Outnumbered in Old Delhi

Last week, Jonah attended a conference in Addis Ababa which brought scientists together from around the world to discuss the issue of sustainable and safe drinking water in developing nations. He really enjoyed his time there - both the adventure and the learning - and sent the boys an email with photos of his visit to the Ethiopian National Museum which houses the 3.2 million year old bones of Lucy (well, maybe replicas of them).

Back in India, they boys and I - along with four other families - set out on a walking street food tour in Old Delhi Saturday evening. This is an outing that has been on my bucket list for over a year and since it can only be done in the cool season, it was either now or next year. We had eleven kids (ages six to thirteen) and eight adults in our group so this would have been an ambitious undertaking for any destination but was particularly so given the very crowded, sometimes chaotic, noisy, and narrow streets of Old Delhi. After a few reminders and making sure everyone knew whose hand to hold at (nearly) all times, we set off to the tour meeting point at Patel Chowk metro station. 

Since Jonah had our camera with him, these photos were taken on my phone and therefore, not the best quality. Plus, it was a challenge to keep my eyes on the kids, navigate around and between cycle rickshaws and a bajillion people, dispense hand sanitizer and wet wipes as needed, eat the food we were in Old Delhi to eat and take pictures. So with that disclaimer, here goes my summary of our adventure....

Our tour guide started off with an overview of the foods we would be tasting and a brief history lesson about this part of the city, including why the food is so spicy (in short, it helps digestion). 

Speaking of digestion, street food in India for many visitors is something to be avoided, so as not to tempt fate with Delhi Belly or worse. But this tour provided the opportunity to sample freshly made snacks prepared by trusted vendors and in the winter months, the risk of contamination is lowered. 

The first thing we ate was Jalebi, India's version of fried dough that has a gooey honey glaze. It was delicious and in fact, the best we've had. It was Liam's top treat of the night.

After that sticky mess, we tried warm shortbread-like biscuits from this cart:

Next up, daulat di chaat, a frothy whipped buffalo milk product that most of us did not enjoy (second photo credit goes to http://desiknitter.com/). Click here to read a blog post written by someone else about this stuff.

Then we tried two types of samosas - cauliflower with potato (Asa's favorite item of the night) and green pea. They were hot and spicy and surprisingly not too greasy:

Liam tried out a fragrance at the incense shop that was next to the samosa stop:

After that, we wandered through the bustling crowds for a while, eventually taking an abrupt turn into this quiet lane that felt miles away from where we had just been:

There we were served dahi bhalla and papri chaat (crispy fried dumplings in yogurt) with tangy brown tamarind sauce (photo credit wikimedia)...

...and some spicy kachoris (fried dough with spicy stuffing) in potato curry and yellow mustard seed chutney (photo credit olddelhiwalkingtour.blogspot):

Some Indian sweets called kurchan and fried vegetable pakoras were passed around. I just love pakoras. 

Finally, we topped off the evening with a cup of masala chai. 

From here, we waded back through the masses to the metro, onto a train, off the train, hailed an auto-rickshaw to take us the rest of the way back to our very quiet home for a very good night's sleep.

And thankfully, no one in our group got sick.

What is on your travel bucket list?