It’s a pleasant afternoon in south Delhi. And I am in the mood for some piping hot, spicy, delicious mutton curry and freshly baked tandoori roti. Plus some pickled onion pearls, a good green chutney, and some yellow dal tadka.  Rakov Kirpal, a fellow food freak strongly recommends the age-old Amar Jyoti restaurant at Sarojini Nagar market.  We pass dim sum stalls, vendors selling cheap lowers, a Citibank ATM with eager shoppers queuing up to take out more cash to spend, and reach the restaurant I must have passed many times without noticing it.

This eatery is clean and reassuringly welcoming. A Sikh gentleman managing the cash counter clearly implies that this is the place where good mutton curry is made, because the Sikh community can really make some mean meat. So we look at the menu, and can’t resist adding gurde kaupure (Rs 140) to the pre-decided order of mutton curry (Rs 170),   yellow dal tadka (Rs 110), and many freshly baked tandoori rotis (Rs 10 each).

The onions and the wonderful green chutney arrive first, quickly followed with order which arrives piping hot. One piece of roti with a chunky mutton piece and some delicious curry scooped into it goes into the hatch, and what comes out is a sigh of delight. The gurda kapooras are melt-in-your-mouth, and the desi ghee tadka on the dal provides the comfort that only mom’s dal can give.

We finish our food in ecstatic silence. Rakov reminds me that the butter chicken at this place is amazing. As I dug into the mishri-wali-saunf, we promised each other we will come back for this too and a lot more.