Delhiwale: Monsoon frying

Delhi's monsoon charm fades with extreme weather, but pakodas remain a beloved snack. From Minto Road to Gurugram station, the love for pakodas in the rain is a classic experience.

When it rains, one feels for the Minto Road bridge. The central Delhi underpass almost always gets flooded. Truth be told, extreme weather trends have robbed the Delhi monsoon of its traditional charm. Anyways, for years the pakoda cart at the Gurugram railway station has strived for an idyllic July-August experience, bonding itself to the trinity of train travel, spicy deep-fried tidbits, and barsat.

The most legendary among the classic pakoda-and-rain places in Delhi is the Khandani Pakodawala (since 1962) at Ring Road Market in Sarojini Nagar. (HT Photo)

The platform’s snack cart has a long record of rustling out punchy green chilli pakodas.The green chilli would tend to be long and slim—these chillies are truly spicy — but the fried batter coating brings down the heat a notch or two.

That said, even a most average deep-fried pakoda tastes delicious when you are devouring it during a downpour, especially in a rail station, amid the jostling crowd of travellers struggling with their trunks and bags, while expresses chug by after every few minutes.

Plus, there’s the pat-pat patter of the barish falling on the station’s tin shed.

The most legendary among the classic pakoda-and-rain places in Delhi is the Khandani Pakodawala (since 1962) at the Ring Road Market in Sarojini Nagar. (See photo: cook Manoj in the kitchen).

The counter is these days packed with paneer pakoda, soya stick pakoda, veg chop pakoda, palak-methi-pyaz pakoda, bread pakoda, baingan pakoda, pyaaz pakoda, aloo-mattar seekh pakoda, gobhi pakoda, sweet corn pakoda, mix veg pakoda, and hari mirch pakoda. The pyaaz pakoda glistens like a sinful secret—hidden within the golden brown crust is the whole pyaaz, translucent, soft and slightly sweet. (Caution: There’s no place within to sit, you have to stand on the footpath and gobble down the pakodas. So if it rains, you are then sure to get wet!)

The most classic pakoda destination is actually any of the very many pakoda carts parked daily along the city’s paves. In that spirit, let us praise the long-time cart near the Civil Lines Metro station that serves deep-fried moong dal pakodas—Ram Laddu—all through the year.

Let us also praise the unknown hawker who occasionally pops up in Lodhi Garden during monsoon months with his basket of Ram Laddus. One late evening, it started to drizzle in the park and the vendor quickly whisked off his stand under a tree, where he patiently stood beside his remains of his day. The sight was poignant.