Highway On My Podcast Ep 26: Kareem’s, UPSC ki Chaat, and finding Delhi's best Butter Chicken

Has the coronavirus pandemic disrupted your plan to take that long trip? Is the ongoing lockdown making you crave going off-road? Fret not. If you can’t go to the highway, Rocky, Mayur, Prashant, and Abhinandan — the team behind shows like Highway On My Plate, Vital Stats of India, Jai Hind, and Rocky and Mayur's Food Xpress — will bring the highway to you!

So, here goes the newest offering from Newslaundry: Highway On My Podcast. The creators of the much loved TV travel show revisit their travels across India, sharing stories, anecdotes, trivia, and — for when the roads are open and inviting again — recommendations on food, culture, people, and much more.

In this episode of Highway On My Podcast, the gang — like all professionals playing on their home turf — hits it out of the park with recommendations and stories from Delhi. Instead of heading out of the city as they usually do, they drive through it, packing in as much as they can.

Starting off with chaats and sweets, Abhinandan brings up Bengali Market. Here, Rocky has visited the same golgappewala for over 20 years. Prashant says the market is the most sanitary place to have street food as compared to other famous food streets across the country.

Sticking with chaats, they list Delhi’s wide range, from Moong Daal Ki Chaat in old Delhi to UPSC Ki Chaat. Rocky comes up with multiple stories on how the legendary Gantewala came to be, and they end their trail at Daulat Ki Chaat, which Mayur calls the King of Chaats — though not before a heated argument with everyone else.

Ustaad Chai near Jama Masjid gets a mention for the “best tea in the world”, with Prashant calling it an institution, while Rocky and Mayur think it’s one of a kind. They scoot off to Chandni Chowk, taking a food trail up and down the legendary street to talk about the incredible food that it’s been credited with serving for hundreds of years now. Shahi Tukda, Rahim Ki Nihari, Kareem’s, Halwa Paratha — there’s a veritable bouquet of delicacies that you shouldn’t miss if you’re ever in Chandni Chowk.

Next up is the top three Chhole Bhature places in Delhi followed by Delhi’s greatest gift to the world: Butter Chicken. Rocky offers fundas on how the dish was invented and the team lists some of the best places to get Butter Chicken in Delhi now.

Delhi is where all four panellists grew up and given the city's incredibly varied palette, the group talks about some of the most famous late night places, the Delhi of the 1990s (it was definitely better!), and other food institutions that the devout must pay homage to when the roads are open and inviting again.

All this and more, only on Highway On My Podcast.

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