
Places that top tourist itineraries for street food settle among areas that dedicated themselves to manufacturing food in other ways—factories, or wholesale. We take you on a visual tour of Delhi's streets and districts named to pique both interests and appetites.
Gali Parathewali
Find holes-in-walls selling varieties of parathas unlikely to be found elsewhere, like lemon, tomato, and even papad. Although recently dismissed for being tourist-pleasers and commercial, the cooks in these places have earned iconic status over the years.
Subji Mandi
A busy wholesale vegetable market to this day, the original Subji Mandi was shifted to Azadpur during the Emergency in 1975. The clock tower in the area also led for it to be called Ghanta Ghar.
Gur Mandi
There's no gur being sold here and the origin of the name is so old that it's hard to trace it through people who live and work there presently. They claim even their fathers and grandfathers had no clue. A lot of Pakistani refugees are known to have come in and settled here after the Partition.
Pan Mandi
Again, the people in the area claim there might've been a market for pan here at some point, but no one's sure.
Teliwara
'Telis', who manufactured cooking oils, lived and set up shop here. Even now, stores selling cooking oil exist, and people may carry sesame with them for the mills there to produce fresh sesame oil. The area also has a wholesale toy market along new Qutub Road.
Acharwala Bagh
Next to Subji Mandi, it's now called Singh Sabha Road (because of the Gurudwara nearby) with no trace of a pickle market.
Baraf Khana
An ice factory originally gave the area its name, and is still around.
Singhara chowk
Although water caltrop isn't specific to the market (in fact, none can be found even during the singhara season), there was a pond here that was used to grow them.
Pul Mithai
Five halwais near a bridge gave the area its name. They no longer operate, and no other mithai shops exist either. A wholesale spice market sits right under a prominent board instead.
*No names. No directions. Only vague locations. Binge photo guides challenge you to find these spots using only the photographs and brief information we give out. We haven't made it too hard but you might need to go exploring a little bit: high-five us if you manage, and write to us if you don't.