Chef Amninder Sandhu’s favourite underrated Punjabi dishes in Delhi

Growing up in Assam, Amninder’s first memory of Delhi came wrapped in butter paper. Her father would bring bright, jewel-coloured cubes of Karachi halwa back from his work trips. ‘They felt so fancy,’ she says. ‘For years, Delhi equalled Karachi halwa in my head.’

She loves its distinct nuttiness, the way it’s slightly chewy without ever tipping into too-sweet territory, and Chaina Ram perfects this. Now that she’s married into a Sindhi family, the nostalgia comes with an extra layer of affection. ‘I want more kids to make the same pilgrimage – to taste it, and to carry that memory forever,’ she says.

Timings: Mon-Sat: 8am-8pm, Sun: 8am-5pm.

Price: ₹150 for one

Address: Ground Floor, 6499, Katra Bariyan, Fatehpuri, Chandni Chowk, Delhi, 110006

Walking down narrow lanes to Sangam, Amninder recalls, meant you felt the air heavy with sizzling fat and secret spice blends well before you reached. ‘This is the kind of place locals would take you to, long before Instagram reels and Google Maps could trace it,’ she says.

The buff seekh kebabs are grilled to perfection here, and served with nothing more than simple onions and green chutney. The space is tiny, always crowded, so you either elbow your way to a plate or take it home. It’s quite the adrenaline rush.

‘Juicy kebabs straight off the sigdi, slightly charred, dripping with flavour, eaten standing on the street because waiting is impossible,’ Amninder says wistfully. I can almost hear the salivary glands kick into action. Hers and mine. 

Timings: Mon-Sun. 6pm-midnight.

Price: ₹200 for one

Address: Shop No. 1612 Gali Qasim Khan, Ballimaran Rd, Chandni Chowk, New Delhi, Delhi 110006

This one may piss off the gatekeepers. VERY few people are in the know: and if Amninder herself hadn’t stumbled upon this Old Delhi sweet shop, she’d never have known either. 

The specialty here’s undeniably the gajar halwa – but not the regular one you know. In some special winter months, they do a halwa made from both white and black carrots, stored in giant containers, kept warm from below. It’s a delicacy that maybe no one else does in Delhi. 

Their colours and textures were unlike anything Amninder had ever seen before. ‘The white gajar halwa tastes like red carrot halwa, but lighter and less sweet,’ she explains. ‘Some people actually thought it was mooli (radish) because of its colour. Others said it looked like barafbaari, snow falling on your plate, just because it looks so exquisite.’ 

These little discoveries make their way into her own desserts at Bawri and Kikli: ‘If it wows me, I believe it's going to wow my guests.’

Timings: Mon-Sun. 6am-midnight (although the red and black carrot halwas are seasonal). 

Price: ₹200 for two

Address: 1466/67, Bazar Chitli Qabar, Jama Masjid, Old Delhi, Delhi, 110006

‘Messy’ and ‘just perfect’ is what Amninder calls the chhole here, in the same breath. Chache di Hatti’s situated in the chaos of Kamla Nagar, with the trademark throngs of Delhi University students crowding the streets. 

The 1954-founded hole-in-the-wall makes the chhole Rawalpindi-style – so that means eschewing the typical tomato-onion gravy for one that’s far tangier and spicier, paired with a plain or potato-stuffed bhatura. The story goes that Amitabh Bachchan used to hop over college walls at Kirori Mal to grab a plate back in his college days.

Amninder says it’s the best chhole she’s ever eaten. And the lassi, she presses, is unskippable. 

Timings: Mon-Sat. 9:30am-3pm.

Price: ₹100 for two

Address: D-33, Block G, Bunglow Road, Kamla Nagar, New Delhi

In a corner of Dariba Kalan in Chandni Chowk, a 150-year-old jalebi shop works like clockwork. Every few seconds, a hot, thick, syrupy jalebi’s ejected into a vat of hot oil, and every few seconds, someone’s lining up to get some packed. Four generations of hard work, and it shows. 

Amninder knows exactly why the jalebis are the way they are. ‘They use khandsari sugar for the syrup and you can taste the difference immediately,’ she points out, adding that the jalebis themselves are as big as your face. What’s not to love about face-sized jalebis?! Amninder adored them so much she added a version at Kikli, affectionately titled ‘jabeli’ after her two-year-old nephew’s pronunciation.

Plus, the shop’s had some famous customers over the decades: Raj Kapoor, Sanjay Gandhi, even former Prime Minister Chaudhary Charan Singh. The menu extends beyond jalebis but keeps it simple: rabri, aloo samosa, matar samosa, and lassi. 

Timings: Mon-Sun. 8am-9:30pm.

Price: ₹100 for one

Address: 1795, Dariba Corner, opp. Bank of Maharashtra, Dariba Kalan, Chandni Chowk, New Delhi, Delhi 110006

It was a Pyarelal ji who founded this fine establishment back in 1949, right after migrating to Delhi after Partition. Sialkot Dhaba’s actually maybe one of the last places to really take their time with preparing food the right way: the dal here’s simmered for nine hours straight, from 8am to 5pm in a brass degh. The aroma alone’ll drive you crazy.  

‘I love the mustard oil in it,’ Amninder adds. ‘Even my mother uses it in her kaali dal, so it instantly reminds me of home.’ She credits the discovery to food critic Rocky Mohan, and it’s one of the spots she goes back to often. 

Most visitors stick to the classics: creamy dal, laccha paranthas slathered with butter or ghee, and rich, orange-hued paneer lababdar. ‘It’s not fancy or flashy, but if you want comfort food at pocket-friendly prices, this is the place to go,’ she says. 

Timings: Mon-Sun. Noon-4 pm, 6.30-11.30 pm.

Price: ₹200-₹400 for two

Address: 14/38, opposite to Domino's, Shastri Nagar, Geeta Colony, Delhi, 110051