A tale of 4 Shawarmas

Reference Wikipedia - Shawarma also spelled Chawarma, Schawarma, Shawirma, Shwarma, Shuarma, Shawerma, Shoarma, Schwarma, Shoermeh, Siaorma, or Shaorma) is a Middle Eastern Arabic-style sandwich-like wrap usually composed of chicken, turkey, beef, or a mixture of meats. Shawarma is a popular dish and fast-food staple across the Middle East and North Africa; it has also become popular worldwide.
Its been a loooooooooong time since I first thought of starting a blog and I made my first entry and I know I should have done this a long time ago. Anyways, Hogster is back this time with "a tale of 4 Shawarmas".

Without wasting much time, let me get you the details and directions first.
Place - Al-Bake, NFC Delhi

Price - INR 30 for a Shawarma

Type - Strictly Non Vegeterian

Wiki has already given you an idea of what a Shawarma is.. but hey hang on... that is the most deceiving, most played down description of a shawarma, which MISleads you to believe that shawarma is your normal, run-of-the-mill, roadside chikken roll which you get at every neighborhood market.

Before I give you my description, let go through this little snippet..Below is a glimpse of a real life incident. Transporter, Hogster, Gamer, Movie-Freak are the characters involved (aliases used but anyone who knows em would know who are we talking about here).

While at Work, on a Wednesday around 19:00 hours,

Transporter to Hogster : Chalo Sir aj apko NFC le kar chalte hain, badey dino se pending ho rha hai

Hogster : Haan Haan chalo. Gamer, kya kehta hai ?

Gamer : I am ON, lets ask Movie Freak too

20:30 Hours at Al-Bake, NFC Delhi
Transporter to Waiter : "Bhaiya (counting in his mind)...8 shawarma le aao !"

Gamer : "Abey aath ?"

Transporter : "arrey achcha hota hai.. khaya jayega"

Hogster (To himself) : 'khane ki cheez hai...kitni buri ho sakti hai'

Gamer (To himself) : "pata nahi kya khila raha hai saala"

Movie Freak : "haha aath ?" (nervous laughter)

5 minutes gone, everyone is hungry, eagerly waiting (Note Only Transporter knew and had tried shawarmas in past). Everyone is blabbering, abey yaar kahan hai ye waiter, bhook lag rahi hai and saying things of that nature.Enter Waiter, with a platter full of shawarmas.

Arrangement - 8 roll like edible things, arranged neatly in queue and each one cut right at the centre making it 16 pieces in all. Accompanied is thick viscosity mayonese like white colored paste.

Transporter : "waah, chalo bhai shuru ho jao... i cannot wait" (picks one piece and takes a bite.. others follow)

Hogster : Bites into the first piece. NUMB, the whole world is at a standstill. Explosions in the mind...too indulged to say anything...hurries onto the next bite. The whole sequence revisited.

Gamer : "ummmmmmmm.." (making gestures with hand which suggest this stuff is mighty good...says nothing..bites into his piece for a second time)

Movie Freak : "Oh man..." (Laughing and relishing)

Silence! Not a word spoken.. Second round.. same fate. 2 pieces gone down for everyone

Hogster : "Beep Beep this is the most amazing thing I have ever had in my whole god damn life. Saala dimaag fat gaya hai"

Movie Freak : "Haha.. wow man.. this is really something"

Gamer : "God Bless Transporter..bhai kya kamaal ki cheez hai"

Transporter : (Looks equally intoxicated as others, content that everyone likes them) "achche hain na? kaun keh rha tha ki aath nahi khaye jayenge..Hogster se pooch lo.. saala aath aur to akele hi kha jayega"

The 16 pieces were gone in a jiffy. We had already ordered for main course which was on the way by now.
The incident happened nearly an year and a half ago, and there have been very few weeks that go by, without me making a trip to the shawarma-land.The owner claims that the recipe has been handed over through generations and very few people actually know how to make them. No trip to shawarma-land is complete without the Mitha paan available outside Mezz , so much so that it is almost a ritual now to have that paan after shawarmas. I dont think I have had better paan and trust me when I say that because I am not the only one who thinks so :)

