Delhiwale: The return of Kaushambi biryani

Now our world is reopening, again. The informal food lane, mostly serving the passengers of the adjacent bus terminal, is starting to show a few signs of life, though the blue awning of a chhole bhature stall is still lying collapsed upon the counter, as if the sky had fallen upon the place.

The lane is littered with empty carts. This stretch of Kaushambi at the congested Delhi-UP border in Anand Vihar used to be crammed with super busy mobile street food establishments. The smoggy air would smell of diesel, but one could also get the whiff of freshly fried parathas, pickles and chutneys. One stall made yummy pooris served with rasse wali aloo subzi. Many carts offered various adaptations of biryani. The most extraordinary was Uttaranchal Dhaba, owned by a fellow from that hill state, which was the only eatery here with a large table, around which folks would settle down to wholesome thali meals with garma-garam phulkas. Then the second surge began.

This late morning the biryani is inside a huge deg, or cauldron. On lifting the lid, you glimpse at steaming saffron-shaded rice cratered with vegetables and whole green chilies.

Now our world is reopening, again. The informal food lane, mostly serving the passengers of the adjacent bus terminal, is starting to show a few signs of life, though the blue awning of a chhole bhature stall is still lying collapsed upon the counter, as if the sky had fallen upon the place. Nearby, the hopeful owner of Sharma food cart is repainting his cart. Shiv Mahima Parathe Wale has dozens of parathas on a thali beside a pile of deep-fried green chilies. And one of the area’s best biryani carts, too, is back.

Shiv Shudh Shakahari Biryani has shudh shakahari, pure vegetarian, ingredients—matar, paneer, soya chaap and gobhi. Rishab bhai, the cart owner, makes the dish at home in Indirapuram. This late morning the biryani is inside a huge deg, or cauldron. On lifting the lid, you glimpse at steaming saffron-shaded rice cratered with vegetables and whole green chilies. A second layer of vegetables is buried deep under the rice. Rishab bhai serves by thrusting his ladle vertically into the biryani, so that both the layers of veggies come out in the single serving—much like the way you might eat tiramisu, getting all its many delicious layers in every single bite. Each spoonful of the biryani transports you anew into a fresh gust of taste and fragrance.

The area has a few other biryani stalls too, but they are yet to open. During the second surge, Rishab bhai was hibernating at his village in Bulandshahr, UP. His recently married brother runs a similar cart in nearby Ghazipur. Both serve the same biryani.