Daulat ki Chaat (or Malaai Makkhan, as it is called in U.P.) is not a tangy treat of the sort the word chaat evokes. This incredible little dish is made up almost entirely of air: it is essentially just milk froth. They start making it at about 2 o’clock at night, and insist that their only contribution is to churn some creamy milk and whip up its froth — the rest is the magic of the winter dew. This whipped froth of milk is set in a large brass pan, and some khoya and finely sliced pista are sprinkled on top. The entire delicate ensemble is brought to the market in the morning on a khomcha (a cane tripod), where if you ask nicely, the man will scoop out a generous portion of the froth, powder it with bhoora (unrefined sugar) and khurchan, and hand it to you in a little leaf bowl. A spoonful of it just vanishes in the mouth, and has a very sophisticated, understated sweet taste to it.
A dona of Daulat ki Chaat sets you back by exactly 100 bucks!
We were lucky to catch this vendor on our way from Hauz Qazi Chowk (where the Chawri Bazaar metro station is) to the Jama Masjid. His normal beat is Kinari Bazaar, close to the Dariba area of Chandni Chowk, but he probably starts in the morning from the Hauz Qazi area — we were there at about 8:30am. If you ever manage to catch the elusive Daulat ki Chaat vendor, give him a miss at your own eternal loss!
Location: Kinari Bazaar has at least a couple of vendors, including one (Khemchand Adesh Kumar) at the corner of a cul de sac called Naughara — an official heritage site with beautifully ornamented entrances to well-preserved havelis. I have mapped this location here.
Timings: Winter mornings till about 10 am.
Pemala Timm's Writes about Daulat ki Chaat
According to Old Delhi legend, Daulat (which means ‘wealth’) ki Chaat is made only during the cold winter nights (preferably by the light of a full moon) when gallons of sweetened milk are whisked for hours into a cloud which is then set by the dawn dew. The top layer is touched with saffron and decorated with vark (silver leaf) and by morning the Daulat ki Chaat is just solid enough to be spooned into plates and sprinkled with chopped pistachio nuts, khoya (condensed milk) and bhoora (unrefined sugar) before gradually collapsing in the heat of the day.
In its thaal (a wide metal platter) the Daulat ki Chaat looks like the soft meringue of Lemon Meringue Pie but the taste is altogether more ethereal – it dissolves instantly on the tongue, leaving behind the merest sensation of cream and sweetness. The balance of milky cloud, saffron, sugar and nuts is subtle and tantalising, almost not there – generally requiring a greedy second or third plateful to try and audit this gully-found glimpse of heaven. If there’s one dish that sums up the magic and mystery of Old Delhi street food, it’s Daulat ki Chaat – at 20 rupees a plate it’s within the reach of rickshaw-pullers but this is a dish – surely with Mughal heritage? – that could hold its own with the world’s most extravagant delicacies – in fact I know of at least one Delhi Embassy which has started calling in the Daulat ki Chaat wallahs for its swanky parties.
In Delhi, I’ve never seen this other-worldly delicacy anywhere but the old city, although I know different versions exist in other cities – the first time I tasted it was right off the night train to Lucknow, where it’s called Nimish. This is a cruelly short season but for the next few weeks the Daulat ki Chaat wallahs, with their khomchas (a fold-up bamboo stand which street food vendors use to display their wares) are dotted around Old Delhi, standing proudly behind their platters of ‘cloud’. Last week I ate Kemchand Adesh Kumar’s Daulat ki Chaat in Nai Sarak but he moves around – his phone number is 9899417485 if you want to avoid disappointment.
I include Priti Narain’s recipe, from The Essential Delhi Cookbook, which calls for electrical appliances, although I refuse to accept Daulat ki Chaat can be made in the kitchens of mere mortals – I firmly believe this sweetened slice of paradise is created with the assistance of angels rather than a Kenwood mixer.
Daulat ki Chaat
Milk Puff
2 litres full cream milk, unboiled
2 and a quarter cups cream
1 heaped tsp cream of tartar
1 cup caster sugar
1 tsp rosewater
2 tbsp chopped pistachio nuts
Combine milk, cream and cream of tartar in a large bowl and refrigerate overnight.
Next morning stir in 4 tsp caster sugar and rosewater and whisk using a rotary or electric beater at high speed. Using a tea strainer collect the foam that forms and transfer to a large thali or tray. Keep thali tilted so that foam stays on one side; some milk will collect on the lower side. When the thali is fairly full, spoon foam into clay saucers or teacups, sprinkling a little caster sugar between layers and on top (the foam will condense a little during this operation. What looks like four bowlfuls in the thali will yield only two bowls).
Pour milk collected in the thali back in the bowl and continue collecting foam till all the milk is used up. The whole process will take 2 – 2 and a half hours.
Sprinkle pistachio nuts on top of each bowl of foam and refrigerate till serving time.
The Daulat ki Chaat can also be layered in 2-3 large bowls but it loses some of its fluffiness and becomes dense.
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