Tibet in North India!

Tired of Chole Bhature and Chole Kulcha, I took to the Internet to look around for places in Delhi where I can find some nice Chinese and Tibetan delights. Now we all know of the magical potency of the Internet. Google churned out names such a Majnu ka Tila and Tee-Dee from its belly. And my friends and I were left with little but to explore the incredulous place called Majnu ka Tila.

The New Aruna Nagar Colony, aka Majnu Ka Tila, with its huge monastic gate welcomed us to a make-shift ‘little Tibet’. Refugee Tibetans settled here and flagged the place as their own town, Chungtown. Every inch of this place smells and resembles Tibet as we have seen in photographs and the few lucky ones who have been to Tibet. We walked through its lanes and by lanes to explore a shopper’s haven of clothes and curios and a foodie’s happy hunting ground of authentic Tibetan cuisine.

At the heart of the colony lies a Tibetan monastery, or gumpha as they call it, from which the lanes and the by lanes radiate. We walked further inside through the by lanes for another 7 minutes and TA-DA! we reached TEE-DEE, the holiest place in Majnu Ka Tila to taste Tibetan food that is authentic to a T. As history has it, TEE-DEE is one of the first restaurants that had opened its doors to guests to taste Tibetan food. Back then old Karchung, the proprietor, served cheley (Tongue fry), lowa (stuffed lung fry), shapta (stir fried meat), thenthuk (noodle soup) and tingmo (steamed bread) to his guests. Named after Karchung’s younger son, Tenzing Drukda, TEE-DEE has emerged as the favourite spot of foodies over these 24 years.

TEE-DEE is literally a step above other restaurants in Mjanu Ka Tila, as we climbed up to the first floor to enter the paradisaical world of great food and good ambiance. Smiling Dalai Lama and a meditating Buddha welcomed us to a warm and cosy informal setting and to a new world of shabhaleys, ghenthuk and thenthuk. The service boy gave us a yellow pad to scribe our orders, but we found ourselves lost in the Tibetan names. 

Tashi, the beautiful Tibetan woman who has been at the helm of affairs at TEE-DEE since her father-in-law passed away, came to our rescue and placed the orders on our behalf. She says cheley, lowa, pork ribs, shapta and tingmo are the specialties of TEE-DEE. 

Though service was tardy, food did appear hot on our tables. We gregariously dined on pork ribs, tingmo, beef shapta and sliced pork with mushrooms. The piping entree, pork ribs, took us to a height of foodgasm. Pork ribs were deliciously juicy and zesty, with a good blend of spicy and sweet. The steamy hot tingmo with its yeasty freshness is wholesomely filling. The soft doughiness of the tingmo is best complemented by the hot and tangy beef shapta. Loaded with shredded meat, the beef shapta is indeed a must try at TEE-DEE. Sliced pork with mushroom is another dish that shouldn’t be given a miss. Shredded pork and a variety of mushrooms are packed together in a mild and glistening buttery gravy that washes your palette just enough from the tanginess of the beef shapta. 

By the end of our food journey we were full to our brim. What appealed to us most is the economical price at which TEE-DEE offered us a whole course meal. We would, however, recommend a slightly more familiar approach and a little more customer-friendly attitude.

24 years and still going guns, TEE-DEE has a simple recipe behind it. While the Tibetan colony is mushroomed with restaurants and food joints, there is hardly any that offers purely authentic Tibetan dishes. As Tashi stresses, authenticity has been their motto since TEE-DEE’s inception. It stands up to its popularity with its informal charm, authentic flavours and quality food. Though the shy and introvert Tibetan service boys refused to talk much, Tashi endeared us with her smile and welcoming hospitality.

Intriguing as the name may be, Majnu ka Tila offers a special gastronomic relish as it leads one through the narrow lanes of its mini Tibet!