Shah Jahan's walled city around Jama Masjid and Chandni Chowk: paratha lanes, kebab grills, century-old sweet shops and the Khari Baoli spice market.
Karim's has served Mughlai kebabs and curries in Gali Kababian by Jama Masjid in Old Delhi since 1913, cooking from recipes passed down through generations.
OrderThe mutton burra, then mutton qorma with sheermal to mop up the gravy.
TipThe lane is narrow and busiest in the evening; the kitchen runs from 09:00 until 01:00, so a late lunch is the calm window.
Al Jawahar faces Gate 1 of Jama Masjid on Matia Mahal Road in Old Delhi, a Mughlai room known for mutton qorma, badam pasanda and yeasted khameeri roti.
OrderThe badam pasanda in almond gravy, or mutton qorma with khameeri roti.
TipIt stays open until midnight; during Ramzan the Matia Mahal lane outside fills with haleem pots and kebab grills after sunset.
Moti Mahal in Daryaganj, Old Delhi, is where Punjabi refugees from Peshawar made butter chicken famous after Partition; the room still serves it daily.
OrderButter chicken with a butter garlic naan, plus a plate of tandoori chicken.
TipAsk for a courtyard table, where live music plays on some evenings, and order breads to share across the table.
Chor Bizarre on Asaf Ali Road in Delhi serves Kashmiri wazwan in a thieves-market room of antique tables and 1950s Hindi songs, near Delhi Gate.
OrderThe wazwan, or a plate of mutton yakhni with haaq and rice.
TipReserve ahead for dinner and order the full wazwan for the table; the kitchen also runs Kashmiri specials such as aloo bukhara korma.
Diamond Bakery has twice baked its rusk in Old Delhi for more than a century, a Jama Masjid counter that bakes in a wood fired bhatti, not an oven.
Worth the queueRusk and chicken puff
TipBuy a bag of rusk for the morning chai; the wood fired bake is what keeps it so crisp.
Pt. Gaya Prasad Shiv Charan Paranthe Wale has fried stuffed parathas in Gali Paranthe Wali, Old Delhi, a fixed stop on the Chandni Chowk food lane.
OrderMixed paratha with a plate of aloo and a lassi.
TipThe shop descends from one of the first families to fry parathas in the lane, now in its sixth generation; ask for the khoya paratha.
Old Famous Jalebi Wala has fried jalebi in desi ghee at the Dariba corner of Chandni Chowk in Old Delhi since 1884, sold hot by weight with rabri or samosa.
OrderA hot plate of jalebi straight off the kadhai.
TipBuy by weight and eat standing at the counter; the jalebi cools fast.
Kuremal Mohan Lal Kulfi Wale freezes kulfi inside hollowed fruit shells near Chawri Bazar metro, a family trade in Old Delhi that dates back to 1906.
OrderStuffed mango or pomegranate kulfi.
TipThe stuffed kulfi is set back inside the real fruit, using its own pulp; the shop opens every day from 11:00 to 23:00.
Natraj Dahi Bhalle Wala tops soaked lentil dumplings with sweet and tangy chutneys on Chandni Chowk's main road in Old Delhi, running since the 1940s.
OrderA plate of dahi bhalla, then the aloo tikki with both chutneys.
TipThis corner shop sells only two things, dahi bhalla and aloo tikki; expect a crowd outside at most hours, and note it closes at 21:30.
Giani's Di Hatti scoops rabri faluda and kulfi from a Fatehpuri counter at the western end of Chandni Chowk, a Delhi dessert stop that closes before dinner.
OrderRabri faluda topped with a scoop of kulfi.
TipShuts by 19:00, earlier than most Chandni Chowk food stops, so go before evening.
Khari Baoli Spice Market has traded whole spices, dried fruit and tea at Chandni Chowk's west end since the 17th century, still Delhi's largest spice market.
OrderLoose green cardamom, whole red chillies and a little saffron.
TipClosed Sundays; the lanes run beside Fatehpuri Masjid, and many spice shops here sell retail as well as wholesale.
Paranthe Wali Gali packs a handful of hereditary paratha shops into one narrow Old Delhi lane, each frying stuffed parathas the same way for generations.
OrderA mixed paratha plate shared between two, from any shop in the lane.
TipSeveral hereditary shops share the lane; Delhi Tourism dates Pt Gaya Prasad Shiv Charan to 1872 and Kanhaiya Lal Durga Prasad to 1875.
Delhi Food Walks runs this early morning crawl through Old Delhi: bedmi poori near the wedding card lanes, then nihari and sheermal close to Jama Masjid.
TipThe walk runs 08:30 to 13:00 and includes a tuk-tuk ride to the spice market by Fatehpuri Mosque, with rooftop views over Old Delhi.
Food Tour in Delhi's Old Delhi crawl covers 14 to 17 dishes at seven to nine stops between Chandni Chowk, Khari Baoli and Kinari Bazar in Old Delhi.
TipThe tour starts at Gate 3 of Jama Masjid; the solo rate drops once a second guest joins the booking.
Reality Tours and Travel's Old Delhi crawl meets at Rajiv Chowk Metro before the spice market, Chandni Chowk and a Matia Mahal chicken stop.
TipMeeting slots run at 13:00, 15:00 and 17:00 from Rajiv Chowk; vegetarians can skip the closing Matia Mahal fried chicken stop.
During Ramadan the lanes of Matia Mahal by Jama Masjid in Delhi cook through the night after iftar: haleem in huge pots, seekh kebabs over charcoal, nihari and shahi tukda.
TipArrive just before sunset to watch iftar at Jama Masjid, then walk into Matia Mahal; Jama Masjid and Chawri Bazar metro stations are a short walk away.
Kake Di Hatti has baked stuffed tandoori naans and dal makhani on Church Mission Road in Old Delhi since 1942, a vegetarian kitchen open until 01:00.
OrderA stuffed paneer naan shared with a bowl of dal makhani.
TipOver 100 naan varieties are listed, in sizes from Nikka and Baby up to the house Kake size; the family dining room is upstairs.
Chaina Ram Sindhi Halwai, founded in Lahore's Anarkali Market in 1901, has sold Karachi halwa and namkeen at Fatehpuri Chowk since moving at Partition.
OrderA box of Karachi halwa and a bag of moong dal namkeen.
TipClosed Sundays; the shop also sells its sweets, namkeen and halwa through its own online store if you want more later.
Aslam Chicken grills butter chicken and seekh kebabs on charcoal in Bazaar Matia Mahal by Jama Masjid, Delhi, staying open past 00:00 most nights of the week.
OrderButter chicken with a chicken seekh kebab and rumali roti.
TipThe butter chicken here is charcoal-grilled chicken tikka swimming in butter and cream, served in a tasla, not a tomato gravy.
Qureshi Kabab Corner skewers seekh kebabs in Delhi across from Jama Masjid's Gate 1, one of the counters that keeps the lane fed after evening prayers thin.
OrderMutton seekh kebab rolled with onions and green chutney.
TipThe grill starts at 17:00 and runs until 00:30, so it works for a late supper after the Jama Masjid lanes.
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