- Check it out, guys.
It's Trevor James,
hanging out with my good
buddy, Anubhav Sapra,
chief foodie at Delhi Food Walks,
and I'm so pumped 'cause today,
we're gonna go for a huge
street food tour of Old Delhi.
- Yeah, we are deep in Old Delhi
and we are going on a
full on street food tour.
- Awesome.
Let's check it out.
This is Old Delhi, and here,
deep in the back lanes,
you get a feeling like you're
stepping into another world,
and we flew in here specifically for
the street food during Ramadan.
Today, with our good friend,
Anubhav, we're going in.
Starting by breaking the
fast with all the locals
at the largest mosque in Delhi,
and then, roaming deep in
the back lanes at night,
eating a ton of incredible street food
with all the locals post-iftar,
aka the meal eaten after
sunset during Ramadan.
Let's eat.
What's the plan?
- We are going to get some
iftar special food first,
and then we'll break
the fast with everyone.
- Awesome.
- At the Jama Masjid.
- Okay, let's try it out.
First up, Anubhav and I are picking up
a ton of different classic street foods
to bring to the mosque
to break the fast with
and share with the locals,
like minced mutton
samosas, lentil kachoris,
sweet and crispy fried paneer jalebis,
and buffalo meatballs.
It's overwhelming,
truly overwhelming here.
- This is the biggest mosque in Delhi.
- Really?
- Yeah,
this is the biggest mosque in Delhi.
In fact, people say the
biggest mosque in India,
but many historians say
that's not the biggest one,
the biggest one is in
Mumbai, (names in Indian).
- Oh, okay.
- But in Delhi,
you can certainly say the
biggest mosque in Delhi.
- Wow.
The splendor.
It's so grand.
Unbelievably beautiful.
Incredible, incredible.
Take shoes off right here.
- [Anubhav] You have to
carry the shoes inside.
- Wow, look at this.
- People come with their families here,
and they'll set up,
they'll bring the mattress,
and then they will wait for
the time to break the fast.
- Look at this
beautiful scene.
It's so grand.
The splendor is incredible.
We've got all our snacks.
- We've got so much food.
- And we're gonna go wait for the time
and then try 'em out.
You can see they're just
setting up for the--
- [Anubhav] It's like the
free food, community food,
communal food, a banana and dates.
- [Trevor] Oh, okay, banana and dates.
Nice.
- We can share our food with them
and they can share their food with us.
- Perfect.
Guess we'll sit here.
- Yeah, sit here.
- Wow.
Right with the locals.
We can break the fast here, right?
- We can break the fast with the locals.
We'll share our food with them
and we'll have their food.
- Awesome.
We're just waiting for the call to prayer,
is that right?
- Yeah.
We'll break around 7:10,
that's the time when
they'll break the fast,
and you'll hear a sound.
- We've got all of this
food to break the fast with.
So what have we got here today?
- We have kachori, daal kachori.
- Kachori with lentil?
And a--
- Keema samosa.
- [Trevor] Keema samosa, so
minched meat samosa, nice.
And then this is the standard
plate they provide you, right?
So banana, apple, this is a candy?
- Barfi, daal barfi.
- Daal barfi,
which is made from?
- Lentil, lentil barfi.
- So it's like a sweet lentil candy, nice.
And then some dates.
- Samosa.
- And a potato samosa?
- Yes,
and potato pakora.
- Aw, potato pakora.
And then some bread?
- Yeah,
we have butter sheer mal,
that's butter with jam.
- Ah beautiful.
- Then we have paneer jalebi.
- [Trevor] Oh, paneer jalebi,
made with cottage cheese,
deep fried, and is it, it's not sweet or--
- It's sweet, it's sweet,
it's soaked in sugar.
- Soaked in sugar.
And then--
- Meatballs.
We call it keema goli.
- Keema goli?
- Yeah, keema goli.
That means meatballs.
- So meatball,
buffalo meatball, full of spice.
And then what about this here?
- This is mixed veg pakora.
- Tons of pakora.
So chili, spinach--
- Potato, potted cheese.
- Oh nice, and we can share
this with all the locals, right?
Because we got more than everybody else,
so we'll share.
- Ramadan is all about sharing.
- So you can see all the
locals, they're just ready.
