Karim’s Goodness

I’ve discovered a new love: Karim’s. For all you meat lovers out there, prepare to salivate.

Before I left for India, my Indian history professor told me that I MUST go to Karim’s, a Mughal-style restaurant right in the middle of Old Delhi next to Jama Masjid. Old Dlehi is the Muslim district of Delhi and Jama Masjid is the largest mosque in India. Old Delhi is filled with labyrinth of alleyways. It is packed with people, cycle rickshaws crowding the street, shops selling every kind of good, women in burkas next to women in sawahs, Muslim men sitting in groups discussing politics and everything else, tons of electrical and phone wires clumped together that somehow all make it to their destination, and smells of sewage, spices, and all of the humanity around you. It is great.

And the best part about Old Delhi is Karim’s. It is an authentic Mughal-styled restaurant with cooks that claim they have genuine Mughal recipes used for the Mughal emperors. And I believe them. This restaurant was voted one of the best restaurants in Asia by Time Magazine. The first time I went, I asked the waiter what was good and he pointed out a few things. We got all of them and when the food came… it was… life changing. I mean mutton with Indian spices, chicken soaked in a green curry, kebabs, and the best nan you will ever have. Me and the two other guys I went with bit into the mutton, stopped chewing for fear of it not being real, chewed a little more, all looked at each other rolling our eyes in delight, and continued eating knowing that this place would be a favorite place to eat for months to come. Just thinking about it makes me hungry and my mouth water…