courtyard – own, it’s Rooh Afza. The sharbat, ed and, within a year, his brother in JCH is on the left corner. Mon-Sat 9am-7.30pm. Rs 25. almost synonymous with sweet- Delhi also passed away. If you’re closer to Chandni Chowk, try Kamdhenu Family Corner, ness in our city, has an intriguing The company is still in the fami- which has mango, chocolate and other seasonal shakes. 5469 Nai family story behind it. In 1906, ly’s hands, with Majeed’s great- Sarak, corner of Chandni Chowk, opposite Town Hall (2394-4386). Hakim Abdul Majeed, a Unani medi- grandsons Hamid Ahmed and Asad m Chandni Chowk. Daily 9.30am-8pm. Rs 20. cine practitioner who had studied Mueed working on revamping Rooh under Ajmal Khan, started his own Afza’s image with Juhi Chawla ads clinic in Lal Kuan. The next year, and new jingles. The taste of the he started selling bottles of the drink, however, remains the same, rose-red concentrate. His son, just as the Hamdard Dawakhana Pakodimal doodhwala Hakim Abdul Hameed, expanded still stands as a major landmark in the Hamdard Dawakhana and Lal Kuan. popularised his father’s summer A lot of components go into sharbat beyond the walled city. that indescribable flavour: After Partition, his sugar syrup; pineapple juice and brother Moham- orange juice; extract of dhania, mad Said went to gajjar (carrot), khurfa (bara lunia or Karachi to take purslane), tarbooz (watermelon), care of Hamdard’s palak (spinach), pudina (mint), operations in hara ghia (luffa), kasni (chicory), Pakistan. The munaqqa (raisins), sandal, khus brothers kept (vetiver), chharrila (stone flower in constant lichen), gul nilofar (waterlily), touch and the gaozaban (borage or starflower), Indian and citrus flowers, kewra and rose. Pakistani com- Available at general stores across panies grew the city. Rs 90 for 700ml. This little lassi stall isn’t marked, but it’s across the road from a few others that are (Jain Bengali Sweets among them). What sets Pakodimal’s stand apart is his barfiwali lassi, in which a piece of khoya barfi is mixed in with the yogurt. According to food writer Rahul Verma, this stall might be one of the oldest doodhwalas in town. Sadly, the old man wasn’t there when we visited, and the barfi- wali lassi had finished for the day. But we’ll definitely be back to try it. From Khari Baoli, turn left on Naya Bans and stop at the third or fourth stall to your left, opposite Jain Bengali Sweets. m Chawri Bazaar. Rs 15-20. 38 www.timeoutdelhi.net July 24 – August 6 2009.