I had never been there in my 14 years in Delhi. Something about the whole market screamed Hyped Hyped Hyped. And, I stayed clear.
Then a few evenings back, I became larger than my small biases, overcame the ego that hissed in my ears that you are better than butter chicken craving dilliwallas. So, like any other dilli ka aam admi, I smiled at the reservation staff outside, made a sad face which begged for his kindness and got a table, not out of turn, though.
Inside, it was full, loud and smelled of too much butter and generally of good food. First to come was the masala papad, which was good. I probably had a kilo of onions with the amazing chutney by the time the main course came. There were two kinds of onions, outside it was 70 buck a kilo. I carried a kilo in my stomach.
The butter chicken, we ordered the tikka version – you also get the diced and shredded kinds – was brilliant. Not too sour like the moti mahal version, not suffocatingly rich and fragrant enough to rouse suspicion that the chicken used a chicken perfume. The garlic naan was a perfect accompaniment and stealing a few mouth fresheners is the done deal.