- This is the time when people do prayers,
so many people are sitting here,
they're praying to the god and
whatever she want she can ask of the god.
This is like a time of praying.
Insanely good what we are doing,
because when this comes on,
it's all about inter-faith understanding.
They'll come from other
faith, they also come,
and they share their food with others,
so it's all about interfaith.
- It's all about acceptance.
- Yeah, acceptance.
- Acceptance, understanding.
You just feel a real sense of
peace when you come in here.
It's quite a magical experience.
It's gonna happen any second now.
There's gonna be a bang, right?
- Yeah, you can see the--
(booming)
The green flag, you see the green flag?
- Oh yeah.
- He showed the green flag
and the minarets are lit up.
- Oh, and the minarets light up.
(booming)
- The minarets are lit up now.
Now we can begin--
(singing)
Now have the dates.
- Take the date?
- Okay.
Take the date.
(singing)
- We can share with others.
- Okay.
This is amazing, this scene,
everyone's breaking the fast now.
- They've been fasting
for around 14, 15 hours.
- Really?
- Yeah.
And no water, as well?
- No water.
- After trying out each
of the tasty snacks
and giving the rest away,
we made our way for a quick
walk around the mosque
before going back into the
extremely busy back lanes
of Old Delhi to feast
on tons of street food.
We just give the rest to the kids,
and then go get more food, right?
- Yeah, we'll go to Main Street
and we'll try the street food.
- Awesome.
So what's happening now?
- Now, people are offering their prayers.
They break the fast, then
they're having the prayers.
- Wow, this is an amazing experience.
And they're done.
So now they're done and we can join them
on the street to eat, right?
- Yeah.
- [Trevor] Perfect.
- Now we are going to have
a proper full on street food tour.
- Full on street food tour coming up.
Wow, with all the locals.
And after a quick walk down
the stairs of the mosque,
we were right in the heart of Old Delhi.
- Now we are going to try
different street food in Old Delhi.
- Wow, this is amazing.
We're in the heart, the
soul, deep in the streets.
Let's go try it out.
We're exploring the back streets now,
and Anubhav is taking
us to try a ton of food.
- First, we are going
to have fried chicken.
- Fried chicken.
- The oldest fried chicken shop in Delhi.
- Oh, right here?
- Right here.
- Oh, it's right here.
- 1952.
- 1952.
- If you ask me personally,
it's better than KFC.
- Really?
- Yeah, I call it JFC,
Jama Masjid Fried Chicken.
- JFC.
This is all the marination here?
- Chickpea flour, then you have spices,
turmeric, chilies, all of that.
- [Trevor] Wow, and they
just fry it up over here.
Beautiful.
That's our piece.
- That's our piece.
What they do is cook it half, right?
And then again, when you order it,
they make small pieces
and they deep fry it.
So fried twice.
- There it goes.
Twice fried Jama Masjid chicken.
You can see they're adding
all that spice on there.
- Some people, they don't want
the pieces, the small pieces,
they will ask for the
whole piece, big piece.
- [Trevor] So he's added on
all that, that's turmeric?
- This is chaat masala.
- Chaat masala.
- [Anubhav] Dried mango
powder, yellow chilies, salt,
black salt, all of that mixed together.
- [Trevor] And they're serving
it with a little chutney?
What are they putting on there?
- [Anubhav] The chutney
is the yellow chilies,
mango dye, mango powder, all of that.
- (Trevor speaks in Indian)
Wow, look at this.
Wow, look at that.
This is special Delhi fried chicken.
- Yeah, I call it DFC.
- DFC (chuckling).
Let's go in for that.
It's all about the spice mix.
Turmeric.
- Turmeric is there, then
you have dried mango powder--
- Dried mango powder.
- Yellow chilies.
- Yellow chilies.
- Yeah.
- And lime.
- And lime.
- It's a little tangy and a little salty,
but not too salty.
Crispy and juicy.
And it's got that nice spicy, mustardy,
masala kick.
- The best part is that
the owner is still,
he's there, he manages the shop,
and he's the one who does all the mixing
of the marination, everything.
- He's got it all in his head.
- He knows everything.
- Wow.
Let's keep exploring.
