Sometime around 1850, Kanwarji seth came to Delhi from Bahadurgarh in modern-day Haryana and began to sell dal biji, a fried savoury dish that North Indians relish as a snack with morning or evening tea. Although there are no written records as such, it is anyone’s guess that this homemade snack by Kanwarji became so popular that the family set up its residence in Chandni Chowk. With its bustling streets and thriving bazaars, Chandni Chowk was the heart of the Mughal capital, and if your business saw initial success here, you were surely on your way to good times.
Soon, Kanwarji’s son Bhagirath Mal also joined the business, and the duo set up their establishment at a spot on the main Chandni Chowk street. Located at the cusp of the famous Paranthe Wali Gali — the virtual ‘food court’ where the entire city came to savour their favourite delicacies at that time — Kanwarji Bhagirath Mal became a snacking hotspot. People returning home from Chandni Chowk would get an item or two packed and enjoy it with their families.
Kanwarji and Bhagirath Mal played on their strengths. They kept a small menu, consisting only of their best and most popular items. Dal biji, of course, and another pet savoury called sem ke beej. Made from dried seeds of a flat bean, sem ke beej is still Kanwarji Bhagirath Mal’s exclusive item that you can’t find anywhere else even today. These two namkeen items, along with aloo ka lachcha, matar samosa, and kachori, became classic purchases for most Delhi residents who wanted to taste the flavours of India.
“While most namkeen shops largely use powdered and readymade spice mixes, which include four to five main spices like salt, chilli, tatri, khatai, we buy saabut or raw spice stock and make our own masalas. We also use exotic spices such as jaiphal (nutmeg) and javitri (mace) that many have forgotten [today]. Other namkeenwalas use essential oils for expensive spices such as heeng (asafoetida). But we use the solid rock chunks of heeng as per our traditional recipes. Also, all our items are fried in desi ghee,” says Rachit Gupta, the fifth-generation owner of this 173-year-old eatery.
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Pioneers of the pista barfi
After mastering the recipes of various savoury items, Kanwarji and Bhagirath Mal began to expand their repetoir to include sweets. They claim to be the pioneers of piste ki laungi or pista barfi. One of the most expensive sweet items on the menu, it’s a hot favourite at Indian weddings and festivals. While it appears that most sweets shops in India are phasing out traditional items such as pateesa, balushahi, and sohan halwa, Kanwarji Bhagirath Mal claims that their loyal clients, for whom these are comfort foods, keep the demand high.
While the consumer market across India continues to change at a hurtling pace, Kanwarji Bhagirath Mal stands out for its rootedness in tradition and continuity of old practices . The owners haven’t even switched to different vendors over the years — generations of the same family have been their suppliers. “Earlier, our milk and ghee vendor brought supplies on a bullock cart. Now he comes in a van. That is the only difference. My grandfather and his grandfather worked together. My father and his father worked together. And now, we carry on the work ties. The key element in this is — I can trust him with quality. He can trust me with payments,” says Rachit with a chuckle.
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Rootedness in tradition
The cardboard boxes, packaging, logo, and even the font have remained unchanged for over a hundred years and are reminiscent of an earlier era. “I have a visitor whose family left India during Partition. Now she comes from Britain every year and takes back 15 kg of sweet and savoury items. She says she has to send packets to her parents and all her siblings because these items were a part of their childhood. The taste helps the family relive old times,” says Rachit.
When an antiquated eatery becomes a selfie spot for teenagers eagerly coming to Purani Dilli on a food walk, and when Kanwarji Bhagirath Mal’s delicacies get profiled on Instagram, it is clear that this establishment straddles two worlds – the very old and the very young.
(Edited by Humra Laeeq)
‘Pista barfi pioneer’, Kanwarji was Chandni Chowk’s OG snacking site. Now selfie spot too - ThePrint
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