Immediately after Independence Kundan Lal Jaggi, a refugee from Peshawar, who came to Delhi with nothing but the skills to make the best tandoori food, set up a restaurant in the lanes of Daryaganj. He invented butter chicken and dal makhani, two staples that are now associated with Delhi food.

Jaggi also introduced the chicken pakoda to its patrons in Delhi who till then were used to eating only vegetarian pakodas.

Once during the monsoons, he was enjoying regular vegetable pakodas with masala chai, a combination that is found in most households in Delhi even today. The monsoons in this part of the world are associated with piping hot tea and a plate of pakodas or fritters.

But being a hardcore meat lover from Peshawar, he thought of creating a non-vegetarian version of the pakoda for himself and his friends. He had some leftover marinated tandoori chicken lying in the kitchen. He fried the pieces coated with gram flour batter, and served it as Chicken Pakora. It was a success and was soon added to the menu permanently.

The Daryaganj restaurant in New Delhi’s Aerocity, run by Jaggi’s grandson Raghav Jaggi and his friend, restaurateur Amit Bagga, follows the same recipe except that it uses boneless chicken.

This monsoon, prepare some chicken pakodas along with the vegetable ones and enjoy them with a cup of hot masala chai.

Immediately after Independence Kundan Lal Jaggi, a refugee from Peshawar, who came to Delhi with nothing but the skills to make the best tandoori food, set up a restaurant in the lanes of Daryaganj. He invented butter chicken and dal makhani, two staples that are now associated with Delhi food.

Jaggi also introduced the chicken pakoda to its patrons in Delhi who till then were used to eating only vegetarian pakodas.

Once during the monsoons, he was enjoying regular vegetable pakodas with masala chai, a combination that is found in most households in Delhi even today. The monsoons in this part of the world are associated with piping hot tea and a plate of pakodas or fritters.

But being a hardcore meat lover from Peshawar, he thought of creating a non-vegetarian version of the pakoda for himself and his friends. He had some leftover marinated tandoori chicken lying in the kitchen. He fried the pieces coated with gram flour batter, and served it as Chicken Pakora. It was a success and was soon added to the menu permanently.

The Daryaganj restaurant in New Delhi’s Aerocity, run by Jaggi’s grandson Raghav Jaggi and his friend, restaurateur Amit Bagga, follows the same recipe except that it uses boneless chicken.

This monsoon, prepare some chicken pakodas along with the vegetable ones and enjoy them with a cup of hot masala chai.