Skip to content
Menu
Travel Tales from India and Abroad
Travel Tales from India and Abroad
mango-lassi-food-walk-chandni-chowk

Chandni Chowk Photowalk: Exploring the Good Food

Posted on July 18, 2015May 4, 2025

When I woke up 15 minutes before the alarm would go, at 5.45 am, I had a great temptation to just turn the other way and go back to sleep again.  However, I made it to the metro, only to yawn continuously all through the journey. In spite of living in NCR for a long time, I have not frequented Chandni Chowk. So, when friends at Darter announced a Chandni Chowk Photowalk for today, I decided to join in. We met at Digamber Jain Temple and then leisurely walked through the streets of Chandni Chowk.

shopkeeper-chandni-chowk
A Beaming Shopkeeper

Some people in our group were very knowledgeable about the area, they knew which was the oldest shop (Ghantewala), they knew it recently got closed and they knew where you got good things to eat! While talking of such things we paused at this shop. We asked this beaming man if we could click pictures! He was quite alright with it.

imarti-chandni-chowk
Imartis- Can You resist Them?

His shop had an amazing display of imartis! I wonder why I didn’t buy any but I made up for it by buying jalebis later on!

streets-chandni-chowk
People on the Streets

However, what hit me most was the number of people who were on the streets in the area! It was staggering. As soon as I got out of metro I saw a long queue which left me wondering. I thought it was a queue of daily wagers waiting to get work. As I walked more I realized it was a queue for free food! The whole scenario of homeless people makes me wonder what are we all doing as a nation?

chandni-chowk
The Pro!

This quiet man was sitting on the steps of his home, I guess. All he wanted was to read his newspaper and talk on his cell phone. Instead he had a group of people with SLRs descend on him, each interested in clicking his picture. He was a pro, he ignored us all while we all aimed our cameras at him! Photowalks in Chandni Chowk seem to be a regular thing, he must be used to it!

parathe-wali-gal--chandni-chowk
Parathe Wali Gali

It was extremely humid today in the morning. All of us were sweating buckets. We were happy to sit down at a paratha shop and have breakfast at the famous Parathe Wali Gali. You can see that the parathas are deep fried but for one day it was fun eating them for breakfast!

chandni-chowk-shop-keeper
He Had Good Things in his Shop!

Our next food stop was this shop were I bought the jalebis. He told me to wait, he would give me hot ones. And hot they were when they came and delicious too! We also tried Nagori Halwa at his shop. If you have not tasted it, do give it a try the next time you are in Old Delhi!

eid-chandni-chowk
Eid Mubarak

As it is Eid today we thought the area would be very crowded. But in the morning, it was not so! We came across this feast in the area. An elderly person came and asked one of us if we were freelancers! I am sure by next visit they would ask if we are bloggers or freelancers!

henna-died-beard-chandni-chowk
Henna Died Beard!

I loved the henna streaks on his beard. He was also quite tolerant of a bunch of people with cameras all pointing at him!

mirza-ghalib-haveli-chandni-chowk
Mirza Ghalib’s Haveli

I wonder what the great poet would say if he could witness this scene? Our last official stop on this walk was Mirza Ghalib’s Haveli. I for my life cannot appreciate poetry but I love this man’s work, the little that I know!

I can however tell you what this fellow blogger with the smartphone says! He is a well known blogger and yet he always pleads with all of us not to tag him in his pictures! I was telling him he has no business being in online space if we can’t tag his pictures! But till he comes around, I will let it be.

So this is a short glimpse of the Chandni Chowk Photo Walk with #DelhiDarter! I hope you enjoyed it too.

facebookShare on Facebook
TwitterTweet
FollowFollow us
PinterestSave

32 thoughts on “Chandni Chowk Photowalk: Exploring the Good Food”

  1. Sreedhar Bhattaram says:
    July 19, 2015 at 12:39 am

    Very nicely described with the relevant photographs of the place and its people.. Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
    1. Mridula says:
      July 19, 2015 at 11:46 am

      Thank you Sreedhar ji.

      Reply
  2. Purba Chakraborty says:
    July 19, 2015 at 2:14 am

    A lovely account of the place.

    Reply
    1. Mridula says:
      July 19, 2015 at 11:46 am

      Thank you Purba.

      Reply
  3. Archana Kapoor says:
    July 19, 2015 at 4:49 am

    awesome account!!

    Reply
    1. Mridula says:
      July 19, 2015 at 11:46 am

      Thank you Archana.

      Reply
  4. rupam { xhobdo } says:
    July 19, 2015 at 9:23 am

    Beautiful photos, Thanks for sharing

    Reply
    1. Mridula says:
      July 19, 2015 at 11:45 am

      Thank you Rupam.