Next up, Anubhav is bringing us for
some of the most juicy butter
chicken kebabs of your dreams,
covered in butter and spices and lemon,
and all grilled right on the street.
I feel like there's an
unlimited amount of food to try.
Every stall has something different.
- Yeah, it changes from
pre-iftar, iftar, to post-iftar.
The food changes.
- Wow, what's up next?
- Next up, fried butter chicken tikka.
- Wow, look at this.
Butter chicken tikka?
- Yes.
- Oh man, right on the coals.
- There's the marinated
half-cooked chicken,
then the barbecue, there's
the boiling butter.
- Oh, boiling butter.
- There's the boiling butter.
- [Trevor] So this is half-cooked?
- [Anubhav] Half-cooked, it's half-cooked.
- [Trevor] And then they
put it right on the grill?
- [Anubhav] Yeah, and then
they add butter, spices,
some yogurt, and cream on it.
And then he has a brick of butter.
- [Trevor] Wow, it looks heavy.
Look at the butter they put in there.
Amazing.
- [Anubhav] On their five floors,
they sell only two because
their butter chicken and then their kebab.
That's it.
- Wow.
Overwhelming food selection here.
- [Anubhav] Look at all the butter on it.
- [Trevor] They cover it in butter.
- Very simple.
Many have tried to copy him
but no one could match his quality.
- Really?
- Yeah.
It's very special.
- Wow.
- You want to try it?
- Sure.
Yogurt and cream.
- You have to keep moving it
like this?
- Ah, keep turning it.
Nice.
Amazing.
- He's asking me normal
or spicy, I say normal.
- Oh, and butter!
- I was gonna say,
there's a lot of butter there.
- Loading it up on the butter.
So it's going to be creamy and spicy.
Whoa!
Thank you.
- [Anubhav] This is the butter floating.
- [Trevor] Oh, look at
all the butter in there.
Looks quite charry and smokey.
Grilled butter chicken.
Amazing.
- This kind of butter chicken,
you won't get anywhere in India.
It's very special.
- It's so buttery.
- [Anubhav] It's buttery
and even has a lemony
flavor in there because of yogurt.
- [Trevor] Buttery,
lemony,
and smokey.
How late does the iftar go for?
- [Anubhav] It will keep going on.
- [Trevor] Keep going 'til two or three?
- Around 4:00.
- 4:00.
- 4:00,
and then they'll start the fast again.
- So we can keep eating
this and keep exploring.
Awesome.
Next up, I had no clue about it,
but Anubhav arranged for us to have
a full meal at a local iftar party,
full of biryani and delicious curries,
all home-cooked and
full of intense flavors.
So busy here.
- Yeah.
It'll get more busy, in fact,
because people are coming
after work to this place
and then have the food.
- What's up next?
- Next, we're going to have biryani.
- Biryani?
- Yeah,
we'll have buff biryani
and chicken biryani both.
- Earlier on, as we explored
the backstreets of Old Delhi,
Anubhav introduced us to his
local friend, Mister Naheem,
the chef of the upcoming iftar party.
Hi!
- He's amazing.
He's the only person who makes
different kind of Mughlai dishes.
This is the chicken korma.
- Chicken korma?
- Yeah.
He's adding chicken and curry.
That's chicken korma.
- So it's chicken,
and it looks like a lot of oil and spice.
- [Anubhav] Yeah, oil and
spices, onion, ginger, garlic,
yogurt.
- That is incredible.
Chicken korma.
- Chicken korma.
- This is nihari.
- Oh, in nihari.
- That's buff, buffalo.
- Oh, buffalo.
- Yeah, buffalo nihari.
- Wow.
So it's essentially
buffalo and oil and spice?
- [Anubhav] Yeah.
And they also have thickener,
- Thickener?
- Chickpea flour.
- Oh, chickpea flour.
- And that's the biryani.`
- [Trevor] And biryani.
- [Anubhav] It's half cooked
so they put it over the heat,
almost half an hour.
- Just a short while later,
we were walking into a beautiful
old courtyard to feast.
Wow.
They're just carrying the biryani in.
Whoa!
There's these huge pots of biryani.
Oh!
There's the biryani.
Wow.
Is this buffalo biryani?
- Chicken biryani.
- It's basmati rice?
- Yes, it's basmati rice,
chicken cooked with rice.
