Tripping around Old Delhi

10am Saturday morning and T and I found ourselves at Chawari Metro Station ready to dive into the spaghetti lane ways that make up Old Delhi. Dhruv Gupta, from Masterji kee Haveli, was our guide for the day and had promised to explain some vegetarian street food to us and show us some of the tucked away parts of the city.

We started the journey in the Hindu part of Old Delhi near Chawari Metro. It was pretty quiet for this time of the morning except for a few food vendors. We stopped at our first street side food stand and tried the Kachori with a chickpea curry. It was definitely a bit on the spicy side for this time of the morning but this small meal could keep you going all day. These kachori's were thick, dense little morsels which had been deep fried in oil. It was full on flavour! This small snack would be enough to keep you going for ages!

Popular Kachori stand

Chatting to a local Kachori lover. Photo by D Gupta

A close up of the chickpea curry

After this we moved further into the rabbit warren of Old Delhi and watched all the morning vendors selling their fresh fruit and veges (or big bags of rice) and dodged the local goats. 

Crazy goats. Photo by D Gupta

Catwalk style! Photo by D Gupta

One of the great things about exploring an area with someone who lives there is you get to see things that you would normally just pass by. On this walk we saw Sultan Raziya's Tomb which is tucked down a tiny little alley in the middle of dense housing and a mosque that had been around since the 1300's. We climbed to the roof of the mosque and watched boys flying kites and pigeon callers spending the morning setting their pigeons free and calling them back. Old Delhi looks pretty amazing from the roof tops.

Kalan Mosque

Our friendly guide......  Photo by D Gupta

Top of the mosque. Photo by D Gupta

The next stop was a small Hindu temple that when you entered had the main bell at the reception but was then full of 85 bells that were busy being rung by devotees, what an amazing sound.

Hindu temple of 85 bells.   Photo by D Gupta

After visiting the temple we discovered a small school with the cutest group of children soaking up knowledge.... they were super cute and welcomed us into their classroom with a big hello!!!!

Then it was time for sweets and sweet it was. We met a gorgeous old man who was sitting patiently by his boiling milk watching the world go by. He sold us some delicious milk cakes. They were very good but so sweet you would be doing well to eat the whole thing.

And then to cement the sweetness we tried some Mango Kulfi. I really liked this, I love mango and it was so deliciously cool on the hot Delhi day.

Mango Kulfi. Photo by D Gupta

Then it was time for brunch at the Gupta's beautiful haveli. The Gupta's haveli is a four storey home with a central courtyard surrounded by rooms. I love type of home and it is perfect for this climate. The central well lights up the house but it is also very cool inside, and when it rains they can enjoy this as well. On arrival we enjoyed a fantastic fresh lime soda.

Inside Masterji kee Haveli

We went right up to the roof and looked at their beautiful view across Old Delhi and also had our turn at flying a kite (it's harder than it looks!).

Kite flying is very difficult!

Then it was lunch time! Mrs Gupta had made a fantastic meal. Home made pickles and  freshly cooked Poori to accompany our meal. There was a cauliflower curry and a yummy dahl. We then devoured her rose kulfi. I was so full I thought I might pop but it was delicious.

Brunch time. Photo by D Gupta

Photo by D Gupta

Our generous hosts

After a well earned rest and a chat with our generous hosts we hit the streets again. For this part of the walked up to Jama Masjid and witnessed the general madness of this town.... kids hanging off rickshaws, overturned rickshaws and the odd altercation!

School bus

Whoops!

We walked through the firecracker sellers area and into the jewellery section of Old Delhi and had a little play with some jewels! Don't worry there was absolutely no pressure to buy, Mr Gupta is good friends with the owners and it was good fun but T looked a bit nervous .....

T looking nervous!Photo by D Gupta

Which one should I choose..........Photo by D Gupta

Following the jewellery store we walked the alleyways of Old Delhi, turned down Paratha Gali

Paratha Gali

and into the most colourful alleyways of Sari's, jewels, lace - amazing! You can get anything you need here and a bit more food!

More food! Photo by D Gupta

It was a great day with Mr Gupta. We walked, ate and talked for about 4 hours and it was a really great was to experience Old Delhi. One of the nicest things about this walk is it is flexible. You can guide it by your interests and try or not try what you like and no we didn't get sick.

Masterji kee Haveli

Cost and Inclusions

Rs 2000 per person 1-4 number of guests

Rs 1750 per person 5-8 number of guests
Rs 1500 per person 9-16 number of guests

The price includes the following:

Food oriented bazaar walk, some street food tasting for those who feel adventurous, all ingredients, visit to haveli, brunch and bottled water.

Phone: +91 9810 750 217