Let me try and give you my account of what I think goes into the shawarma and that white mayonese like paste
Shawarma - The outer shell consists of maida, and aata, rolled into a roti like structure, which is subsequently placed on a tawa and and prepared with gracious amounts of butter/ghee/oil. The inner filling consists of very small chikken pieces, often minced and probably roasted like a chikken tikka. The chikken inside is tender and juicy beyond description and often leaves you wondering why doesnt chicken taste so good anywhere else. The filling also has traces of onion and tomato mixture which only spruces up the taste a notch. Then there is gracious presence of the mysterious white mayonese like paste, and the super yummy dhaniya-pudina chutney, and together these 2 make the filling a KILLER. Well there you have it, roll down the filling inside the outer shell and what have you got?... a portion of shawarma with a couple of bites that guarntee to mess up with your mind, leaving you amazed, content, tranquilised, and gluttunous all at the same time.

White Paste - Abey mujhe pata hota to main khud shawarma bechne lagta. All i know is that it is bloody brilliant and shawarma aint complete without it.

Alrite folks, thats that then. All this explaining has enticed my taste buds, and am off to you know where.... the shawarma-land.

--adios

HOGSTER !

In my words - A human being with an over exagerated craving and a HUGE appetite for anything that has even miniscule potential of enticing one's taste buds may be defined as an HOGSTER. Hold on, wait a minute.... that would be.... ME! Thus the name - Hogster !!

I am no writer, or a scholar or someone who's exceptional at penning down his thoughts but am a foodie, a chatora and hence the motivation for me to share with you, something which I love to do. So i'll try to take you along in my Journey around Food or a Food Journey or better still.....a foojourn(TM)

Now that the I have explained myself, the blog url and my motive to be here, I think I can start now. Oh but hang on....what about the blog title ?? ADDICTED ??
Is there even a need to elucidate ? that am addicted to good food. Now with that out of our way lets finally start

WORLD'S Best CHOLEY BHATUREY

Don't be mislead by the caption, and its upto you to believe it literally when I say World's best choley bhature. They might not be the world's best, but they are absolutely delicious, lipsmacking, often leave you wanting for more after your regular fill of a normal meal.....and quite frankly they are the best choley bhaturey that I have ever had.

Bhaturey - Minimal Oil, with above normal elasticity, tender, almost melting in your mouth, filled with a generous spread of paneer and a mixture which I think includes dhaniya and a few spices. Oh boy! I had more than 3 of those this afternoon, its been not more than 3 hours since and yet when am describing them, i feel like i can have a couple of them right now. Now digg that! Very unlike the Bhaturey which you normally get or even your mom would make at home.

Choley - Viscuous- almost halva like in density, tangy, a tad bit extra salt than you'd normally want (its not a complaint, mind you), with boiled and subsequesntly fried aalloo pieces thrown in. Garnished with a secret ingredient green chutney which spruces up the taste a few notches , coriander leaves and chopped onions.
You always have the option to add in not so great pickle (varies with season - carrot,mango,chillies)

Now take that bhatura and tear out a small piece which guarantess paneer falling out and add to the choley and put the sinful combination in your mouth. As you begin to savour the great taste, enjoying every bite and you suddenly realize that you have only shelled out INR 24/- unlike lousy ones you get at a swanky/overcrowded food joint with name that reminds you of a spice. you cant help but just say - bhai waah !!

The fact that to have them, you have to commute to a place which is a true reflection of what a real Indian city is makes the whole experience even more enjoyable. As you make your way through crowded purani dilli streets, with shops on both sides of the street which are not more than 3 metres apart selling almost anything and everything, you are welcomed by a variety of likable aromas , which I think are sourced out of Jalebis, Kachoris, chaat, parathas and anything which you can imagine in that league!
Cycles, Rickshaws, Two wheelers ,Hawkers, tourists (often searching for weed or already smoking), cattle, stray dogs - Imagine that in an area of few hundered square yards and you have a typical PaharGanj street. Its almost evident to you that you have to travel to Paharganj to try the Choley Bhaturey, so I will not keep you waiting anymore... here's the address
Sita Ram Diwan Chand Choley Bhaturey , Chuna Mandi, Paharganj, Near Imperial Cinema, Delhi!

Its almost 6 in the evening and am hungry again.. I need to go dig into my kitchen and hunt for some food. Give them a shot when you are around CP next time and oh yeah dont forget to tell me after you have them and still agree with me in saying that they are World's Best Choley Bhature !

cheers!