Delhi ,My Love,Why I Love you
- in Delhi's most residential neighborhoods, hawkers selling roasted corn on the cob, tender coconut juice, and local favorites like the deep-fried mashed-potato patty known as “aloo tikki” troll the streets, calling out their wares in sing-song voices. Listen for the aloo tikki wallah clanging his ladle against his wok and chase him down.
- Dilli Haat offers a great shopping experience — no touts, no beggars — and only high-quality merchandise. Don't be a stupid farang, though: Tibetan momos and chowmin (i.e. fried Chinese noodles) is not the way to go here. Try the Fish Fry and Egg Roast at the Kerala stall or the Uttaranchal Thali.
- Delhi's fried and tandoori-roasted kebabs are amazing. The chicken tikka kebab (boneless chicken) and mutton seekh kebab (ground goat mixed with green chiles) are the tandoori standbys. But pan-fried goat kebabs — such as the mutton shaami kebab, which melts like butter in your mouth — are the real gems.
- Chandni Chowk is today a teeming wholesale market, selling everything from glass bangles to bulk spices. My go-to itinerary here includes a Delhi's medieval ruins are all over the city — not only in recognized “sites.” The government is sitting on a tourism gold mine. But for now, you get the joy of discovery lot of street food — deep-fried dough at Old & Famous Jalebiwallah, fried crisps.
- Delhi is one of the leafiest cities in Asia. It's strewn with big, forested parks — some of them, like Jamali Kamali, featuring stunning medieval ruins. Beat the heat in the early morning at Jahanpanah City Forest, which features paved two-kilometer, five-kilometer and seven-kilometer jogging paths.
- he tomb of India's second Mughal emperor — who ruled what is today Afghanistan, Pakistan and northern India in the 16th Century — is a stunning, red sandstone mausoleum reminiscent of the white marble Taj Mahal. Named a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1993, it's one of the few architectural marvels in India that has been lovingly restored. And it's quiet enough to dip into a book like William Dalrymple's “The Last Mughal” or Khushwant Singh's “Delhi.”
- Delhi Metro has done more than get middle-class Indians rubbing shoulders with migrant laborers. One of India's few successful infrastructure projects.
- Jama Masjid was built in the 17th Century. Outside, destitute children and crippled crones beg for alms amid the teeming frenzy of a market selling second-hand auto parts and the like.
- The dozens of bars, bakeries and boutiques of this bohemian enclave sit smack dab in the center of an ancient village — absorbed into the city as Delhi expanded. Work up an appetite — or a thirst — by touring the medieval madrassa and tomb of Feroz Shah Tuglaq (1351-88), which now serves as a makeout spot for young couples. Then from the open-air terrace of the ultra-boho Gunpowder, which offers the city's best Kerala curries, you can look down on the medieval lake that once supplied the water to the Tuglaq's Delhi Sultanate in the 1300s.
- The Old Fort or “Purana Qila” is a stunning medieval fortress built in the 16th Century. In the afternoons, couples splash around the moat in pedal boats — pleasant in Delhi's brief, sunny winter. And year round, there's a campy but fun sound and light show every night after sundown with a blaring recorded history of the “Seven Cities of Delhi.”
- Raj Ghat proves that Indians can keep public spaces clean when they really, really want to. Raj Ghat itself is a memorial to Mohandas K. “Mahatma” Gandhi — the leader of India's freedom struggle. The park also features a memorial to India's first prime minister and greatest statesman, Jawaharlal Nehru, as well as a memorial to his daughter, Indira Gandhi .
- The national monument of India, this L'Arc de Triomphe-esque structure was designed by Raj-era architect Edward Lutyens as a memorial for the 90,000 Indian soldiers killed fighting for Britain in World War I. After independence, India removed the statue of George V from beneath the arch, making it a modern symbol of India's freedom struggle.

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