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So here's an inside look at paratha making in Paranthewali Galli - you decide if it tempts you enough to go there!
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. . Step 1 - Pre-preparation - grated vegetables for stuffing the paratha. This guy was sitting on one side of a small shop, grating vegetables. The photo above has grated cauliflower. Other stuffings include potatoes, cabbage, cottage cheese, peas, pulses, dry fruits...even sweet rabri. Very innovative.
Step 2 - A handful of the right stuffing
The ingredients for the paratha are are all laid out in trays. Depending on the order placed, a full handful of the right stuffing is used. In some parathas, the stuffing is a mix of multiple ingredients...I ordered a mix vegetable paratha that had paneer also in it.
Step 2 - A handful of the right stuffingThe ingredients for the paratha are are all laid out in trays. Depending on the order placed, a full handful of the right stuffing is used. In some parathas, the stuffing is a mix of multiple ingredients...I ordered a mix vegetable paratha that had paneer also in it.
Step 3 - Adding spices Spices are added from the spice tray - cumin powder, red chilli powder, coriander powder, masala. Green chillies and ginger also often added. I didn't see onion or garlic, though. Perhaps because the shop is Brahmin, and this locality has many Jains as well (check out the nearby Jain Naughara if you can).
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Step 4 - Rolling the parathaThe paratha is then rolled in a dough that is wheat-based. The stuffing and spices go inside. There was an assistant helping with patting the dough into flat circles. You can also see the green chillies and ginger tray in this photo.
Step 5 - Now comes the deep-frying!The paratha is then deep-fried in ghee. Instead of a flat griddle, here in Paranthe Wali Galli, they use a curved pan.
Step 6 - The paratha comes out brown and crisp on the outside, steaming hotMore like a puri than a paratha, actually :) Check out the amount of ghee in the pan!
Step 7 - It is served with accompanimentsYou can see their interesting mixed vegetable pickle in this photo. Other accompaniments include a potato and peas curry, potato and methi curry etc. There are some chutneys as well, although I don't know what they are.
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Step 7 - The runner boy pickups the hot parathas and takes them inside the "restaurant"Check out the guy in the background licking his fingers!
I absolutely love that you post lots of pictures! I do have a couple of questions:
ReplyDeleteBrahmins don't eat onion or garlic? What is Jain? Is ghee oil?
I have always wanted to visit this paranthe wali gali, just to eat fresh paranthas there. After seeing how they are fried in ghee, I think I will just stop with seeing the gali, no sampling for me, thanks!
ReplyDeleteGreat pictures!
Hi,
ReplyDeleteI presume this delicious galli is somewhere in/near Chandni Chowk? I must visit it with my friend when I go to Delhi next.
Have you tried the American Diner on the ground floor of the Habitat Center? Good quantity (has to be if it is Delhi) and the music reminds me of my college days of the 70's.
cheers,
kiran srivastava
mumbai
Super Babe,
ReplyDeleteBrahmins and Jains avoid onion and garlic as a religious tradition. Jainism is an ancient Indian religion, noted for nonviolence. Ghee is butter with the fat solids removed. It burns at a higher temperature than butter, so it's good for frying.
This title looks very funny
ReplyDeletei think , that gali should be filled with a wide number of paranthe walas
i avoid this kind of stuff because acidity problem arises when i eat oily stuff. so i would not like to visit this gali.
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ReplyDeleteWhen I visited Chandni Chowk, I was curious to visit the "Paranthe Wali Galli' as it is much sensitized by TV shows.
ReplyDeleteWhen I went there, I was dissappointed to see condition of the street. Its stinking all the way. The legendry Paratha shop owners remain busy collecting money and have not bothered to renovate the interrior. Enter any shop (they are scanty hardly 3-4.. and I wonder why the whole street has been named after them..its really missleading)and you will generally find in the front area itself, a dirty man preparing paratha..its all mess around him..You might wish to ask him "when did you take bath last.?" (I couldn't digest the purpose of this exposure)
You Have to virtually make your way to get inside these shops.. the sitting arrangement remains too clumsy. Generally they offer you sticky wooden benches and outlived marble top table.
Beware..if you take time watching menu for another dish, its all likely that you find a cocroch feasting upon your Paratha..!!
One has to suspend here, ones sense of higene etc.
This is surely not a place to visit again.
Frankly speaking, many road-side Dhabas serve better parathas than what you are offered at this place.
As I came out of the Galli, I realized.."Naam Bade aur Darashan Khote..!!"
Hey, I followed the step by step routine ... (minus the deep frying) the parathas turned out great!
ReplyDeleteHey I tried this - step by step at home - (minus the deep frying ) - it turned out great - thanks for the inspiration Paranthe wali Galli !
ReplyDeleteSometime I have not been able to appreciate the taste of the paratha here.
ReplyDelete