- And tons of spice.
- Yeah.
- And at the bottom,
you have a layer of meat and rice.
- [Trevor] And it's all layered, right?
- All layered.
- Saffron?
- [Anubhav] Saffron,
cardamom.
- Oh yeah.
Oh, and the korma over there.
Which is a stew, right?
- Yeah, it's a stew.
Chicken.
- Spicy chicken stew.
What's this up here?
- Lentils halwa.
- Lentils halwa.
- Lentils halwa.
- So a lentils pudding?
- Kublan kheer with dried fruits,
and then they have a khameeri roti.
- Khameeri roti.
It's a bread.
- Bread, yeah.
With yeast.
- Yeast bread.
Wow, we're getting the
full real deal here.
Deep in the streets of Delhi.
Real biryani, and this
is an iftar party, right?
- It's an iftar party.
They invited their friends and family.
It's like a crowd get-together.
- After the feast, after
the fast is broken,
everybody gathers here and eats, right?
- Yeah, especially, like this
is a private get-together,
so people invited their
friends and family.
- Friends and family.
- Yeah.
- Cool.
Wow.
We got a full spread here.
Oh, and korma.
- Korma, chicken korma.
- Chicken korma.
We've got buffalo nihari, right?
We've got chicken korma.
- Chicken korma.
Which is a spicy chicken?
- It's a spicy chicken
with onion, ginger, garlic, yogurt,
that's why the oil gets
separated because of the yogurt.
Then you have chicken biryani.
- Chicken biryani.
Lots of spices, cloves--
- Cloves, cardamom.
- And then a beautiful full
khameeri roti yeast bread.
Wow, let's go in for this chicken korma,
oh, and get a piece, too.
Oh yeah, look at that.
That's delicious.
Slight sweetness from onion.
Not spicy, it's really smooth.
Very delicious.
(speaks in Indian)
Try the nihari, spicy buffalo stew.
Wow, just look at that nihari.
so lots of ghee?
- Lots of ghee in it.
- Lots of ghee.
- Lots of ghee.
And they add some
ginger, chilies, as well.
- Ginger, chilies, whoa.
Fatty joy.
- He's loving it.
- Whoa!
Whoa.
Is that the bone marrow?
- That's the bone marrow.
What you had was the bone marrow.
- I had bone marrow.
- Yeah, bone marrow.
- It's so rich.
- That's called off nihari.
When you have the bone marrow,
that's called off nihari.
- Off nihari?
- That's taking the lean
nihari, the lean is bone marrow.
The best part of the food is
that it's not commercial food.
It's like, they prepare it
for their family and all.
- Like homestyle?
- Homestyle food.
- I love all these flavors here.
The chicken korma, it's almost
slightly sweet and oniony,
and then this, the
nihari, a little spicier,
really rich with that
really strong bone marrow,
and then, of course, the chicken biryani,
it's so fluffy and
light, not overpowering,
and the chicken just falls off the bone.
Really beautiful.
Thank you.
Thank you, amazing.
Biryani,
so much delicious food here.
Awesome, thanks so much.
Next up, Anubhav is bringing us for
some delicious changezi chicken,
cooked right on the flat grill,
at the original joint that invented it.
This is what it's all about, guys,
going deep into the alleys,
food range and finding the
best local specialties,
meeting friendly people along the way,
and discovering new flavors.
There's nothing better.
What's up next?
- Next we're gonna try changezi chicken.
- Changezi chicken.
- Yeah.
- Right in here?
Okay.
- This is the place where chicken changezi
was first started, invented,
this is the birthplace
of changezi chicken.
- What is changezi chicken?
- Basically, onion and tomato-based sauce.
- There it is there.
- That's the curry paste.
And they have ginger,
garlic, onion, tomatoes.
- [Trevor] Wow, you can
smell the onions in there.
- [Anubhav] And they
add lots of ghee in it.
- [Trevor] Lots of ghee.
It's sweet, you can
smell it's almost sweet.
Then he's gonna load
some chicken in, right?
- Now he adds chicken.
- Oh yeah.
- Grilled chicken.
- That's grilled chicken.
They throw the onion-tomato sauce
and then they put the chicken on,
and you can really smell that, oh!
- Putting more chicken.
- More chicken.
