Delhi Food Guide: Butter Chicken, Street Chaat & the World's Best Indian Food

Delhi is where Indian cuisine reaches its apotheosis — a city whose food culture draws on Mughal imperial kitchens, Punjabi dhaba tradition, Rajasthani royal cooking, and the extraordinary street food innovation of its 30 million residents. Butter chicken was invented in Delhi in the 1950s at Moti Mahal in Daryaganj — the original restaurant still operates and the dish, now global, tastes completely different here than anywhere else. Paranthe Wali Gali in Chandni Chowk is a medieval lane of paranthas (stuffed bread) fried in ghee on iron tavas since the 1870s — order 3–4 different stuffings. Connaught Place's Bengali Market is the temple of Delhi street chaat: gol gappa (hollow crisp filled with tangy water), papri chaat, and dahi bhalle executed with ruthless precision. Khan Market's cafe culture represents the modern Delhi food scene. For nihari (slow-cooked beef stew eaten at breakfast), the Old Delhi neighbourhood around Matia Mahal is unmatched. Lodi Colony on weekend evenings becomes an outdoor dining street.