Crispy Tokri : A chaat lover`s delight in Delhi

अबे मिलते क्यूँ नहीं हो तुम लोग ? आओ तो सही.. This was probably the only line which compelled us to go and visit the place and not to mention meet our long lost school friend Saurabh after years (probably the 1st time after leaving school ). Oh.. and I forgot to mention that he owns the outlet – Crispy Tokri. Taking you now through the world of chaat and my own personal experience (without being biased in any sense whatsoever). Please do keep in mind that I am not a food blogger in any sense so don’t know how its done properly, its just me and chaat in this blog in whatever way I can present it to you. The 4 muskeeters in this drama are me, my friends Tungesh, Faizan and Saurabh. All the HD pics used in this post are courtesy Tungesh and his camera.

Firstly something about Crispy Tokri. Its a small outlet started in August 2014 by my friend. It caters to chaat , a thing which all chaat lovers and especially people from north india would surely connect to. Something I being a lucknowite always look for in delhi. Looking for that “ लखनऊ वाली चाट का taste ”. Howsoever chaat wale might bring up outlets in delhi proclaiming to being that lucknow taste here, they just fail to hit the mark and not to mention they hit a mark on the pocket.

I was so eager to try the chaat and meet my friends that I even left my poetry meet midway at CP to make it there. Even though I had gone there after a gap of say more than 3 months. So boarded the metro and got down at Malviya Nagar metro station, refused the auto wallahs and relying on the google maps made it to the place in some 7-8 mins walking there. So there I was- finally. Nestled in a corner just near to PVR Anupam in the Anupam Shopping Complex next to Musicland. Nice to see Saurabh waiting there for us infact he was more eager with repeated calls to us to know till when we would reach. I guess meeting your friends after so long has that effect. The rest 2 were on the way. One thing which stuck me just then was the hygiene factor. Nice place for chaat but also keeping the health issues in mind. So we had the preparations in full hygiene gear. The only spoiler- the menu. There you are bloody spoilt for choice. For even a चटोरा भुक्कड़ like me, it was tough to choose between the various items. Finally I decided to wait until the rest showed up. The wait was sure agonizing, here I was dying to try the items. Some 5 mins. Afterwards they showed up and immediately Saurabh was like “ What you`ll like to have?” and we were like, “ Whats the hurry?” and he was like, “ I am feeling hungry”. Laughing at the desperation we started off with the starter of all chaat items- Golgappas.

First tried out the stuffed ones ( Dahi wale). Bloody hell they were…awesome… Kind of just melted in the mouth. Most of the chaat outlets just do away with dahi in minimal quantity but here was a healthy offering where we had to search that where was the golgappa beneath all the dahi.

Next – the most familiar line in India. हाथ में दोना ले कर खड़े हो जाओ. So we all got ready to have a fight between how fast our mouths gobble down the golgappas and how fast the person serving them churn out them. In between we were capturing pics too of our eating feast too. In came the first salvo with the “ खट्टा पानी”. The main usp of the golgappa is the water and its spicy taste. Crispy tokri uses RO water for all the preparations but the water taste used in the golgappas made all the difference. Just the perfect one. Not too spicy that you`ll have tears in your eyes from the first one itself( I was so wrong) and neither too sweet. Switched to the sweet ones now. The person serving them was damn quick and I must mention a very small thing I noticed. As you wait for the golgappa , it makes it your plate while being kept in a small saucer so that the water doesn’t drip (the unfortunate case with faizan when his whole golgappa let go of the water while he was posing for the shot).

While I tried for a shot with the back to the spicy golgappa (personally I loved the spicy ones as compared to the swet ones), the comment from Faizan, “ भाई शादी में आये हो क्या?” had all of us laughing so hard with the golgappa barely in my mouth that it burst in my mouth and then I realized the real potential of the spicy water as it raked my whole brain and I had tears in my eyes with the sudden flavor assault. Again a jibe from others. 

Probably tasting heaven

The busted golgappa

After saying no repeatedly, Faizan on his 2nd round..

Next- Mirchi Vada. Man the ones in Jaipur had some competition now. During my masters days in Jaipur I have had the the famous mirch vadas and I can say that the ones at Crispy can very well give them competition. So all the Jaipurites, if you are looking for the familiar taste of the mirch vadas of home, head to Crispy tokri to feel at home.

Mirch vada

Next- Rajkachori. Again the filling and the seasoning had all of us floored. I don’t know that how was it possible that the taste of each and every thing we were ordering was just the same. Neither too spicy nor too sweet. Just the perfect balance. We dug it all into it for all our appetite.

So much in such a short time that we decided to take a break and come back after a stroll to let all that digest. Coming back we had- Samosa chaat. The thing it had was that it retained the distinct crunchy flavor of the samosa. Hard to find crunchy samosas at places, forget about retention of flavor. Each item had its distinct flavor inspite of the heavy helping of the things on top.

Next- Aloo Chaat. Its been ages since I had that Aloo chaat and the first bite made me feel that I was back in Lucknow , at chowk trying all those chaat items. If only flavours could be transformed into words, I would have written more.

                               

As of now, there`s only one thing I can say to the chaat loving people, go and have it yourself. Its awesome. In some 3 hours I had gobbled down so much that the simple walk to the metro station was a torture in itself. Its what you call in Hindi, “ न नियत भरी, न मन भरा मगर क्या करें कमबख्त बस पेट भर गया”.

It was a evening all of us would remember in a long time…Crispy tokri isn’t all about only chaat. It boasts of other items too such as छोले भठूरे, पाव भाजी , पूरी सब्ज़ी , मटर कुलचा , कचौरी सब्ज़ी too. Too bad I was on a chaat mission and didn’t wanted to click pics of girls having other items for the fear of getting manhandled…but the glance towards other food items was tempting enough. Skipped the girls for food. The best thing about the items here is that its economical and doesn’t hit your pocket. I have been to places and I must say that this is the best place I have come across when it comes to chaat. So the next time you are there at select city walk and heading towards malviya nagar and have a craving for chaat , head to PVR Anupam and ask for Crispy Tokri. The ones shopping at Select city walk can try being hungry for the time being at the mall and later on have a heart`s content at crispy tokri.

This is how its prepared- all clean

It’s a must visit for all food lovers, chaat lovers, food bloggers . reviewers as one thing that connects us all is food and delhi people are famous when it comes to trying out food. Oh and one thing more- You can order your chaat on the phone and it would be ready for you by the time you reach there. ( Home delivery option is there too but this one caught my eye).

So happy चटोरपना...

Visit their website: www.crispytokri.com

Location: PVR Anupam complex. Next to musicland. Walking distance from Malviya Nagar metro station. People are advised to walk so that you may digest all the delicious chaat you have.

Cost: Much cheaper than you think…and comparatively too.

Timings: 11am – 11 pm. 7 days a week.

Find them on : Google plus, Facebook, Tripadvisor, Zomato

My rating: They just walked away with a 5 star …

* This post has been written without any biasness of any kind and is an attempt to let the people of delhi know about the place where they MUST try chaat.

                                                  

The tasters- Me, Saurabh, Tungesh and Faizan