Venue: Dilli Haat, INA

Dilli Haat, INA is our go to place for many reasons. It is a great place for buying handcrafted gifts. It also has a Navdanya store that sells organic food items and even has a café. But this is one among many. Dilli Haat has a host of food joints mostly representing the various states of India. At times, we walk in to Dilli Haat just for the affordable, wholesome and diverse food. On our vegetarian days – we are somewhat focused. Yet, Dilli Haat has never disappointed.

While we always find something to eat, here is a list of our vegetarian food recommendations at Dilli Haat. These are our favs..hope you like these too.

Sabudana Vada – Navdanya

Sabudana or tapioca balls are often sneered at when served on the table. But try these mildly spiced fritters made with sabudana dumplings at Navdanya. Have a cup of masala tea on the side. If it is raining, you are set for the next one hour perhaps with a date.

Vada Pao – Maharashtra

We know that Vada Pao, India’s response to burgers, is a favourite from Mumbai. The Maharashtra stall at Dilli Haat serves one of the best versions of this dish in Delhi NCR. The pao bread and the Vada / patty inside are always fresh.

Mawa Kachori – Rajasthan

This sweet pastry dipped in sugar syrup is our perennial favourite. The Mawa Kachori here is fried to perfection and has a mild saffron flavour. It is loaded with calories as in calories and calories of happiness. One Kachori can fill you up like a whole meal.

Appam & Vegetable Stew – Kerala

Have you tried Appam? It is a rice batter based pancake with coconut milk flavouring. It can be had with a host of sides. Try the vegetable stew at Kerala stall in Dilli Haat. The coconut milk based broth with vegetable overload and spicy seasoning would fill you up and make you feel clean from inside.

Pooran Poli – Maharashtra

Pooran Poli has frankly not got its due in North India. It is sweet bread – a thin paratha with sweet stuffing. This is had as a main course dish in Maharashtra but we love it as dessert. It is a great accompaniment with tea and closes most of our trips to Dilli Haat.

Spring Rolls and Fruit Beer – Assam

What Delhi can’t have enough of are Spring Rolls. If you want a snack or are accompanied by children, look no further. Order Spring Rolls at Assam stall. This fried pastry stuffed with some vegetables would interest everybody.

Fruit Beer deserves special mention as it is somewhat iconic to Dilli Haat. This sweet drink – sorry – is non alcoholic – has it fans and haters. But we will not give any more spoilers. While Fruit Beer is available at most stalls, try Fruit Beer at Assam stall, they make it quite well.

Sev Puri – Maharashtra

Sev Puri is one among the many snacks that make Mumbai famous. Essentially a street food (LINK Street food festival), this is available at a host of restaurants too. We love the version at Maharashtra stall. It has a lot of crunchy sev crunchies on the top. The chutney is also sweetened just right.

Rajasthani Thali – Rajasthan

If you are in the mood for a vegetarian meal, try the Rajasthani Thali. It is a big platter with a host of popular Rajasthani fare such as Dal – Bati; Gatte ka Subzi; Bajre ka Roti, Raita, Salad; pickle and Halwa as dessert.  We find it difficult finishing a plate between the two of us.

Misal Pao – Maharashtra

It is a light meal comprising a sprouts and lentil gravy based curry, topped with onion slices and sev crunchies and had with pao bread on the side. We find this spicy but a friend, who digs on fiery hot food, loves this item at the Maharashtra stall.

Dosa – Tamil Nadu

If you are a diehard Dosa fan, or that is your solution to vegetarian food – there are some options at Dilli Haat. The best Dosa joint here is the Tamil Nadu stall. It is crunchy with simple tastes – just what we want from a matter of fact meal.

Pav Bhaji – Maharashtra

Many people carry the notion that Pav Bhaji is a North Indian dish. Truth is that it originated in Mumbai as a fast lunchtime meal for textile factory workers. This dish at the Maharashtra stall is standard in quality, doesn’t smell of packaged gravy and the freshly toasted bread smeared with Amul pav butter is sheer heaven.

Sabudana Khichdi – Navdanya

The not so popular Sabudana is used as an ingredient for Khichdis – specially the variety that is consumed during religious observances. Sabudana Khichdi is on menu at Navdanya and we ordered that adventurously. It is a dry spicy dish here that is served with curd. It worked as a light meal and we loved it.

Paneer / Vegetable Momos – Assam

Truth be told, the Dilli Haat experience is incomplete without momos.  The paneer or the vegetable stuffed momos at the Assam stall is much better than the ones that are available in other stalls. The momo shell doesn’t fall apart and the decent quantity of stuffing that the momos fill you up.

Poori Amras – Maharashtra

They serve fried pooris with mango pulp on the side at the Maharashtra stall. It is one unusual combination that we never thought existed. One wonders how authentic is this dish but we just love it.

Ice-cream Cake – Mother Dairy

The Mother Dairy stall sells ice-creams, tea, coffee, pakoras at reasonable price and is a decent snack place. But we love their ice-cream cake. It is a thick slab of ice-cream between layers of cake – all frozen together as one whole thing.  The rest is just bliss.

Masala Chai – Navadanya

A post like this can’t be conclusive if we don’t talk about tea. Tea – coffee is widely available at Dilli Haat but we love the Masala Chai at Navdanya. It is mildly spiced and in combination of tea leaves and milk, the chai here exudes a soothing aroma. As we mentioned, it is just what the doctor orders on a romantic rainy day.