Sunday, August 8, 2010

Street Food named desire- Al Kauser at Malcha Marg

My biggest foodlove is Mughlai kababs. There is nothing like bites of succulent, spice infused pieces of meat that melt in your mouth contrasted with the tangy and crunchy bites of onions. These kebabs are usually very hot with lots of green chilies, coriander, cardamom, cumin, red chilies, and various other spices in which the meat is kept marinading for several hours till the spices soften the meat. Placed on a char grill the meat cooks with a smokey flavor. These delicious babies leave you sweating as you eat but you cannot stop at just one. And before you know it the love affair has begun! So did I say it yet- I heart Kebabs (should make a t-shirt).
As promised in the previous post on Delhi- Al Kauser at Malcha Marg gets its own post. Typically like street food that are famous for their kebabs, Al Kauser is a stand alone joint on  Malcha Marg in South Delhi. You pull up to Al Kauser - a little 10' x10' shack in your car. Place an order for your favourite kebabs- kakori, tandoori, seekh, boti, mutton malai tikki with rotis and parathas. While waiting in the car order up some coca cola as well to help with the heat factor. Enjoy the meal in your car.
I had the pleasure of eating at Al Kauser with my friends Jes, Aman and Shagun. Jes and Aman are regulars and knew exactly what to order. We ordered the famous Kakori rolls, tandoori chicken, the dry fruit paratha and mutton malai tikki and rounded it up with a sweet delicious Firni.
The set up: An open charcoal grill, a concave tawa, the metal barbecue rods, a ceramic pot with ghee.
 
The man behind the grill
We started with their famous Kakori kababs also popularly known as Seekh Kababs.
 The roomali roti to wrap the Kakori in
 Putting together the Kakori roll

Next, we ordered the mutton malai tikki roll in the dry fruit paratha. This was the most interesting combination of sweet and salty nuts such as raisin, cashews, pistachios all ground in the stuffing of the paratha which is used to wrap these incredibly hot mutton malai tikkis. Notice the green chilies in the pic. It was the most tantalising combination of sweet paratha and hot, mouthwatering and moist tikkis.
The mutton tikkis frying-
 The absolutely incredible dry-fruits stuffed paratha
Shagun loving this roll
What fun!!!
Now moving onto the Tandoori chicken. Once again one of the most tender, spicy, melting in your mouth chicken I have ever eaten. Oh! Al Kauser!
 Jes and I watching as our food is being made.
Finally we wrapped up these delicious wraps with a sweet end- creamy, silky, full of almonds and pistachio bowl of firni...

Absolutely loved the experience and the food. And safely my stomach held upto this food.
It was delicious!
Some of my other favourite street kebabs places:
Mumbai- Bade Miyan
Ahmedabad- Bhatiyar Gali (must have strong stomach)
And if you ever are in Chicago - trek up to Devon street and sit down at this little hole-in-the-wall place called Sheesh Mahal Dhaba.



27 comments:

  1. Mmmmmmmmm yummy!!!! Great pictures as always! Man behind the grill doesn't look too happy that you are documenting him though haha!!!

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  2. Man! my mouth waters everytime I think of the food we ate that day. Nothing like good ol Delhi Street food.

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  3. Oh god! These kebabs look awesome.... way to go, making me jealous!

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  4. The mutton tikkis and kakori rolls made me feel hungry after a very heavy dinner. Bade Miya? Try Kakori and Galauti at Kakori House. Bade Miye is very overrated unless they have changed their act

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  5. Hey thanks guys:
    @janu: the man was actually very nice and let me photograph him step by step. it was very fun. And come home soon... i shall take you to some fun places.

    @ Megs and Shagun- Come back to India soon and lets do more of this.

    @ the Knife: I'll be honest- Bade Miya is a childhood haunt - and I remember it being really delicious- I havent been there since Ive been back (so its been atleast 8 years ago).. thanks for the recommendation.

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  6. hey thanks shanthi and sarika di.. you are very sweet.

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  7. thanks Slogan... Im going to do a street special for Ramzan next! Maybe you should come and photograph too. Would be fun!

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  8. Although I've just returned from dinner, I could definitely eat some of that Kakori kebab.

    So happy to meet you today!! I went through my email records and while I did find your comment on the Purple Foodie Quiz, I didn't have any mails. SO weird. Anyway - I'm so happy that we met.. we should definitely do this again. :)

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  9. You landed in the right places in Delhi. Have you eaten the rolls at the roll wala near Gol Daak Khana?

    These photographs made me really crave for some roomali rotis and kebabs.

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  10. Came from Simran and 'Finely Chopped'. What a lovely post and space you have.... really enjoyed reading it....
    It's nice to meet fellow bloggers :)
    That's why, the posts Lunch at Deeba's and Upper Crust Food n Wine Event are my fav :)

    U've landed at one of the best places for such food n ordered jus the right things... proud of your Delhi friends to take you there :)
    Another great kabab place for your list is Tunde Kabab in Lucknow.... They are the most mouthwateringly delicious, melt-on-your-tongue sort of kababs.
    Cheers,
    The Variable, Crazy Over Desserts - Nachiketa
    Catch me on facebook @ Crazy Over Desserts

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  11. first time to ur blog ... you have a really nice space .. and a nice group of friends to hang around with : )I have never been to delhi but looks like there are some nice eatouts...i love the way you have shown the preparation of kababs...indian street food is my favourite cuisine...love the blog post

    if u get time do visit my blog


    Satya
    http://www.superyummyrecipes.com

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  12. Hey Satya. I have actually been following your blog now. I think it is great! Thanks for stopping by. Do visit often.

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  13. i likes your blog!:)

    you got yourself a new follower:P

    Please write about more vegetarian food?:)

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  14. Aah Alisha Will do. I will. Thanks for joining and keep commenting. Its nice to get feedback.

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  15. I just have to say your photos are awesome

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  16. Thanks Megan! It always great to see you comment since you are one of my first blog members! I miss you

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  17. Hey this only reminds me of the amount of food we gorged,can you believe we consumed everything!

    As we all started our date with Al Kauser saying... we're too full, just have couple of rolls;-)

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  18. I am living in Madrid desperate for good desi food, your post brought so many taste memories flooding back. Keep up the good work, I love your photography.

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  19. Hey Debjani- Thank you. I do hope you get desi food soon. But I have to say.. I love Spanish food especially a lovely seafood paella. You wanna trade places? Do comment on other stuff that you like. Its very encouraging.

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  20. Try doing the kebabs in the tandoor instead on a charcoal grill - they turn out to be more succulent and juicy.

    I tried it on a friends recommendation and bought a tandoor oven here in Atlanta USA from www.hometandoor.com

    The experience has changed the way i relished kebabs.

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  21. Hi, I'm writing an article on Ahmedabad food and would love to use a snap of yours from here (ofcourse giving you credit). Pl let me know if its alright. Thanks

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  22. try also the biryani inn home delivery of lucknow galawati and kakori kebabs and great biryanis. they r only into home delivery their no is 9161398254

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  23. A friend of mine took me to this place the previous evening and I guess I have never savoured Kebabs anywhere in Delhi as much as I did here. Tangy, spicy and I could never imagine that anyone could make chicken kakori rolls which just melt in the mouth. Loved the chicken tikka parantha roll as well, next time I am surely trying the dry fruit parantha roll. One of the best places :)

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  24. Super thanks to him for taking me here :)

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