Where have all the great blogs gone?

Or maybe they are still there and I am just not interested in reading them anymore.

I don't visit The Delhi Walla blog very often, maybe once in a fortnight or so. But each visit is always rewarded with some interesting account of a not-so-well-known aspect of Delhi. The one that I found really interesting on today's visit, not the least because I am really hungry as I write this, was Mayank Austen Soofi's description of a breakfast of paya and nihari in Old Delhi.

I have been to the area surrounding Jama Masjid a few times, but was never adventurous enough to try out one of the many dhabas spread in its vicinity. I never realized what I was missing. My first, and only as of now, taste of what Old Delhi has to offer by way of culinary deligths was outside Delhi in fact. Lahori cuisine in many ways is a purer form of what one could probably have got more easily in Delhi before partition. While visiting Lahore, our host had taken us out for a breakfast of tandoori roti (much much softer than any I have seen anywhere else) and nihari and halwa. I can still recall those amazing flavors, and could very well kill for another taste of that breakfast. This post at The Delhi Walla brings back those memories in a rush. I am drooling all over my laptop right now.

This, and continuing upto early March, is the best time, if you are in Delhi, to try out this food. It's too rich for our modern tastes and you might want to avoid any physical engagements right after the meal. Starting off with a heavy breakfast at one of these dhabas, following it up with a walk around the area, similar to one I took a couple of years back (unfortunately alone) that started from Safdarjung's tomb, went through Lodhi Garden, touched upon several landmarks (some not found in tourist brochures like the tomb of Abdurraheem Khankhana), went upto Humayun's Tomb and then also covered some parts around Nizamuddin, and then a late afternoon meal at another one of the eateries in the area - that sounds like a good day.

The best time I have spent in this part of Delhi was almost two years back when three other guys from my college and I went food-stall hopping near Chandni Chowk after a fantastic morning spent at the Book Fair in Pragati Maidan. The night before that I had seen Rang De Basanti - which made it one of the best 24 hours periods of my life.