4 Women-Run Food Stalls In Delhi You Should Buy From

Amid the rich cultural heritage of Delhi, lies a potpourri of restaurants, cafés, and food stalls that serve delectable meals. The culinary delights found here only add to the charm of the city.

More often than not, you see these food joints being run by men. After all, it’s a popular perception that a woman's place is only in the home’s kitchen. However, there are women-run food stalls that prove otherwise. Cooking food that is both mouth-watering and inexpensive, these women are breaking age-old barriers by running food stalls around the city. Here are four such places you can visit for a sumptuous meal:

MDM Champaran Meat House

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The MDM Champaran Meat House is located in Rohini and is run by Neha, who bought a chinese food van to start her culinary journey. Before COVID-19, she used to take tuition and abacus classes, but the pandemic-induced lockdown created a new set of challenges for her as she was unable to teach. She started a tiffin-service that boomed initially, but after shifting to another place she had to stop the service.

For nine months, she worked in her relative’s food shop, however after toiling and working hard, they had a dispute amongst themselves. She decided to start her own business and began searching for shops. “Everything was above my budget and there was nobody to support me,” she said in an interview with Khanabadosh by Deepak Yatin.

One day, she was eating golgappas from a food vendor just opposite a Chinese food van. It struck her to ask the vendor whether there were any food stalls there she could buy.“This was the starting point which enabled me to sustain my family,” she added.

Her husband is sick most of the time and she has three children she needs to take care of. “I am doing this for my kids, so that they can get a good education,” she said.

Despite being a vegetarian and a non-Bihari, she learned how to make Champaran meat from her father-in-law. “I used to cook mutton and chicken on the stove, but I wanted to try something new. I tried cooking 10 kilos of Champaran meat for my relative’s food shop, which received a good response and I became confident in my skills,” said Neha.

Facing every obstacle with dignity, today Neha’s meat house has a vast following and is a must visit for food-lovers!

Do Behno Ka Sapna Fast Food (Two Sisters’ Dream)

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There are times when food does not only satisfy your belly, but can warm your heart and soul. Do Behno Ka Sapna Fast Food is a street food stall that is such a place! Run by two sisters, Kakuli and Poornima, this food stall in Malviya Nagar serves refreshing home-cooked meals.

The pandemic caused both the sisters to lose their jobs at a restaurant. However, the unfortunate incident did not break them, instead they decided to start their own food stall to support their family.

Their aim is to feed people healthy home-cooked meals that are hygienic and tasty, while trying to earn a livelihood. They dream of opening their own restaurant one day and are hopeful that their entrepreneurial spirit will bear fruit.

Talking to Curly Tales, they said that they source all their ingredients from farms and prepare the meals in their home. Their food stall witnesses hungry tourists and migrant workers who are reminded of their home while eating their yummy dosas, flavoursome idlis, matar paneer, and rajma chawal. They also cook delicious non-vegetarian dishes like fish and chicken curry on all days, except Tuesdays.

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Dolma Aunty Momos

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Today momos, a popular Tibetan and Nepali dish, is one of the most-loved street foods in Delhi. However, 20 years ago, this was not the case as citizens, who have an affinity for fried food, dismissed the dish and labelled it raw.

Dolma Tsering was determined to change this narrative. She took on the task of bringing the Tibetan dumplings to the streets of Delhi in 1994. Initially, the steamed dumplings were only present in expensive South Asian restaurants, but Tsering established her first ever momo stall in the Central Market at Lajpat Nagar.

“There were hardly any takers in the beginning, but now these dumplings are taking the city by storm,” she said in an interview with NDTV Food. She added that where she came from, the dish was very famous, and for most ceremonies, there would be bucket-loads of momos prepared beforehand.

Tsering further explained that when she came to Delhi in 1990, she tried her hand at odd jobs but nothing stuck. “So I thought, let’s start this business and establish the first stall of momos.”

Slowly and gradually, her food stall gained recognition, and now it is considered one of the best places to eat authentic momos at a reasonable price. She has launched two other stalls in Kamla Nagar and New Friends Colony. Her secret onion sauce recipe pairs delightfully with steamed and tandoori momos, and visitors can choose between paneer, chicken, and vegetable fillings.

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Ghar Ka Punjabi Khana By Manjeet Kaur

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You can find Manjeet Kaur sitting on the streets opposite Hotel Surya Grand in Rajouri Garden, feeding Punjabi food to dozens of people every morning. She started the food stall to support her husband.

Featured by a Youtube channel, Dil Se Foodie, Kaur’s efforts were first highlighted by Karan Dua who saw her coming to the spot on a daily basis.

Her husband, who drives an auto-rickshaw, helps her transport a stove, a pan, a table, a container full of rice, flour, and other dishes to her makeshift kitchen every day without fail.

In an interview with The Hindu, Dua said that he started the series ‘Superwoman’ by featuring Kaur, a middle-aged woman whose work warmed everybody’s heart.

Sweating it out daily in the extreme weather of Delhi to earn a living, Kaur’s wide smile contrasts with the daily quandaries she faces.

Her stall offers rajma, soybean chaap, aloo fry, langar-wali dal, paranthas, and much more on special demand.

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