      Reply
  5. Somali K Chakrabarti says:
    July 19, 2015 at 9:31 am

    Reminds me of the good old college days when a walk through Chandni Chowk was a norm, with DCE campus being in Kashmere Gate . Sad that Ghantewala has closed down.

    Reply
    1. Mridula says:
      July 19, 2015 at 11:45 am

      Whereas I came to the city when I started working and hence never found time till I quit my job!

      Reply
  6. Kalpanaa says:
    July 19, 2015 at 1:41 pm

    You’re such an accomplished photographer Mridula. Lovely photowalk.

    Reply
    1. Mridula says:
      July 19, 2015 at 4:26 pm

      Thank you for your kind words Kalpanaa.

      Reply
  7. raj says:
    July 19, 2015 at 3:51 pm

    Do you edit or photoshop your pictures before posting in your blog?

    Reply
    1. Mridula says:
      July 19, 2015 at 4:31 pm

      To my consternation I have never used Photoshop, never bought it. Its pricing also sounds so complicated to me.

      Reply
  8. Prasad Np says:
    July 19, 2015 at 5:25 pm

    Thanks for joining.. it was wonderful meeting passionate travelers and photographers

    Reply
    1. Mridula says:
      July 19, 2015 at 9:30 pm

      Thank you Prasad, it was a wonderful walk.

      Reply
  9. Ankita Sinha says:
    July 19, 2015 at 6:34 pm

    Your photographs speak for themselves.Each one so beautiful..I have been to Chandni Chowk once with mom,and never got into my mind to click pictures,but eat eat eat 😛

    Reply
    1. Mridula says:
      July 19, 2015 at 9:31 pm

      Next time when you are in Delhi lets go together!

      Reply
  10. Simran says:
    July 19, 2015 at 8:14 pm

    First time on your blog and I feel like, how can I miss this wonderful space 😀
    I thoroughly enjoyed this photo-walk to Chandni Chowk. Looking forward to read more …and yes, those imarti look super delicious 😀

    Reply
    1. Mridula says:
      July 19, 2015 at 9:31 pm

      Thank you for stopping by Simran, hope you will drop in more often! 😀

      Reply
  11. Kavita says:
    July 19, 2015 at 10:07 pm

    Wonderful, photos of Chandni Chow, dear Mridula,
    Really, Incredible India.

    Reply
    1. Mridula says:
      July 19, 2015 at 10:16 pm

      Thank you so much Kavita.

      Reply
  12. sonia kundra singh says:
    July 19, 2015 at 11:09 pm

    Amazing view of the beautiful gali of Chandini Chowk. Delhi has so many faces to it but this was just blew me away! what camera do you use if I may ask? 🙂

    Reply
    1. Mridula says:
      July 20, 2015 at 12:38 pm

      Soinia I use a Canon 550D which is an entry level DSLR! And thank you for your kind words.

      Reply
  13. Ravish Mani says:
    July 20, 2015 at 9:50 am

    Beautiful description of place with lovely captures, Mridula. Liked the line: “I am sure by next visit they would ask if we are bloggers or freelancers!” 🙂

    Reply
    1. Mridula says:
      July 20, 2015 at 12:37 pm

      They were quite used to people with cameras, that is what I guess!

      Reply
  14. Mahesh Semwal says:
    July 20, 2015 at 9:55 am

    I missed this wonderful walk because of weekday. next time arrange in weekend 🙂
    You have captured c.chowk very well.

    Reply
    1. Mridula says:
      July 20, 2015 at 12:35 pm

      Mahesh it was on a Saturday!

      Reply
  15. Indrani says:
    July 20, 2015 at 11:52 am

    Awesome pics! A treat to see these sights!

    Reply
    1. Mridula says:
      July 20, 2015 at 12:35 pm

      Thank you Indrani.

      Reply
  16. Chaitali says:
    July 21, 2015 at 7:57 pm

    I love the photo of those imartis! I would love to do this walk too!

    Reply
    1. Mridula says:
      July 22, 2015 at 12:07 am

      Though I am not an expert, I would be happy to take you on this walk! Let me know when you are in town!

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

About Me

I am Mridula Dwivedi and I started this blog in 2005. It has been an amazing ride. I have visited 33 countries till date! I have worked with many tourism boards and prominent travel companies. My blog was featured on the BBC and the Guardian.

I did my Ph.D. from IIT Kanpur. I worked full time in academics till 2015! I quit my job as a professor, thinking I will take a break for one year, which turned into five.

Subscribe to the blog!

Subscribe

* indicates required

Support provided by Credible Content Writing & Copywriting Services

©2025 Travel Tales from India and Abroad | Powered by SuperbThemes