Eating in Delhi

As mentioned, I lived in a flat in Delhi with the other English teachers of Asha, so we were responsible for our own meals. Anjuli is a great cook of dal (cooked lentils) and so we were sometimes treated to home-made dal and rice. Jess practiced making chapattis (flat bread) several times before perfecting the technique the night before she left Delhi. My cooking tended to be less adventurous, consisting of pastas and the like, but at least it was filling.

Some nights we were just too tired to cook, and this is where Delhi really comes into its own. Our local market had men selling freshly-cooked samosas (deep-fried pastries filled with spicy potatoes and other vegetables) and mo mos (steamed dumplings filled with chicken or vegetables). They were cheap and really tasty. For 40 rupees (about a dollar) 10 mo mos could be purchased, and it was hard work to finish 10 mo mos in one sitting.

We also sometimes ordered home delivery. Everything is available for home delivery in Delhi, from kebabs, pizzas and McDonald’s through to four-course meals from top restaurants. Even ice-cream can be home-delivered. We never succumbed to ordering McDonald’s in any form, but we did have home-delivery ice-cream from Nerula’s several times. Our favourite home-delivery meal was kathi rolls (not named after me, although that joke was made many times). These are slices of spicy meat that have been cooked as a kebab and wrapped in pita bread. We would usually add lettuce and tomato to bulk it up, then pour over the sweet green chutney that came with it – delicious! And all for less than $2 home-delivered.

We ate out occasionally, but not frequently. I took a photo of a menu at the Grand Godwin Hotel (not nearly as grand as it sounds). I must confess that I didn’t try the ‘fine velvet smooth mice kebab’!


The best restaurant in Delhi (in my humble opinion and that of nearly everyone who has been there) is Punjabi by Nature. As the name implies, it is a Punjabi restaurant and the food is just brilliant: succulent, full of flavour, beautifully presented. For unpaid volunteer English teachers, it was fairly pricey, since we were all counting our rupees, but when we splashed out (usually for a farewell dinner) it was always worth it.

During my stay in India I had one Indian cooking lesson, and learnt to make chai masala (sweet milky tea with ginger and cardamom), aloo ghobi (potatoes and cauliflower), chapattis, dal and several other vegetarian treats. I will be inflicting my Indian cooking on my long-suffering children upon my return!