- Wow.
- More curry paste.
- [Trevor] More curry.
More ghee.
That is so aromatic.
- Some coriander.
- Oh, lots of coriander.
Beautiful.
- [Anubhav] There's also ginger,
you can see the ginger also in there.
- [Trevor] Oh, coriander
and ginger in there.
Changezi chicken.
Is this ours here?
- Yeah, they're gonna grab
a seat inside and eat it.
- Oh, nice.
That's to go.
- Yeah, that's to go.
- And the chicken is here, okay, let's go.
Wow, so we've got the special--
- Chengezi chicken.
- Chengezi chicken.
Some--
- Khameeri roti.
- Khameeri roti, and some?
- Chutney and onion.
- Mint chutney?
- Mint chutney and onion.
- Wow.
Let's go right in.
Right from the tandoor.
- Yeah,
this straight come out of the tandoor.
- Beautiful, and you can just scoop it up?
- Yes, just scoop it up,
just pick the chicken like.
- Oh yeah, and you can smell
that sweet oniony goodness.
Look at all that chicken,
changezi chicken.
- Changezi chicken.
- And you can smell
the tomato and the onion and
the garlic and the ginger
scooped up in that naan.
Oh wow.
- You have tomato tanginess.
- Yeah, that is insanely delicious.
It's all about the gravy.
- Yeah, it's all about gravy.
It's all the chicken, it's just gravy.
That's it, there's nothing in it.
- Oh, and the coriander in there, as well.
You could actually take the sauce,
the chicken makes it better, but actually,
the gravy, the flavor in there,
is so powerful and tangy and that onion,
the tomato, the garlic,
the ginger, the coriander,
the naan just soaks it up.
Take some of that chicken.
Oh wow.
This is a really amazing
night full of delicious food.
- Yeah, still two places to go.
- Still going for more.
That was some insanely delicious chicken.
- Now we go on to next place.
- Next place.
Next up, Anubhav is taking us for some of
the best ground buffalo
Sikh kebabs in the world,
all right on a street dedicated to kebabs,
packed full of spices, fat,
and the aroma from the coals,
and all pinched onto thick metal skewers
and peeled off by hand.
After your first bite,
you're gonna want to keep
eating more and more.
- Now we're going to try kebabs.
This leg, this is the lane right opposite
gentlemans at gate one,
and you have back to back
shops selling kebabs.
- So this is kebab lane?
- Yeah, we call it kebab
street, kebab lane.
- Kebabs everywhere.
I feel like it's a meat heaven here.
- Yeah, that's true, it's a meat heaven.
- Wow, action,
meat, smoke,
and flavor.
Oh kebab--
- Kebab heaven.
- Kebab heaven (chuckling).
Wow.
- So they have chicken kebab,
mutton kebab, and buff kebabs.
- And it's all ground meat?
- All ground meat.
- And it's on these big
skewers, right over the coals.
And they add the butter on.
- Yeah.
- Wow.
- You can smell it, too.
You can smell the burning butter.
- Oh, and look at the mountain of kebabs.
Juices just bursting.
- You can see how we eat it.
- You just grab it right from there.
Whoa!
You can take a skewer and eat it?
- Yeah, that's it.
- You just bite it from here?
- Pick up the meat--
- With your hand?
You can grab it--
- yeah, just grab it.
- Oh, it's hot.
Right off the grill.
Oh, it's yellow from turmeric.
- Yeah.
- Let's try it out.
- Because technically it's
not exactly a modern kebab,
because there is no meat in it.
That's how the locals like it.
- You can taste a little
spice and a little turmeric.
Wow.
The fat is bursting from it.
I think that flavors it a lot, hey?
- Yeah, yeah, it's not dry.
It's really juicy.
- It's juicy.
And you can taste the
turmeric and the chili.
What an awesome scene.
You can see all the locals are loving it.
Beautiful.
Gotta give a huge thank you
to Anubhav from Delhi Food Walks.
He runs amazing street
food tours here in Delhi.
I'm gonna leave a link to his Instagram
in the description below.
Thanks so much, buddy.
- Thank you.
This was just one night in Old Delhi.
There's much more to explore.
- Yeah.
We would love to know what
you thought about this video
in the comments below, as well.
Thanks so much, guys.
